Evening star., 1926-03-28
Fifty Years Ago
In The Star

The question of the ventilation Of
the meeting rooms OF the two houses
Of Congress has al
bad AIT IN ways been one OF diff
the House. tcu t'eolty; i LIT, iSty :, years fra5
the following article In The Star of
March 20, 1876, to have been espe-
cially under consideration:
There Is a good deal Of talk about
the bad air Of the House hail. and va
rtous causes are assigned for Il, the
main one being the crowd of filthy
loafers that infest the public gal
leries. AS the evil is apparently more
felt this session than ever before, IL
Is probable that there may be some
thing wrong In the ventilating appa-
r-atuS The engineers who attend TO
this machinery this session are po-
litIcal appointees, who, 1t Is stated,
know nothing whatever about run
ming an engine. While there is no
ming an engine"
y =:
THE Baltimore American" says
The star Of March 81. 1875. thinks
the wholesale slashing
Government of the salaries Of the
Salaries. Federal ofilceholders
reSentatives suggests an inquiry as
to whether there has been q decrease
in the cost of living that will enable
those who have been deprived OF is
per cent of their income to adjust
their household expenses to the new
schedule of wages. and justly says
that a very large majority of the peo-
pie who work for a living. whether
HNa, 10 hAt Iva
barely manage to keep out of debt.
There is, as the same paper suggests,
but one consideration that will Justify
reduction OF salaries-namely, a
corresponding reduction in the cost of
living. It requires but a slight In
vestigation TO show that there has not
been this corresponding reduction.
Rents. meats, drygoodS and groceries
Of all kinds. with but few exceptions,
are as high as they were three or
four years, ago. The American is
therefore OF the opinion that the ef'
feet of a reduction OF Is per cent in
the salaries Of Government officers
will drive all the married men out OF
the departments. 1t will do more. IL
will have a tendency TO increase
crime by multiplying embezzlements
and defaications in the different de-
partlneuts of the Government. It Is
susceptible of demonstration that
nearly all cases of embezzlement and
defalcation on the part OF minor en-
ployes can be traced to inadequate
compensations."
Viewed In retrospect in considera-
ton of the difficulties that arose over
r,....., the presidential election
VA. that an effort was being
Nete' made half a century ago
to effect a change in the method OF
counting the electoral vote. The Star
of March %. 1876. says:
'"The constitutional amendment pro
posed by Senator Edmurds relative
to counting the votes for President
and Vice President complicateS this
question considerably. and discussion
bids fair to go on for some time to
come. His amendment proposes In
brief. that the vote shall be counted
by the United States Supreme Court
that the person having the majority
Of all electoral votes for President
!! shall be declared President; that II nc
person shall have such majority the
House Of Representatives shall elect
from the persons having the highest
number. not exceeding three, and that
the Vice President Is to be elected In
the same way; provided. the Senate Is
to select should no election appear on
the count. The subject Of regulating
the counting Of the electoral vote is
one of greatest importance, and 1t is
to be hoped that some satisfactory
substitute will be found for the pres
ent dangerous mode through which
the popular viii may be defied every
four years. No proposition which
contemplates throwing the election In
certain contingencies into the House
of Representatives ought to be enter
tanned"