The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1886-07-01
MONEY FOR DEMOCRATS.
Record of the Democratic Congress on
the Reduction and Increase
of Salaries.
Salaries Cut Down Cor Republican
officials and Increased for Demo-
cratic Office Holders.
0bstructing the Payment of Pensions TO
Soldiers in the Interest Of the
Democratic Party.

The action of the Democratic House of
Representatives upon the appropriation
bill which provides for the expenses of the
legislative, executive, and judicial branches
of the Government has been very sig
nificant, as illustrating the disposition of
the Democrats to make all they can out of
the Government, now that they have secured
the Offices. They keep up the old cry OF
reform" but vote down every proposition
pointing in that direction. In converse
ton with Washington correspondent,
Representative Cannon, OF Illinois, who is
the leader on the Republican side in fight
ing Democratic extravaganza, said:
Il notice decided change in the senti-
ment of the House in making appropria-
tons for the salaries of officials since the
Democratic party was inaugurated. While
the administration was Republican the
Democratic majority in the House was for
ever hunting for chance To cut few dol
lars off the salaries of officials, but this
Congress has restored them all to to the
amounts that were paid ten years ago. In
1876, when the rebel brigadiers captured
the House of Representatlves-the Forty
fourth Congress-the Democratic majority
reduced salaries all around, not by repeal
ing the statutes which fixed them at GER
tain amounts, but by reducing the figures
in the appropriation bill and by inserting
in the enacting clause proviso that had
never been there before. 1t was contained
in the three words, in full compensation.
"The Supreme Court of the United
States, in test case presented TO IL, held
that the insertion of these three words in an
appropriation bill suspended the statues
fixing the salaries of officials for which the
appropriation was made, and at the end of
the year the statues were in effect again.
From that time, the first session of the
Forty fourth Congress, until the present
session, the legislative, executive and judi
cial bill has always contained these words,
and the salaries have been reduced below
the statutory figures. But this Congress,
TO celebrate the restoration of the Demo-
cratic party 10 power, has stricken out those
words, and has raised the salaries to where
they were when the Democrats got the con-
troll Of Congress. The boot is on the other
foot now, and they are not so anxious about
curtailing expenses.
The rule the Democrats adopted at the
beginning of the Forty fourth Congress,
continued Mr.. Cannon, and which has re-
NAMED on the books until the present ses-
sion, was that ii should not be IN order
upon any appropriation Dill TO change the
existing law except when it would reduce
the expenses of the Government. At the
commencement of the present session this
qualification was stricken ont, and Rule u
was changed so as to prohibit all legislation
whatever that changed existing law on APP
preparation bills. This was for the benefit
of Democratic Office holders, to protect
them against the old Democratic doctrine OF
retrenchment and reform that we have
heard about so much, and now, as soon as
the bill to appropriate money fol
the salaries of Government officials
comes up in the House, Colonel
Morrison arises in his seat, brings
out the modified rules, and makes point
of order against the words : in full COM
pensation, which represent all the milk
in the cocoanut, arguing that they cannot
be placed in the appropriation bill because
they change the existing law. The point
of order was sustained by Mr.. Blount, OF
Georgia, who was in the chair, and thus the
salaries of all officials were restored tC
where they were when the rebel brigadier
came into power ten years ago. The fol
lowing list shows portion of the officials
whose salaries were reduced in 1876, ant
have remained so until now: