LOO 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



Mr. Hamilton, of Maryland, said: "I am 

 opposed generally to this whole proposition, 

 for Uie reason assigned by an honorable 

 Senator from New York, to some extent, and 

 that is that it U certainly a bad example for 

 u* to set to the people that at the close of a 

 MMion we should hurry through the-e two 

 lioiue* of Congress a bill not only increasing 

 our own salaries, but the salary of nearly 

 rery leading officer of this Government, when 

 we have no chance of discussing the necessity 

 for the increase of some of thorn at all events. 

 The reason for increasing some may be ap- 

 parent, but of others it is not so." 



Mr. Carpenter, of Wisconsin, said: "Mr. 

 President, whenever a bill is brought in to 

 .isc the salary of any particular officer, it 

 U said that the salaries of all our officers ought 

 to be increased, but it ought to be done by a 

 general bill. This comes the nearest to a 

 general bill that I have ever known in tlic 

 Senate, and now it is said this is not the time 

 to increase the salaries, though all admit that 

 they are wholly inadequate. 



"This is much more important than the 

 amount of money involved. The real question 

 is whether poor men shall be allowed to par- 

 ticipate in the administration of the Govern- 

 ment. Rich men are all opposed to increasing 

 salaried. That is after tlicir kind. They 

 would abolish salaries altogether if t hey could, 

 and then only rich men could hold the offices. 

 Tliry would he quite willing to take and ad- 

 minister this Government, make its laws, fill 

 the bench, and take care of the people, without 

 a cent of salary. Take a Senator worth his 

 million or two, what does he care whether 

 tli.- ]my of a Senator is five or ten thousand 

 dollars. The difference would not make a 

 ripple on his bank account ; but it would set- 

 tle the question with a poor man whether he 

 could be a Senator or not. 



"The most perfect equality between the 

 sons of the rich and the sons of the poor that 

 I ever saw was in the Military Academy at 

 West Point twenty-five yean ago. The pay 

 of every cadet was the same, and no cadet was 

 allowed to receive a cent from any relative -r 

 source whatever except the government. He 

 was credited with his pay, and charged with 

 the thing* he was permitted to buy. I was 

 there two year*, and the only cent of money I 

 aaw daring that time was a ten-cent piece 

 that I picked up on the pavement one morn- 

 ing. An I ronld not sin-nd it, I threw it into 

 my trunk, and it remained there till I went 

 on furlough. The result of that system was 

 that merit, industry. brain nlotie. determined 

 ending of a cadet. And not unfreqnrnt- 

 Iv the cadet who graduated at the heail of 

 hi rlasi was the son of a poor and obscure 

 man. 



: nrrea the pay of mcmlters of Congress 

 MI a* tn pny the reasonable expense of living 

 and a fnir roinpctintii>n for the hii>or we per- 

 form, and yon open OongreM to brains. Re- 



duce the pay and yon open it to men of wealth. 

 Men will ti'll these seats not for what they 

 are, but lor what they have. The rich will 

 run the (ioverment without pay in the form 

 of salary. Then will be realized the old idea 

 of the rich taking care of the poor; taking 

 care of them as the wolf takes care of the 

 lamb." 



Mr. Comeronj of Pennsylvania, said: "I 

 shall vote for this amendment mainly I,. 

 I think the salary of the President ought to be 

 increased. 1 think besides that a number of 

 officials here ought to have higher salaries. 

 As to the pay of members of Congress, I do 

 not care a button about it nn.-i-lt 1 . 1 

 here first at eight dollars a day, and that pay 

 covered all my expenses then. After a while 

 I got $3,000 a' year, and it took all of Unit to 

 pay them; and now I get $6,000 a year, and, 

 although I have no family here except my 

 wife and myself, it costs me twenty-five dollars 

 a week more than I receive from the Govern- 

 ment for my board. But to me it makes no 

 difference what the pay is. There are other 

 gentleman, however, who come here to - 

 the country and who ought to be paid a fair 

 and reasonable compensation. When a man 

 gets * old as I am it makes very little differ- 

 ence what salary he pets. It' he cannot live- 

 himself, somebody will take care of him and 

 help him to live. But a member of Congress 

 certainly ought to be paid as much here as he 

 can make at home, and so ought all of these 

 officials. 



" The truth is that the expenses of living 

 have grown every year for the last fill} 

 in the city of Washington. I said when I tii> t 

 came here I got eight dollars a day ; but I 

 made a mistake. That was when 1 came In 

 the Senate. When I first mine to this city I 

 got ten dollars a week, and I hoarded then Cor 

 four dollars a week. Afterward I got cij;ht. 

 dollars a day, and I had the best living that 

 there was in Washington. I hoarded at Gads- 

 by's, and we had canvas-back ducks on the 

 table every day in the season, and every tiling 

 else in proportion, and I only paid ten dollars 

 a week board. Mr. Buchanan, my pn<; 

 sor, paid nine dollars for his board. N-u 

 members of Congress pay from forty-five to 

 seventy-five dollars a week ; and why should 

 they not receive a salary sufficient at least to 

 pay their expenses!" 



Mr. Wright, of Iowa, said: "I am opposed 

 to the entire amendment as it comes from the 

 House of Representative*. I am opposed to it 

 in all its parts. I state my reasons for this 

 opposition on two grounds. If there is any 

 one thing that tho party to which I belong is 

 committed more than another it is economy 

 in the administration of this Government. 

 We went to the people of this nation upon 

 that as a part of our platform. The people of 

 this nation had a right to believe that, we were 

 t. and now. Ilietir-t opportunity that we 

 tO : iv, evidence of that honesty, we pro- 



