Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1876-01-28
The Military Academy Appropriation
Bill Farther Debated in the House
Speeches Pro ct Con.
Randall Answers HurlbUt-The Poor
Boys Of West Point a Text for Rad
ical Opponents of Retrench-
ment.
HOUSE.

statutes, prohibiting officers, clerks or
employees ia any of the offices OF the
government acting as counsel, attorney
or agent, or being interested in any form
for prosecuting either claims or patents,
application for which was pending while
they were such clerks or employees; also,
that any government officer recognizing
such person in any such application
shall be ipSO fdctO discharged from SER
vice, which after discussion passed, the
house then went into committee Of the
whole, Mr.. Hoskins in the chair, on the
military academy appropriation bill.
Mr.. Banning addressed the commit
tee. He spoke of the times being hard,
money being scarce and taxation heavy,
and said that it was the duty of congress
to cut down every unnecessary ex-
penditure, and to exercise the most rigid
economy. In doing this, much aid or
assistance might not be expected from
the other (the Republican, side Of the
house, because his (the Dsmocratic) side
had taken away the luxury which the
Republicans had enjoyed at the public
expense, and had exposed to the country
their extravaganza and wicked waste Of
public money. He was not surprised that
the Republican mem bers charged the re-
ductions in this bill TO the ignorance
Of the committee which reported ii, be-
cause Republican legislators arrOgated to
themselves all wisdom, and regarded the
people as ignorant. Success had cTszed
the brains and turned the heads of the
members of the Republican party, until,
in place of Lincoln, and Stanton, and
Chase, battling for freedom and against
fraud and corruption, the country was
burdened with its present extravsgant
administration, with its whisky ring, its
Indian ring, its credit mobilier, its Pa
cific mail subsidies, and its real estate
pool. He trusted that no Demo.
cratic member would be diverted
from the path of duty by such
msneuvering as had been seen on the
amnesty bill. Theirs was a plain,
straightforward duty, easy to compre-
hend-the investig alton and exposure Of
all frauds, and reduction Of the bur-
dens of the past by the cutting of OF eV-
cry unnecessary expenditure. AS to the
details in the bill, he argued in justi.
fication Of the reductions made in regard
to the pay of the professors and cadets.
Mr. Randall, chairman of the COM
mittee appropriations replied to the
criticisms on the bill in yesterdays de.
bate, and disclaimed ell desire to embar-
rass the efficiency of the West Point
academy. II be thought the bill would
have such an effect, he would not advo-
cate it. He showed that under this bill
the pay and emoluments OF the senior
professors would be four thousand six
hundred dollars a year, and that eff the
junior professors four thousand one hum
dred dollars, and he thought that was
T. I;h.ro1 Thoco FNrnfccnnro ho1
an advantage over professors in other
colleges, in the fact that in their old age
they had the privilege Of being retired
stripped of all its difficulties, was
whether four thousand six hundred dol
lars q year was sufficient for the senior
professors, and four thousand one hun
dred dollars for the junior professors.
Passing on to the question of
pay OF cadets, he showed that the in
crease made in 1867 was only in the
shape Of allowance of an additional ra-
ton, and he claimed that in point Of
fact that the cadet had no interest in the
matter, inasmUch as his entire pay went
to his support, and none of it went into
his pocket, except that at the end Of his
four years term ninety-six dollars, being
the savings of two dollars per month,
was given to him for the purchase Of a
military suit. There was not the slight
est feeling on the part Of the committee
to interfere in any particular with the g
young men. It would be far from him
to embarrass in any way those young
gentlemen. who hoped to be, and prob
ably would be, Of as much service to the
country as their predecessors in the
academy. He wanted TO repei the idea
that there had been any purpose on the
part of the committee to embarass the
administration of West Point academy,
which had shed SO much honor on
the country. The committee hal taken
some trouble to find out the allo Wances
to the military cadets in France,
Prussia and England. At the pOlytech-
mic school in France the pay ran
up high, but the average pay
of military cadets in France was three
hundred and fly dollars; in Prussia it
was less, the maximum not being much
above one hundred and twenty dollars,
and in some school running down to
fifty-five. In England, so far as the
committee was informed, the pay was
less than four hundred dollars.
Mr.. Hurlbut asked Mr.. Randall what
was the difference between common SOL
diers here and in those countries.
Mr.. Randall replied that he had not
looked into that.
Mr. Hurlbut suggested that the pay OF
common soldiers abroad was about one
fi,tn of the pay Of common soldiers
here.
Mr.. MDougal asked Mr.. Randall as
to the relative cost Of living here and
abroad.
Mr.. Randall admitted that it was
much higher here, but denied that the
disparity was proportioned 10 the dispari-
ty in pay.
Mr., White aVOwed himself as not only
in favor of the reduction of the psy of
cadets, but as also in favor OF the reduc-
ton Of their number from three hundred
and ten to two hundred and ten, by
which forty-five thousand dollars year
would be saved. He would also cut
down the strength OF the army and re-
duce the number Of members Of con-
gress to two hundred, believing that
that number could do the business with
much more satisfaction than three hum
dred could.
Mr.. Holman, a member of the COM
mittee, admitted that the reduction OF
pay Of cadets seemed rather ungracious,
and therefore he was anxious that the
real facts should appear, which showed
that instead of this being q reduction 1t
was in fact large increase over what
the cadets had received in times cor
responding in point of expensiveness
WITH the present day. From 1892 to
lS45 the alloyauce OF cadets had been
only sixtCeu dollars month; from lS45
to 1857, thirty dollars a month; from
1857 to 1854, which covered period OF
great expensiveness, five hundred dol
lars a year. The proposition now was
TO simply 60 back to the pay Of that
period, except that it was increased by
forty-doiars q year, and ho had no dOuU!
whatever that an allowance of five hun
dred and forty dollars year would be
found ample. Coming down to the pay
OF professors, he argued that the pro-
visions Of the bill in respect to them
was extremely liberal. In conclusion
he said that this was the first Of series
OF bills to be reported by the committee
on appropriations, and he therefore ap'
pealed TO the members not to let theiI
sympathies in favor of the West Point
academy get the better Of their judg'