1. <-. 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



, Stockton, Stunner, Thurman, and Wil- 



ML 



So the decision of tbe Chair was overruled. 



The Presiding Officer : " Tho question rc- 

 cnrs on agreeing to tlio report ! the committee 

 of conference." 



Mr. Wright : " I now move to recommit the 

 report without in.-tructions." 



Mr. Edmunds, of Vermont, said: "Mr. 

 Prvsid. nt. I w ish to call the attention of the 

 Senate particularly to the fact (because I feel 

 sure that no Senator can have imt'nvd it, and 

 it must have escaped the observation of our 

 respected representatives, the conferees on tho 

 part of the Senate) that this bill by a mere in- 

 advertence undoubtedly provides that wo shall 

 pay the members of this present Congress for 

 the two years that have now expired on ad- 

 ditional salary of $2,500 per annum, which for 

 the two years amounts to $6,000 for each of us 

 for the past. If yon suppose that the number 

 of Senators and Representatives is altogether 

 three hundred, and it is somewhat more thnn 

 that, I believe, yon have a million and a half 

 dollars which you propose to take from the 

 Treasury of the United States to pay us salaries 

 for the time we have served under tho existing 

 laws where the salaries have been fixed by law, 

 and we propose to change the law btorn :. ! 

 for two years in order to put into onr pockets 

 this additional compensation. 



' As I said. I am bound to presume that that 

 circumstance has escaped the notice of Sena- 

 tors and the notice of the committee, and that 

 tbe conferees of the two Hoii-e- could not 

 have intended that we should make a spei -ial 

 exception in favor of ourselves, and violate tho 

 principle that we impose upon i -very otl., r ><-r- 

 rant of the Government, by changing the law 

 retrospectively for two years in order that we 

 may pocket a million and a half of the money 

 of the people. You do not do that for the 

 President of the United States, whose salary 

 has been the most meagre. You do not do it 

 for the Yic< -President of the United States; 

 yon do not do it for the Secretary of the Treas- 

 ury ; yon do not do it for the Secretary of War, 

 or any of tho other Secretaries ; yon do not do 

 it for tho poor clerk, whose sen-ices yon vote 

 $1.200 a year to pay. Say tho law-makers, 

 'Because we have it in our power we will 

 make a special exception in favor of ourselves, 

 and will revvree every principle ot 

 that ought to he practised in n eivili/od com- 

 munity and pocket a million and a half of the 

 money of the people."' 



Mr. < -nid: " Mr. ]'.. 



Senator from Vermont ,\[ r . r.dmnnds) i 

 other men entirely by blnuelf. As ni. 

 erer eMf>ee his notice, he suppose* that noth- 

 ing ever escape* the notice of anybody else, 

 except by accident. 



"Mr. President, this proposition i right or 

 wrong. If it U wrong to put up tho salary of 

 members of Congress, It of course should not 

 be raised. If it is right to raise it, it was just 



as proper to have raised it five years ago as it 

 is to-day. And this Congress which h:<s I., in 

 serving two years has been serving with insuffi- 

 cient pay it' the next Congress would serve 

 with insufficient pay at the present rate.". 

 There is no constitutional objection, none will 

 be pretended, to this Congress doing j 

 to itself as well as to the : 

 ing Congresses. \Ve might, if we ph 

 commence on the first day of the term and 

 give a monthly pay, enough to pay our eigar- 

 bills and our hack-hire from the Capitol to our 

 boarding-houses, and save it nil till the very 

 last day and then vote a reasonable compen- 

 sation for tbe two years' service. That would 

 be constitutional and perfectly regular. 



" How is it with the precedents? I under- 

 stand in every instance in which the pny of Con- 

 gress has been raised it has he. n n.ude to date 

 back to the Congress that raised it. And, up- 

 on this same principle, it' tlie Senator from 

 Vermont can show that we ought not to in- 

 crease the salary, that $5,000 is ample pay 

 for the work we do, then he make? <mt a pood 

 case against this bill. Jf he cannot show that, 

 he makes out no case against datinir its pro- 

 visions with the comini neemeiit of this Con- 

 gress. There has been no change in the con- 

 dition of things, no change in the expenses 

 of living, no change in the value of str 

 within the last two years. If it is right now, 

 it has been right all these two years for ns to 

 have more pay, and we violate no provision 

 of the Constitution in granting it. and if we are 

 authorized to raise it for other Congresses we 

 violate no principle of right or justice in rais- 

 ing for this Congress." 



The question being token by yeas and nays, 

 resulted as follows : 



TEAS Messrs. .Anthory, Borcman, Buckingham, 

 Chandler, Cole, Couklin'g, Corbett, Cragin, 

 munde, Ferry of Michigan, Frelinirhiiysen, Htmll- 

 ton of Marvland, llamlin. llailuii, Kelly, Mrrill of 

 Vermont, Pratt. E ;t. Sherman, .^[.rague, 



Thunnan. Windom. and Wright 21. 



NAT Messrs. Alcorn, Ames, Bnyard. Blair, 

 Brownlow, Caldwcll, Cameron, Carpenter, Cas- 

 Clayton, Cooper, Davis, Flarat'im, (iilb.-rt, Gold- 

 thwaite. Hamilton of T< 



Lewis, Lojran, Machen, Morrill of Maine, Norwood, 

 Nye, Osborn, Patterson, !' 



Robertson, Saulsluiry, Snw-yer, !* nnrt, 



Stockton, Tipton, Tnini1>ull. Vickcra, and West 40. 



ABSENT Messrs. Fci ticut, 



Johnston, Morton, Pomcroy, Bice, Stevenson, Sum- 

 nor, and Wilson 9. 



Mr. Cragin, of New Hampshire, said : "And 

 in about a month the election takes place in 

 the State of Conneeticnt. and about the 

 time in the State of Rhode Island: and I pre- 

 dict here to-night that every one of th.in will 

 go against the Republican partr. I put th:.t 

 prediction on record, and within two m< 

 I shall call the attention of th. that 



fact. I begin to believe that this COTI 

 will never learn wisdom until the people shall 

 teach them." 



Mr. Thurrnan, of Ohio, said: " Mr. President, 





