The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-02-08

| The Tariff for COngrcssmen.
There is one suggestive consideration that
we have observed in nearly all of the recent
investigations, and that is the cheap rate at
which members OF Congress can be purchased.
Brigadier General Dom Piatt tells US in his
Washington Capital that 6fty-two Congress-
men brought o thousand dollars apiece to
vote for the Pacific Mail subsidy. In the
Credit Mobilier exposure the astonishing
feature was the smallness of the sums traced
into the pockets Of the various Christian
statesmen. The Hon. Schuyler Colfax's check.
which led to his political ruin, was for beg
carly thousand dollars The sums paid to
Dawes Wilson, Garfield and Kelley were none
of them over this sum. and we do
not recall any payment to active,
full-blooded Congressman much exceed
ing this amount The exceptions were
the payments made to Mr. Schumacher of
three hundred thousand dollars, and
TO our poor. lost friend, Bill King, of one
hundred and fifty thousand dollars but
neither Schumacher nor King belonged to the
House at the time, and consequently their rate
cannot be scheduled on the Congressional
tariff
AS the evidence goes, therefore. we may as
sumo a thousand dollars apiece to be the
ruling rate for congressman. This is pain
full fact, not in a moral sense alone but in
pecuniary sense A thousand dollars is not
large sum. Many Fifth avenue belle will
Irvine it around her finger or scatter it in flow
ers for an evening party. to fade away before
daybreak. A thousand dollars will not do
much more than furnish good dinner at Del
monico's. Our Wall street statesmen, who
are dealingin millions very much as gamblers
do with ivory chips would scorn a transaction
that did not yield larger margin. Is there
no way of raising this tariff? Why should
Congressman the elect of the land, the chosen
representatives of great people, be cheaper,
for instance, than reporters or doorkeepers Of
the House, or postmasters, like Bill King?
Why should a newspaper Bohemian be paid
fifteen thousand or twenty thousand dollars
for doing nothing, while a great statesman
receives simply paltry thousand? This
indicates that something is wrong in our
public life, that our Congressman are not
true to themselves in their official position.
Ii John G. Schumacher had been member Of
Congress in active service, and had demanded
his three hundred thousand dollars for a vote,
we should have respected him, as we do any
man of magnificent audacity. Certainly il
vote is worth anything at all it is worth three
hundred thousand dollars. But our Christian
statesmen appear to be poor easily satisfied
set, without high ideas, who crawl under the
tables Of the rich monopoists and owners of
great franchises. In all these jobs the men
who have them in charge have made vast
sums, and they 60 to Washington to gain vast
sums. Poor Congressman receive the crumbs
and must be content to accept dishonor
at thousand dollars head. While the
monopolists, the steamship owners, the rail-
road lobbyists and the owners of patents roll
in their wealth and pride of responsibility and
station the poor Congressman goes shivering
home to his constituents, disgraced if he is
found out, impoverished and doomed to wan
der about from barroom to barroom, or in the
shadow OF the scenes Of his former greatness,
and only too glad if some successful schemer
of the Third House will offer him o glass Of
whiskey or a bottle of wine. BY all means
the ruling rate for Congressman is too low,
and we trust that some of our statesmen will
be brave enough to protest against it.