The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-02-19
I'm and inssrtia !. inquiFs into shs ez,pe

gesot ued, That the jotnt omalteee on
t.onstftutio ral Arncndrn ents stfusse9
10 report q bill sHbEii tting 20 the aHailhea
voters of the next general election Enc cues
tion whether they vii Cor no, nafs ~ hee .,a
stitutional conVentia
purpose OF amending The
ton or 7ordaining new ont .,
81 Pending which the reapp rtlohmeht pill
-came up lat IL o. cIock} as the special OF eF.
$500, REAProRTIoNMEET.
Tho question was on agreeing to the sub
stitrte OF ATr. ASHTON for the list section
HOUSE reapportionmerltlo OF the committees
bill; which bill has heretofore Deea pup
|lished in this paper. Mr,. AsHToS,s suD Y,
tute proposed to take delegates from tne
several cities and counties Whicn nave more
than one and give them to small couniles
which are, under the bill, joined TO otner
counties. No county or city Woulq nave
more than one delegate except richmond
city, which was left with four delegates.
Mr.. WALKER Of Northumbe rland opposed
| fine bill because it would give one third OF
t.the population one half Of the delegates.
~ on motion OF Mr.. j. ii. ROBINSON the
| House ordered the pending question-ayes,
| 50; noes, 81. a.,,,, Il. sssi, 80 sGt,.5;
The bill was ordered to engrossment by
| the following vote: ssss
AYEs-Messrs Adams, Akers, Attkisson. Bernard,
Bocock, Brown, Coleman, Cox, Grams, CruIcnela
Curie Dance, Davis Dlckerson T,s1a Ier
Reuben FeSN n. Harrison, Hensel. r. b. James, Waddy
Ja%ss JGn nes Hslly k SeeaR MSS
cure, Moor1nan, Oglesby, Pace Ragland, Eamnna
j. Robnsen sandiage Sne.Dsrne
Taiiaferro Andrew j. Taylor William Taylor van =
Lear, George walker. Walsh. Watson. W sa 5.
SoEs.IMessrs Anderson, Ashton, Bland, Bohan-
non, burger Burnham, ]. r. Carter, DaViasG n
Earr HsrU, f Henson HHner Lee Mcbc
McCaull, MCMILLAN, Mnshback, Parrish, Puts,
Powell Pglliam Reese SHANNON E. Fl Smith, smith, J.
Warning, Wlngfed, Wright, and Young-37.
Mr.. GRAVES made motion to reconsider
the vote Advocated By Messrs. BLAND
| and LEE.
General ANDERSON pointed out the gross
Injustice the bill does the city OF Richmond,
and favored reconsideration. The commit
tee assumed that Richmond had only $4,000
inhabitants, when we kaoD that we have To-
600. 1t had assumed, too, that the population
OF the State had largely increased, OF which
there no proof. General ANDERSON thought
that the reapportionment was largely guess
work.
MIR. GREEN Of Fauquier also favored re-
consideration.
| General TALIAFERRO repeated what he
said on Saturday-th the bill is an unfair
one in many respects; prominently so in
regard to the city OF Richmond. The SEN
atorial reapportionment also did injustice
to his own section. But he was afraid il
the House attempted to amend the bill it
would make bad worse.
General TALIAFEIRO had the floor at l
O'Clock. when the next special order came
| up.
THE SALARY REDUCTION.
The House resumed the consideration OF
the salary bill-a bill reported from the Com
mittee on Retrenchment and Economy pro-
posing to reduce governmental expenses to
the standard of 1860, and, in pursuance OF
that purpose, reducing salaries generally
about twenty per cent.
General ECHoLs had the floor in advocacy
of his motion to reconsider the vote by
which the House adopted section 9, re-
ducing the number of clerks. aud messen-
gers in the Office OF Auditor OF Public Ac-
counts from eleven to tiye-the latter being
/ the number employed there in 1860, as
claimed by Mr.. FAUNTLER0Y-and lessening
the pay OF the five much more than 20 per
cent. General ECHOLs argued that the work
in the Auditors office is much greater than
in 1860. He thought it would be very well
to reduce the expenses there, and favored
the am andment suggested by MIR. FOWLER:
that the Auditor be given $4,000 for clerical
expenses 1.-THE bill allows about 10000.
General ECHOLs read from statement Of
the Auditor that there were in 18G0-'61 nine
clerks in the Auditors Office, and that the
General Assembly allowed extra clerks
when needed, which it does not do now.
Now to reduce the force to five would
be to sorely cripple the Office.
General ECHoLs said the zeal and ability
displayed by the gentleman from Frederick
had attracted his attention and excited his
admiration, and, he thought, entitled him
to the thanks of the people of the State.
But lust here he believed the gentleman
was going little too far.
Mr.. FAUNTLERoY opposed recoDsidera-
ton, and stated that he got his information
from the Code Of 1860, not from any state
ment of the Auditor.
Mr.. JOHNSTON OF Giles proposed in his
votes to cut down the expenses as far as
possible, but did not mean TO cripple the
government. He showed by the Code and
special acts that in 1S60-'61 the appropria.
ton for the Auditors Office was $4,000. He
maintained that in 1860 the labor Of the Of
flee was much less than it is now.
|
recorded vote-ayes; G2 noes, 81.
Mr.. FOWLER then adoptea.a suggestion
of General ECHoLs, and redl3 his amend
ment from $4,000 to $500. BE proposed
to amend section by allowing the Auditor
$500 for clerks, and to give the Auditor
full power to fix their number and salaries.
A porter for the basement, but no messcn-
ger for the Auditors office, allowed.
Mr.. DANCE favored the amendment OF
Mr.. FOWLER, which would reduce eX-
penses in the Auditors Office fifty per cent.
That was far enough to go in the way OF
retrenchment, Mr.. DANCE thought.
Mr.. FOWLER'S amendment was adopted.
! The bill so amended allows the Auditor for
his salary $4,000 per annum; for clerks
hire, $500.
ATToRNEY-GENERAL.
! In reducing the pay Of Attorney General
on Saturday ION motion Of Mr.. STARKE) the
House cut down the figures from $500 to
$4,000, but failed to reenact the provision
prescribing his duties. Mr.. WALKER Of
Westmoreland called the attention Of the
House to the fact. 1t was changed.
General ANDERSON called attention to the
fact that the word "annual" had been
omitted before "salary." Change made.
RAILROAD COMMISSIONER AND CLERK.
Mr.. FOWLER proposed as an Independent
section provision that the Railroad Com
missioner be reduced from SIS, 900 to g, 900,
and his clerk from $1,000 to $1,000. Mr.
FOWLER said that it is true that the expenses
Of this office are levied upon the railroads
Of the State, but that all the companies have
paid under protest, and will probably re-
cover from the State what they have paid in.
\ 7 x1.o&