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CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



sentatives in this hall ought to be men of that 

 mental calibre, that moral calibre, that informa- 

 tion, that education, that virtue, of that trust- 

 worthiness of all the qualities that make men 

 fit for the highest pursuits of life. The repre- 

 sentative ought to be of that character which 

 would entitle him to the highest amount of 

 wages, if you choose to call it so, which is 

 given to the highest grades of skilled labor in 

 the country. There are, Mr. Speaker, various 

 kinds of labor, skilled and unskilled, and there 

 are various kinds of power water-power, 

 steam-power, muscle and mind or brain-power. 



" My standard of wages for a member of 

 this House would be that amount which the 

 higher grades of skilled labor, combined with 

 brain-power and virtue, usually commands. 

 And I am satisfied that, when the people of 

 this country understand the nature of the du- 

 ties and proper character of a member of Con- 

 gress, when they understand the importance 

 of government, and good government, and wise 

 government, there are none throughout the 

 length and breadth of the country who will 

 dispute this proposition. 



" Why, sir, the salaries of managers of rail- 

 roads reach $25,000. There is hardly a mas- 

 ter-mechanic in any of the machine-shops who 

 does not receive $10,000 as a compensation for 

 his skilled labor, his brain-labor. There is 

 hardly a town in which there are not mer- 

 chants who make from $10,000 to $15,000. 

 There is hardly a district in the United States, 

 I suspect, where there are not one or more 

 lawyers whose income is not as much as 

 $10,000 or $15,000. There is hardly any place 

 or district where the most eminent physicians 

 do not make $10,000 or $15,000. there is 

 hardly any business of life requiring skilled 

 labor or brain-labor which does not command 

 that compensation; the income of many jour- 

 nalists greatly exceeds it. 



" Now, sir, when you teach the people what 

 government is, the science of government, the 

 nature of the duties of a member of Congress, 

 the interest that everybody in the community 

 feels and every member of society has in good 

 government, in the laws we pass here within 

 the sphere of Federal limited power, touching 

 more or less the interest and the pocket of the 

 humblest human being now within the juris- 

 diction of these States, they will say that legis- 

 lation should be in the hands of men of char- 

 acter, of virtue, and integrity, who understand 

 their duties men who understand the science 

 of government. This requires study, it re- 

 quires labor, it requires an immense deal of 

 thought ; and, therefore, if the government is 

 maintained rightly in the Senate and in the 

 House, the rule of fixing the pay under the 

 Constitution should T}e such as to afford an 

 arena in these halls for the virtue and talent- 

 of the highest grade in our country. 



" Some sham, would-be leader of the people 

 may go to the poor man driving the plane or 

 the plough and tell him ' he is getting only a pit- 



tance for his daily toil, while a member of Con- 

 gress is getting $16 a day ; ' and he may induce 

 that man, in the humblest but honest walks of 

 life, to vote for him on his promise to reduce 

 the pay. But that same man, if he were ill, 

 would send for a skilled physician in prefer- 

 ence to a quack, though the former was mak- 

 ing twice as much as the latter. So with the 

 other learned professions ; and, when the peo- 

 ple properly understand the importance of 

 good legislation, they will have as little use 

 for a cheap Congressman as for a cheap doctor 

 or a cheap lawyer. 



" "What, Mr. Speaker, is the motive power 

 of all humanity that prompts action 1 mean 

 that inward force which stirs honest, virtuous 

 action ? It is a desire for status. It is a de- 

 sire for honorable position, with its attendants. 

 It is the desire of a man not only to provide 

 for himself, but for his family. Status in so- 

 ciety is the great object. What are the ele- 

 ments of status ? Income and honor. Honest 

 acquisitions and meritorious deeds. 



" Now, sir, to return to the question before 

 the House, in fixing a salary of a member of 

 Congress, of a President of the United States, 

 of the judges of the Supreme Court, and of all 

 your diplomatic and foreign servants, the basis 

 on which the whole should be placed is, as I 

 have said the standard of salary should be, in 

 my opinion, upon the basis stated and accord- 

 ing to the grade of service. The Government 

 in all its departments should offer fair compe- 

 tition for the highest virtue and intelligence 

 with all the other vocations in life. The youth 

 of the country in selecting pursuits should not 

 be driven from the political field for want of 

 those inducements offered by other kinds of 

 employment. The political arena, with just 

 compensation, affords the broadest, widest, 

 and grandest field for intellectual action. With 

 that view it is necessary that the Government 

 should offer the highest inducements to skilled 

 and brain labor in all its departments. But 

 the idea I wish to impress upon the House is 

 a general principle. Let the salary be fixed 

 upon a principle that will enable the Govern- 

 ment service to come in fair competition with 

 the other enterprises of this age of progress, as 

 it is termed. 



" I will state another thing. It so happened 

 that one of the last things I ever said upon this 

 floor, fourteen years ago, was upon this matter 

 of salary. It grew out of a debate on a propo- 

 sition to increase the salary of the judge of, I 

 think, the western district of Virginia. I was, 

 so to speak, delivering my valedictory to the 

 then members of this House, never expecting to 

 return here again, and therefore I could speak 

 disinterestedly. I gave it as my opinion then, 

 and I will give it to you now. At that time 

 the expenditures of the Government were 

 about $80,000,000 per annum, and the expenses 

 for the whole civil, diplomatic, judicial, and 

 legislative departments of the country were 

 not exceeding, I think, $3,000,000. I gave it 



