Obrazy na stronie
PDF
ePub

32D CONG.....3D SESS.

Special Session-Select Committee on Frauds, &c.

must be protected. Our immense inland frontier will always require a considerable army; and it should be kept in the highest state of discipline. The schools at Annapolis and West Point ought to be the foster children of our Republic. Our arsenals and our armories ought to be kept filled with every weapon and munition of war, and every vulnerable point on the coast ought to be fortified. But while we act on the maxim "in peace prepare for war," let us also remember that the best preparation for war is peace. This swells your numbers; this augments your means; this knits the sinews of your strength; this covers you all over with a panoply of might; and then, if war must come, in a just cause, no Power on earthno, sir, not all combined-can send forth an adversary from whose encounter you need shrink.

But give us these twenty-five years of peace. I do believe that the coming quarter of a century is to be the most important in our whole history, and I do beseech you let us have the twenty-five years, at least, of peace. Let our fertile wastes be filled up with swarming millions; let the tide of immigration continue to flow in from Europe; let the steamer, let the canal, let the railway, especially the great Pacific railway, subdue these mighty distances, and bring this vast extension into a span; let us pay back the ingots of California gold with bars of Atlantic iron; let agriculture clothe our vast wastes with waving plenty; let the industrial and mechanic arts erect their peaceful fortresses at the waterfalls of our rivers; and then in the train of this growing population, let the printing office, the lecture-room, the school-room, and the village church, be scattered over the country; and, sir, in these twenty-five years, we shall exhibit a spectacle of national prosperity, such as the world has never seen on so large a scale, and yet within the reach of a sober, practical contemplation.

Mr. DOUGLAS. I do not intend to prolong this discussion, but I think it due to myself to make a word of comment upon one remark which fell from the eminent Senator from Massachusetts. I understand him to agree with the Senator from Delaware, that his letter in relation to Cuba, in which he laid down the policy of making no pledge in regard to its future condition, was not applicable to Central America; and that therefore those two Senators agree to stand on a common platform upon that point. Sir, I am not willing, by the concurrence of those two Senators, to be put in the position of having made a misapplication of that letter. The main point to which I referred in the letter of the Senator from Massachusetts to the Compte de Sartiges, was this: in it the Senator said that it was not within the competent authority of this Government, under the Constitution, to give any pledge that in all coming time we would never annex any territory, which in the course of events might become desirable, to this Union. If it was not competent, under the Constitution, to give that pledge in reference to the Island of Cuba, where does he find the constitutional authority to give it in the Clayton-Bulwer treaty with reference to Costa Rica and Nicaragua, and other Central American States? If there be an absence of constitutional power in the one case, it ought to be binding upon the consciences of men in all other cases. Therefore, until they explain away that constitutional barrier, I cannot permit those two Senators to put themselves in concert and accuse me of having made a misapplication of the letter. That is all I desire to say upon that point.

est, duty, and honor, may require when the time for action comes. With these remarks, I am willing to close the discussion.

Mr. MASON. There will be no question, I take it for granted, that the President will have it in his power during the vacation of Congress to obtain a vast amount of necessary information to guide the future policy of this country towards Central America. There can be as little doubt that when the information is obtained it will be laid before the Congress of the United States. I have said, therefore, to the honorable Senator from Delaware, who offered the resolution, that we shall have the information for which he calls without a call of the Senate; but if that call must be made, it will be necessary, in my judgment, very much to enlarge it, because it applies only to information as to the dominion in the islands. In order, however, to dispose of the subject, which I do with the approbation of the Senator from Delaware, I move that the resolution lie upon the table.

The motion was agreed to.

EXECUTIVE SESSION.

On motion by Mr. MASON, the Senate proceeded to the consideration of Executive business; and after some time spent therein, the doors were reopened, And the Senate adjourned.

TUESDAY, March 22, 1853.

Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. C. M. BUTLER.

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS.

A message was received from the President of the United States in answer to a resolution of the 17th instant, requesting copies of certain propositions to Nicaragua and Costa Rica, relative to the settlement of the territorial controversies between the States and Governments bordering on the river San Juan, transmitting a report from the Secretary of State, and the documents by which it was accompanied; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore laid before the Senate a communication from the Secretary of the Interior, transmitting additional papers in relation to the allegation of fraud contained in certain public prints with regard to the disbursements by Alexander Ramsey of money appropriated to carry out the stipulations of treaties concluded with the Sioux Indians; which, on the motion of Mr. SEBASTIAN, was referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.

Also, a communication from the Secretary of the Interior, transmitting additional papers in relation to the Mexican Boundary Commission; which, on the motion of Mr. WELLER, was referred to the Select Committee on the subject, and ordered to be printed.

CLERK TO A COMMITTEE.

Mr. JAMES, from the Committee on Patents and the Patent Office, submitted the following resolution:

Resolved, That the clerk to the Committee on Patents and the Patent Office, be continued during the recess of the Senate, at the usual rate of compensation, to be employed in preparing for the use of said committee an alphabetical index and digest of the reports heretofore made by the several Committees on Patents and the Patent Office.

MEXICAN BOUNDARY COMMISSION. Mr. WELLER submitted the following resolution:

Resolved, That the Select Committee on the Mexican Boundary be allowed until the next session of Congress to report upon the various subjects referred to them.

Mr. HUNTER. I have no objection to the committee making a report, but I object to any committee sitting during the recess. I think it would be establishing a bad precedent.

SENATE.

Mr. HUNTER. If the Senator will add a proviso that the committee shall not sit during the recess, I will have no objection to the resolution.

Mr. WELLER. As chairman of the committee, I propose going home very early next month, and I am sure there will be no sessions of the committee in the recess. The resolution simply proposes to allow the committee to report, and I do not think under that authority, they could, if they desired, sit during the recess. However, if my friend from Virginia thinks it necessary, I have no objection to adding the proviso.

Mr. HUNTER. I think they might sit under the authority conferred by the resolution; and I should therefore like to have the proviso added. I know there will be other applications to continue committees, and I shall oppose them all.

The PRESIDING OFFICER, (Mr. COOPER in the chair.) The Senator from California accepts the modification suggested by the Senator from Virginia.

The resolution as modified was agreed to.
PAPERS WITHDRAWN.

On motion by Mr. SUMNER, it was Ordered, That leave be granted to withdraw the papers relating to the claim of the Boston Steamboat Relief Company, B. B. Forbes.

EXECUTIVE SESSION.

On motion by Mr. MASON, the Senate proceeded to the consideration of Executive business, and after some time spent therein, the doors were reopened.

THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON FRAUDS, etc.

Mr. BORLAND. I have a report, Mr. President, which I am directed to make from the Select Committee on Frauds, Abuses, &c. Before doing so, however, it will be proper to recur briefly to the circumstances under which the committee have

acted.

This committee was originally appointed last summer, but was unable, for want of time, to complete its duties during that session, which adjourned the last of August. During the recent session it was reappointed, and continued its investigations until the close. Finding its duties still unfinished, owing to the mass of testimony they had taken, and which had to be arranged and embodied in a report, permission was asked and obtained to continue their sittings during this special session, in order to prepare and present their report.

The committee consisted of five membersthree Democrats and two Whigs. Of these, the Senatorial terms of the two Whig members (Mr. UNDERWOOD of Kentucky, and Mr. BROOKE of Mississippi) terminated with the Congress, on the 4th of this month. It became necessary, therefore, to make up the regular number of the committee to supply these vacancies; and two other Whig members (Mr. MORTON of Florida, and Mr. THOMPSON of Kentucky) were appointed. These gentlemen met the other members of the committee a few days ago-the whole committee consisting of Mr. HOUSTON, chairman, Mr. BORLAND, Mr. WALKER, Mr. MORTON, and Mr. THOMPSON-When the cases which had been examined were submitted, and the substance of the report upon them, as drawn up, was read.

I have deemed this statement proper, and it was understood by the committee that I should make it, in justice especially to the two new members of the committee, who have not, of course, had time or opportunity to examine the testimony in the several cases, and cannot be responsible for the report. They heard the report read, and acquiesced in it only so far as to assent to its being made to the Senate, reserving their right to judge of it when it shall have been printed, and they have had an opportunity to examine the testimony upon which it is based.

So far as the Senator's remarks relate to the preservation of peace, I fully and cordially agree with him. If there is any one line of policy more dear to my heart than all others, it is that which shall avoid any just cause of war, and preserve peace in all time to come. If there be a difference of opinion between us, it is upon the point It is deemed important by the committee that as to which line of policy will best accomplish that Mr. WELLER. It is not proposed by the reso- this report should be printed at the earliest pracobject. I believe that the true policy is to make lution that the committee shall sit during the recess. ticable day; important to the public interest. In no pledges at present which are to bind our suc- The testimony before it has been closed. It occu- connection with one part of it, it will be rememcessors in all time to come with reference to a state pies more than five hundred pages, and it is utterly bered that during the recent session, when the deof facts which now does not exist, but then may impossible for the committee during this session ficiency bill was under consideration, I offered require action. I have not said that I wish to to examine it so as to be able to make a report. two amendments in relation to the proposed apannex any portion of Central America to this The object of the resolution is to allow the com-propriation of $400,000 as a deficiency of former country. I only protest against the pledge that mittee to make their report, not to continue their our successors may not do that which their inter-sitting during the recess.

appropriations for the Capitol extension. My amendments suspended the disbursement of the

32D CONG....3D SESS.

proposed appropriation until the 1st day of April, and restored it to the former and usual course of auditing and controlling all expenditures of the public money at the Treasury. Objection was then made to my amendments, upon the ground that they reflected injuriously, and it might be unjustly, upon the characters of the persons who had been intrusted with the duties of managing the work and disbursing the money. I stated at the time that such was not my purpose, but that as charges of gross improprieties against the Architect and others intrusted with these duties had been made, and as the committee were then engaged in an investigation which threatened in its result to sustain those charges, I deemed it due to the public interest that no more money should be given into the same hands for disbursement until the material facts could be ascertained, and duly presented in the form of a report; and further, that as a few weeks more would enable the committee to report the facts, and as no harm could result from the proposed short delay, it was but right that the Executive should have the means at hand to act understandingly, as well as to the mode to be adopted as to the agents to be employed in the prosecution of the work.

My amendments were adopted; and not only is the disbursement of the money restored to the former and usual mode, whereby the safeguards of checks and official responsibility are thrown around it, but it is suspended, and the work along with it, until the 1st of April. That day is near at hand, when the Executive will have to cause the work to begin again, and to determine who shall be intrusted with its management. In the opinion of the committee, their report_contains matters important to be known to the Executive to act understandingly in this connection. To serve the public interest generally, and with this view directly, the committee have exerted themselves to make their report at an earlier day. Circumstances of difficulty have delayed them until now. It is now here, and will, I presume, be printed, as is usual with reports. But it is voluminous, and will require some time to be printed in the usual way, in pamphlet form. The purpose, then, with which I have made these remarks, is to connect them with the report; or, rather, to let the report come in as part of my remarks, and by this means authorize and enable our reporters to print it in the official newspapers as part of our debates. In this way, I could get it much earlier in print, and in a form available for the more immediate practical service to the public I believe it capable of rendering. As embodying, therefore, what I would say to the Senate, propose to read the report.

Mr. BADGER. I object.

Mr. BORLAND. It is not my wish to weary the Senate by reading a document so voluminous as this. I know they would be unwilling to listen to it now. But, for the purpose I have indicated, I would like to begin the reading of it now; and, as is not unusual with Senators when they desire to incorporate certain papers in their speeches, let it be considered as read, and, as part of my remarks, be reported and printed accordingly. If it be the pleasure of the Senate, I will pursue that

course.

Mr. BADGER. The difficulty is, it will cost $15 a column to print it.

Mr. BORLAND. In my opinion it is worth a great deal more than that. Not that anything which I could write and offer to the Senate would be worth so much, but as the result of several months' patient investigation, by a committee of this body, of matters important to the public interest and morals, and as the development of facts of an extraordinary character, which should be early known, it is, in my opinion, of far more value than any such amount as we pay for printing the reports of our proceedings. I wish, then, to know if it be the pleasure of the Senate that this "Report of the Select Committee on Frauds, Abuses, &c., appointed under the resolution of the Senate, of August 6, 1852," shall be considered and printed as a part of my remarks?

Mr. MASON. If the Senator will allow me, I think it is a very unusual course to have a report printed as a part of the reported debates of the Senate, and I submit, with very great respect to the Senator, whether, inasmuch as it is unusual,

Special Session-Superintendent of Printing.

it would be well to adopt it in this instance? I
take it for granted that the report, although large,
can, at his request of the Superintendent of the
Printing, receive unusual attention and care, and
be printed in the usual form before the expiration
of the session. I presume the Senator has the
right, if he thinks proper, to have it printed in the
debates of the Senate; but it is an unusual course
to pursue, and therefore I take the liberty of ma-
king this suggestion to him.

Mr. ADAMS. I would suggest that the usual.
course is for the committee to make its report. It
is then read by the Secretary. Whether it is con-
sidered as having been read by the Senator who
makes it, or by the Secretary at the desk, it will
still be published, not as a part of the debates, it
is true, but among the reports.

Mr. BORLAND. Unless a report on any matter goes in as a part of the remarks of the Senator, it is excluded from publication in the debates; and I desire that this report shall be so published. In answer to the Senator from Virginia, I would merely say that I know the course which I propose is unusual, and for that reason I have made the request. The case is an unusual and extraordinary one.

Mr. HAMLIN. I think the object which the Senator has in view may be accomplished in this way without compromising at all the practice of the Senate. He has stated certain facts. I think he can incorporate them as a part of his remarks, for which the Senate will be in nowise responsible. If he chooses to use them in that way, and make them a part of his speech, as if he was making an extract from a book, he may accomplish his object without compromitting the practice of the Senate.

The PRESIDING OFFICER, (Mr. CHASE in the chair.), The Chair will suggest that, strictly, there is nothing before the Senate. The Senator from Arkansas rises to make a report from a Select Committee, but no question is at present before the Senate.

Mr. BORLAND. I have not made the report
yet. It is not unusual, and I believe is always
permitted, for a Senator when making a report to
accompany it by some explanatory remarks.

Mr. BADGER. I desire to make a suggestion
to the Senator. I was in the Senate at the time
we commenced our present system of printing the
debates. When it was commenced, it was the
custom, when papers were read and reports made,
to insert them in the debates. That was immedi-
ately decided against, upon the ground that it was
not the intention of the Senate to pay for printing
as a part of the daily debates of the Senate, those
matters which we printed as a part of our docu-
ments. Since that time the practice has been en-
tirely discontinued. But I would suggest, inde-
pendently of this variation from the course of pro-
ceeding which has been usual, and which I think
should not be departed from unless in cases of ex-
treme necessity, whether the plan proposed by
the Senator would not appear in some respects to
do an injustice. Suppose the report is printed
in the debates: the Senator says there is a large
mass of testimony accompanying it. I presume
he does not intend to print that in the debates. If
he does not, what is the consequence? The con-
clusions of the committee go out to influence the
action of the Executive, without at the same time
furnishing the Executive with the evidence upon
which they are founded, and enabling him to draw
his own conclusions; and that, too, in regard to a
report which cannot be considered as unanimous.
It seems to me, under these circumstances, the
usual course of the Senate ought not to be departed
from; and I concur in the suggestion of the Sena-
tor from Virginia, that if the Senator from Arkan-
sas will signify to the Superintendent of Printing ||
that it is desirable that the report should be printed
immediately, he will take it out of its course, and
have it printed without waiting for the ordinary
delay.

Mr. BORLAND. For the very reason which
the Senator from North Carolina has suggested,
I desire to present the whole question to the Sen-
ate. I might have gone on and read a portion of
the report as a part of my remarks, and it would
have been printed, but I should have considered
that as taking an advantage of the Senate, and
keeping back something which it had a right to

SENATE.

know; and for that reason I stated the whole case precisely, as to my object and what would be the effect of it. Now, if it should be the sense of the Senate that it should be done, I would be gratified; but if it is not the sense of the Senate, and they desire otherwise, I am perfectly willing that the document should take the ordinary course, and be printed as the report of the committee. 1 therefore submit the report, and move that it be printed for the use of the Senate.

Mr. THOMPSON, of Kentucky. I will merely remark that the course taken meets my approbation. The Senator from Florida [Mr. MORTON] and myself have only been members of the committee during this called session; and of course so far as the testimony is concerned we had no opportunity of entering into an examination of the witnesses. We, however, have heard a synopsis of the testimony read, and have seen the report, and agree that it should be reported to the Senate, neither concurring in the views taken in the report, nor agreeing to the accuracy of the synopsis. We are willing to let it go out for what it is worth, and come before the Senate in its printed form for any legislative action which the Senate may choose to take upon it. The Senator from Arkansas was perfectly right in saying that we consented to the understanding that the report should go before the country in that way for such future action as the Senate and Congress might desire to take upon it.

Mr. BORLAND. There is no proposition made by the committee. The committee do not recommend any particular legislation upon the subject. The report is only a development of facts, and the opinion of the committee expressed upon those facts, without recommending anything, leaving it of course to the discretion of the Senate to take any action which it thinks proper.

Mr. THOMPSON. Perhaps there is some alteration of the rules of the Senate suggested.

Mr. BORLAND. There is one suggestion as to what it would be well to do, but it is only in the form of a suggestion. There is no resolution offered-no bill reported. It is simply an informal suggestion.

Mr. BADGER. There is nothing for us to concur in.

Mr. BORLAND. No, sir. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the motion to print include the documents?

Mr. BORLAND. They are a part of the report, in the form of an appendix, and of course are included.

The motion to print was agreed to.

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT.

The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate a communication from the President of the United States, transmitting a report of the Secretary of State in answer to a resolution of the Senate of the 18th of January last, calling for further correspondence touching the revolution in France of December, 1851; which was ordered to be printed.

SUPERINTENDENT OF PRINTING.

On motion by Mr. HAMLIN, the Senate proceeded to consider the following resolution, which was submitted yesterday:

"Resolved, That the same extra compensation be allowed to the Superintendent of Printing and the clerks and miessenger under him, as is paid by the resolution of the Senate to other clerks and messengers of a similar grade."

Mr. HAMLIN. I desire to say that by the ordinary legislation of the Senate, we pay to the Librarian and laborers around the Capitol, to our engrossing clerk, and to the clerks of committees, a certain additional compensation. By an omission -for it must have been by an omission, as I can see no other reason for it-the clerks of the Superintendent of the Public Printing of this and of the other House of Congress are overlooked, and they are made a marked case, and set aside as distinct from all the others. Now, I undertake to say that however industrious the clerks may be in this or the other end of the Capitol, there are none who, in the year, will perform more service, or so much service as these. They remain here during the year, and are employed most of the time. Many of the clerks are employed only during the session, and they have got their additional compensation, and all except these have received it. I hope the resolution may pass.

32D CONG.....3D SESS.

Mr. DODGE, of Iowa. I want to inquire of the Senator from Maine whether these gentlemen have received a pro rata compensation from the House of Representatives.

Mr. HAMLIN. They have received nothing.

Mr. DODGE, of Iowa. I make the inquiry, because sometimes in these cases duplicate compensation is given, the House of Representatives and the Senate both giving additional compensation. The reason why these persons were not embraced in the resolution giving extra compensation to the clerks and other officers of the Senate, was because they were an entirely new class of officers, unknown before. They are officers whose offices have been created since the original resolution was passed. But there is another point. Extra compensation is granted upon the supposition that the clerks have performed long and arduous service. If these clerks have been in service for a long time, it is right to give it; but if they have been in service but a short time it is not right.

Mr. HAMLIN. They have been in service as long as any clerks around the Capitol, clerks of committees or any others, and they will be in service till December next, which is not true of others.

Mr. BADGER. I will suggest to the Senator from Maine, that the phraseology of the resolution should be altered, so that it will be: "That there be allowed and paid under the direction of the Committee to Audit and Control the Public Expenses of the Senate, out of the contingent fund of the Senate the same," &c., and then at the end, as was paid at the last session.'

[ocr errors]

66

Mr. HAMLIN. I accept the modification. Mr. DOUGLAS. I have no objection to the resolution, if the Senator from Maine will add:

Provided, It be expressly understood that hereafter no extra compensation shall be given.

I think that the greatest abuse which has grown up here is this extra compensation to all the persons about this Capitol, leading persons to seek for places here just before the close of a session for the purpose of getting the extra compensation, or getting pay which bears no sort of proportion to the service rendered. It is an abuse which is growing up here yearly, and I do hope we will fix the salaries at what they ought to be, and then put an end to this growing enormity, which I believe is more corrupting than any other thing about the Capitol. I hope that the proviso may be added, by way of a notice with respect to the future.

Mr. HAMLIN. I would certainly place these clerks on the same footing as others, and I do not know that any proviso is necessary. They will stand at the end of another session precisely as the other clerks, only they do not come within that class of clerks to which the Senator has alluded. These are clerks that have performed service during the session, and will perform it during the

recess.

Mr. DOUGLAS. I do not make the objection to the clerks particularly who are provided for in the resolution; but the principal reason why I wish to have the proviso adopted is this: Each session we are told we must give the extra compensation this time, but that we will put a stop to the practice hereafter. If the proviso is not now put upon it, we will be next year in precisely the same situation as we have been in before, and we shall be told we must give it now, but we will stop it hereafter. But it never will stop unless some proviso is made giving notice that it will not be paid. I move as an amendment:

Provided, It is distinctly understood, that hereafter no extra compensation of any kind will be allowed to any of ficer of the Senate, or any person in the employ of the Sen

ate.

Mr. BADGER. We have a committee instructed now, expressly on the motion of the Senator from Virginia, [Mr. HUNTER,] to make an arrangement of a system of compensation to avoid the extra compensation. I hope, therefore, the Senator will not offer his amendment now.

Mr. DOUGLAS. If that is the case, I will withdraw it.

Mr. PEARCE. What is the salary of the Superintendent of the Public Printing?

Mr. HAMLIN. It is twenty-five hundred dollars.

Mr. PEARCE. He is an officer employed by law, and I suppose his salary is fixed by law. He

Special Session-Extra Compensation

is not an officer of this House or of the other. I suppose the same is true of his clerks. They are not the peculiar employees of this or the other House.

Mr. HAMLIN. Yes, they are. They take care of our printing. They do much of what the Printing Committee formerly did.

Mr. PEARCE. I think this practice has gone far enough, and should be stopped.

Mr. STUART. I move to strike out of the resolution the words, "Superintendent of the Public Printing;" thus modifying the resolution so that it shall apply only to the clerks. I have asked about me for some reason why that officer should receive extra pay. I recollect distinctly when this system was adopted in the other House, economy was one of the strongest arguments used there. I believed it myself. But if we are to take the very first opportunity after an officer is created, to increase his pay, we shall make but a sorry exhibition of our effort to carry out our principles of economy. I think you might as well take the President of the United States, and increase his pay by a resolution of the Senate. I confess to you, I see no reason for it whatever, which would not exist in the case of any other officer under this Government, and I certainly cannot vote for it.

Mr. HAMLIN. I hope that amendment will not be agreed to. It is true that the Superintendent of Printing is an officer whose salary is fixed by law. It is equally true that the Secretary of the Senate is an officer whose salary is fixed by law. It is equally true that the Clerk of the House is an officer whose salary is fixed by law. The Librarian, all the clerks around the Capitol, all the officers in the Senate and House are officers whose salaries are fixed by law; and you have given to them all an additional compensation. The only reason why I would give it to the Superintendent of the Public Printing is, that I would place him upon the same footing with the other officers who are properly officers of Congress. They are not, truly speaking, officers of the Senate, but they are officers of the Senate and House. They superintend our printing; they take care of it; they audit the accounts; they are established for that purpose as much as the Secretary of the Senate is placed here for the purpose of taking care of and making up the records of the Senate. I can see no reason why you should exclude the Superintendent and make a distinction between his case and that of all the rest. I agree with the remarks which have fallen from the Senator from Illinois, and I will most cheerfully concur in fixing the sum which we are to pay to all our officers, and not give any of them increased compensation. But when you have given to all the classes of persons which I have named, I hope my friend from Michigan will not make an invidious distinction against the Superintendent, who, I believe is as meritorious as any of our officers.

Mr. BADGER. We are reduced now, according to the count which I make, to 16 Senators; I therefore move an adjournment.

The motion was agreed to, and the Senate adjourned.

WEDNESDAY, March 23, 1853.

Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. C. M. BUTLER.

Mr. BADGER submitted the following resolution; which was considered by unanimous consent and agreed to:

Resolved, That the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate, inquire and report whether the compensation for the expenses of the agent employed to procure and compile the information called for by the resolution of the Senate of March 8, 1851, is payable out of the appropriation for the contingent expenses of the Senate; and if not, how the same should be paid.

[blocks in formation]

SENATE.

to the Superintendent of Public Printing, and the clerks and messenger under him, the same allowance as was paid to the clerks of the Senate at the last session of Congress. The pending question being on the amendment of Mr. STUART to strike out 66 Superintendent of Public Printing."

The amendment was agreed to. Mr. BADGER. It now becomes necessary to strike out the word "him" after "under," and insert "Superintendent of Public Printing."

Mr. HAMLIN. I can see no reason why the Librarian and the Secretary of the Senate should be paid, and the Superintendent omitted.

Mr. BADGER. Voluntas stal pro ratione-the will of the Senate makes the reason.

Mr. BADGER's amendment was agreed to, and the resolution was reported to the Senate as amended.

Mr. HAMLIN. The question is now, I suppose, on concurring in the amendment adopted in committee. I wish to say but one word in regard to that. You have paid the Secretary of the Senate, the Librarian, and all your clerks an additional compensation, and now the question which I submit to the Senate is, why shall you exclude the Superintendent of your Public Printing from the rule which you apply to every other officer of the body?

Mr. STUART. The amendment which was agreed to in Committee of the Whole was prohonorable Senator from Illinois, [Mr. DOUGLAS,] posed by me. I agree to what was said by the that the whole system of extra compensation is a bad one-a decidedly bad one. But, sir, I thought I could see a distinguishing reason why we should not apply the principle to the Superintendent of Public Printing. He is an officer appointed on the recommendation of the President; an officer over

whose appointment neither House of Congress has any control, except in the mode pointed out. The officers named by the Senator from Maine are appointed by one or both Houses of Congress, and this system, bad as it is, has, therefore, a reason in its application to them, but has none whatever to the Superintendent of Printing, as 1 stated yesterday, no more than to any other officer appointed under the Government. The reason to which I have alluded, applicable to other officers, might, perhaps, be so extended as to apply to the public printer, elected by the vote of both Houses; but you might as well apply it to any officer who is appointed on the nomination of the President as to the Superintendent of Public Printing.

Besides, Mr. President, I do not like the reasoning upon which the thing is founded, to pay an individual because you have paid somebody Printing too small? Then increase it permanentelse. Is the pay of the Superintendent of Public it should not be extended. If it is a good one, it ly. If the system is a bad one, as I think it is, should not be extended beyond the principle which it embraces, and that is to confine it to offcers elected or appointed by one or the other or both Houses of Congress. This, sir, it seems to me, ought to be satisfactory.

It was with great reluctance I said anything upon the question at all. I did not intend at this session to say a word upon any question. Especially did I not intend to say anything about the subject of paying out money. But I would conclude by asking the question, and let every Senator apply it to his own case: By what rule of propriety will you pay out of the contingent fund of the Senate an officer appointed on the nomination of the President?

Mr. HAMLIN. I will merely say to my friend from Michigan that some of the officers whom we have already paid by our resolution are nominated to, and confirmed by the Senate before they can occupy their places. I refer to the Librarian and Commissioner of Public Buildings. Still they are properly the officers of the House and Senate. The Librarian takes care of the Congressional Library. The Superintendent of Public Printing is also properly an officer of the House and Senate; and I only insist that we shall not make fish of one and flesh of another.

Mr. ADAMS. I concur with the suggestion made, that these extra allowances are all wrong. I think every officer should be paid a fair compensation for his services. I do not intend now to participate in this debate, for it is too late to do anything with the system on this resolution; but

32D CONG.....3D SESS.

I give notice to the Senate that if I shall live to the commencement of the next session, I will introduce a resolution at an early period instructing the proper committee to inquire into the compensation allowed to the employees of the Senate; and if it is not sufficient in the judgment of the Senate, that they fix by law the amount to which they are entitled. Increase their compensation if it is not enough. I am willing to do that, but I || am opposed to the extra compensation. I am willing to pay them what is fair and reasonable. But I shall not oppose this resolution. As the extra compensation is allowed to others, I see no reason why it should not be allowed to the persons mentioned in this resolution.

Special Session-Extra Compensation.

But, Mr. President, I did not rise particularly for the purpose of saying this, but just to drop a word in behalf of an expiring system which everybody condemns, but which I really do think is in itself a very good system-that of extra compensation. Why, Mr. President, before we yielded to the influences operating upon us from the other House, and the clamors raised throughout the country, to a certain extra mileage to which we used to be entitled

Constructive.

Mr. BORLAND.
Mr. BADGER. "Constructive" mileage. I
wish to know whether any member of the Senate
ever found it inconvenient to him to receive that
constructive mileage at an extra session?

Mr. FITZPATRICK. I never received it.
Mr. BADGER. Here is an honorable Senator
who says he never took it. Then he did not find
it inconvenient to receive it. [Laughter.] No
man can be inconvenienced by receiving a thing
which he does not receive; therefore my proposi-
tion remains in full force.

Mr. ADAMS. Will the Senator allow me-
Mr. BADGER. I am in the midst of my ar-
gument now, and I cannot give way.
Mr. BUTLER. The Senator from Mississippi
will help you.

Mr. BORLAND. As chairman of the Committee on Public Printing, I feel it to be my duty to state to the Senate, that if there are any employees of the Government, who, on account of arduous and important services rendered to us, can in any way be considered entitled to the extra allowance, the Superintendent of Public Printing, his clerks, and messenger are entitled to it. I know the amount of labor which they have to perform. I was astonished when the Superintendent of Public Printing told me that with two clerks and a messenger he could perform the duties required of him. I thought, and so stated at the first Mr. BADGER. I know he will. He is alsession of the last Congress, that it would take six ways right, [laughter;] but I shall prefer at presclerks; and I think his reducing them to two, and ent to go on. We found it convenient to ourthe amount of labor which I know he performs, selves to receive this mileage. I did, though my which requires all day and sometimes late at night, amount was small. The honorable Senator from entitle him and those who assist him, if anybody Mississippi found it much more convenient, beis entitled, to this extra compensation. There is cause his was larger. [Laughter.] I did not another circumstance which would make it pecu- grudge him his. I was never for leveling his down, liarly hard as well as invidious to make this dis- but I would have been always willing to level mine tinction against them. The bill which passed at up. [Renewed laughter.] We cannot retain this the recent session making appropriation for their for ourselves. It is said to be an abominable syscompensation failed to receive the signature of the tem with regard to our officers; we are told to President, and is not a law. They will have to raise their salaries to the amount requisite and pay wait until the next session before they can get any them that, and no more. Now, sir, I think there is compensation for their services at all. It would something extremely agreeable at the close of the therefore be very hard to refuse them this allow-session, when the officers have been serving us ance. I do hope it will not be done. I will go as far as any Senator, at the next session, to get clear of the system of extra allowance and fix the regular salaries of our employees at a fair rate, and oppose always afterwards any extra compensation; but do not let us begin with this case, and make

this invidious distinction.

with fidelity and attention and kindness, doing
everything they could to promote our convenience
as Senators, and enable us, by their assiduity and
attention, to discharge our public duties with more
advantage to ourselves and to the country, and
promoting our personal convenience-I say there
is something to me exceedingly grateful in this
"free-will offering," by which we tell them, be-
yond the demands of law, "You are to receive this
as a testimonial of the estimate in which we hold
your assiduous and voluntary service beyond the
demands of your official duties." Therefore, sir,
I wish merely to pay a testimony of my respect
and consideration for a system which is soon to
leave nothing but its memory behind.

I would say to the Senator from Mississippi
that his resolution at the next session will be en-

Mr. BADGER. I was persuaded by the clear and distinct statement made by the honorable Senator from Michigan [Mr. STUART] yesterday, that there was a propriety in striking out "the Superintendent of the Printing" from the proposition to give extra pay, and I consequently voted with him this morning in Committee of the Whole to strike it out; but, sir, I am obliged to say, for truth and candor require it, that the Senators from Maine and Arkansas have satisfied me that I was misled by the plausible statement of the tirely unnecessary, for we have already burdened Senator from Michigan, and that the strength of a most laborious and overburdened committee of the argument is the other way. The Senator from this body-that is the Committee on RetrenchMaine has shown that we are in the habit of pay-ment, one of the standing committees of the body ing extra compensation to two officers who are appointed precisely as the Superintendent of the Public Printing is appointed; and the reason why we have been in the habit of paying them is precisely in full force and operation, as a reason for paying this officer; that is, that they are engaged in discharging duties which properly are connected with the two Houses of Congress. The real difficulty and incongruity, Mr. President, has arisen from this, that Congress by its legislation has given the appointment of the Librarian, of the Superintendent of Public Buildings, and of the Superintendent of their own printing to the President. That is the error. You ought to have retained the appointment of every officer who is concerned in discharging duties in which we alone are primarily interested. But there can be no reason, under the circumstances, why we should except the Superintendent of the Public Printing, after having paid to others standing in precisely the same relation as to the mode of appointment and the duties which they have to discharge towards us; and therefore my attention being called to that fact, I am obliged to say that the honorable Senator from Michigan, I think, will, by persisting in his amendment, be accomplishing what the Senator from Maine says: making fish of one and flesh of

another.

[ocr errors]

provided for by our rules, because it is necessary
that it should always be in existence and ready to
meet the large demands of the public upon its ser-
vice-by a resolution introduced by the Senator
from Virginia, with the duty of producing a scheme
of compensation to be adopted at the next session,
which will relieve us of what some gentlemen con-
sider a painful necessity, but what I look upon as
the agreeable office of voting extra compensation
to our officers. Therefore, we have nothing at
present to do but simply to pass this resolution,
and then the whole system will be broken up, be-
cause at the next session, should such be the de-
cided sense of the Senate, we will revise the sala-
ries of the officers and stop the contingencies.

SENATE.

edge I have done injustice, and that Senators ought to have the constructive mileage; nay, it ought to be more than it ever has been, [laughter,] and if I had the liberty now, I would take it most conscientiously. [Laughter.]

Mr. BADGER. So would I. [Laughter.] The question was taken on the amendment, and it was not concurred in.

Mr. DODGE, of Iowa. I offer the following amendment:

Provided, That no extra compensation shall hereafter be allowed to any one out of the contingent fund of the Sen

ate.

Mr. BADGER. I hope my friend will not insist on that. What does it signify? Suppose we pass a resolution hereafter to make the allowance, will that control us?

Mr. DODGE, of Iowa. I am aware that we can override it. But what does the Senator from Arkansas and every other Senator who advocates the resolution say? Just what has been said at every other session: "This is the last time we will make the allowance." I have been made the instrument under which these things have been brought here, under the pressure of men, women, and children; at midnight and daylight I have been dragooned, and bedeviled, and hunted down, until I had to succumb. [Laughter.] You are now taking in everybody connected with the Senate-officers created and appointed by the President as well as the others. You fixed the salary of the Superintendent of the Public Printing, upon your deliberate judg ment, at $2,500, the highest price which anybody says should be given for the talents and knowledge which he possesses; and yet you immediately vary the proposition to add to his pay $250 or $300. You have also included the reporters in the list of those to whom you give the extra compensation; and the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate are annoyed day after day to give such a construction to the allowance as will bring in every man who is engaged in cutting stone, or has anything to do on the Capitol extension. It is now extended so far that the whole thing is about to fall by its own weight. My proviso is in the shape of a proclamation to everybody connected with the Senate, that hereafter this thing is to stop, and when the Committee on Retrenchment and Reform, will because it was committed to them, take up the subject at the next session, they will not be put off with the apology that "this is the last time" that the extra allowance shall be made. That is all I ask. I know we can hereafter disregard the proviso. My friend from North Carolina comprehends my motive. He knows I am the last man who would deal illiberally with any of our employees.

Mr. BADGER. I know it, and therefore I will make an appeal to the Senator for the last. time [laughter] to withdraw his amendment, not on account of any objection to the principle contained in it, but I think it will place us in rather a ridiculous attitude.

Mr. DODGE, of Iowa. I withdraw it.

Mr. BRODHEAD. I think the amendment ought not to be withdrawn. I do not think it is the last time; I do not believe this is an expiring sys

tem.

Mr. BADGER. Oh, yes; it is dead. [Laughter.] Mr. BRODHEAD. At the extra session of the Senate in 1851, I heard you, Mr. President, (Mr. ATCHISON in the chair,) say it was the last time; and I could not understand till this morning why it was that my friend from lowa [Mr. DoDGE] was so anxious at the last night of the last session to have a resolution passed, giving the sum of between twenty and thirty thousand dollars to the employees. I now understand it. I can comprehend his feelings. I believe he said he was drain-gooned and bedeviled and hunted down by men, women, and children. How much do you think we paid under this resolution?

Mr. ADAMS. My object in attempting to terrupt my friend from North Carolina, was to make an acknowledgment to him and other Senators. If I do injustice to any one I always take pleasure in retracting it. Heretofore, I have with most of the country condemned what has been known as constructive mileage; but since I have had the honor of being a member of this body, and experienced during the last six weeks especially, the labor of sitting up here all night when the public interest required it-the labor which we have had to perform here and elsewhere connected with the duties of a Senator, I say now that I acknowl

Mr. BADGER. Fifty thousand dollars? Mr. BRODHEAD. We paid about $28,000. The plain honest people throughout the country, who work as hard as our employees, think that $30,000 ought to be enough altogether. But, sir, this is extra compensation. I know the officers of the Senate are most worthy officers, and the most accommodating gentlemen that I was ever associated with. I am willing to give them a liberal compensation, but it is a miserable system of

32D CONG.....3D SESS.

paying them about $30,000 extra at the close of a session, and on the last night of the session. But it will never come to an end.

[blocks in formation]

Mr. BADGER. I wish to correct one error into which the Senator has fallen. Although I have been a friend of that system, and think it the best, I do not choose to stand in opposition to the sense of the Senate if a change is determined upon. I am willing that the system shall be discontinued, not because I think it is wrong, not because I do not think it is good in itself, but because it is the subject of complaint, and liable to misapprehension and misconstruction. But I do object to putting a proviso of this kind to the resomy earnest solicitation, because it places us in a ridiculous attitude before the country. If we cannot trust our own firmness and decision, without a pledge in the form of a resolution to control our action, let us confess our imbecility, and give way to somebody to correct it.

is so, for it says no payment "shall be made," without any qualification whatever. Now I deny the power of the Senate to do that, and I deny the Mr. BADGER. I wish to say one word about propriety of doing it. If, as the Senator says, it this "last time" to which Senators have alluded. does not mean that, why not make it speak what Mr. BUTLER. "Henceforth." [Laughter.] it does mean, that no payment shall be made hereMr. BADGER. "Henceforth;" I change the after unless the Senate direct it? I think he adword. What the Senator said is correct, but he mits that if the Senate does direct it the payment forgets one part of it. The Senator from Indiana, must be made. It is mere brutum fulmen to put [Mr. BRIGHT,] at the session before the last, said there a declaration that no payment shall be made he would yield for that time, but at the commence- hereafter of any extra allowance or compensation, ment of the next session he would introduce a when the Senator knows perfectly well that if the||lution, which my friend from lowa withdrew at resolution for revising and increasing the salaries, proviso is adopted the extra allowance can be and he was assured if he did so he would receive made if the Senate choose, and will be paid in the the entire support of the Senate. He omitted it manner in which it has been done heretofore. at that session, and he explained to me the rea- Therefore, I think, in order that we may not stulson, that it was not a suitable time to introducetify ourselves by undertaking by the proviso to tie it, when we had adopted a provision in the appropriation bill making a temporary increase of the salaries of most of the subordinate employees of the Government. That was the reason why he did not introduce it.

Mr. CHASE. I am opposed generally to this doctrine of" henceforth." I do not believe in it as it was explained the other day by the Senator from North Carolina. That which is fit to be done is fit to be done now; and that which is right should be insisted on at all times. If a policy is expedient, it is expedient that it should be carried out now and at all times.

our own hands, we ought to adopt my amend-
ment. I admit that after the amendment to the
amendment is adopted, it will present rather an ex-
traordinary spectacle, but not half as extraordinary
as the amendment in its present shape. It is not
an amendment declaratory of a purpose; it is not
an amendment declaratory of the intentions or
judgment of the Senate; it is a peremptory and
mandatory proviso that hereafter no additional
compensation shall be paid. Whom does it limit?
It proposes to limit somebody. If it limits any-
body it must be the Senate, for nobody else has
assumed any authority to order the payments but
the Senate. It is said that we do not pretend to
limit the Senate. Then say so expressly upon
the face of the amendment. Suppose the honora-
ble Senator should add a proviso to a bill relating
to the salaries of officers, that hereafter no salary
should be paid to any officer, greater than the sal-
ary allowed in that bill, when the officer could re-
ceive no salary except under that or some subse-

My friend from North Carolina has said that this is an expiring system. I think it is a wrong system, and I agree in that with the Senator from Illinois, and with the other Senators who have spoken on the subject to day. If it is wrong, it should be discontinued, and I know of no time so proper for its discontinuance as the present; and therefore, for the purpose of testing the sense of the Senate upon that, I desire to submit this amend-quent law. Does not the Senator see that it would be

ment:

Provided, That hereafter no allowance of any kind, beyond their regular compensation, shall be made to any officer of the Senate.

Mr. BADGER. Is it in order to move to amend that amendment?

The PRESIDENT. It is.

Mr. BADGER. Then I move to add the words "unless directed by the Senate." I presume the honorable Senator from Ohio does not mean to say, that if the Senate should direct the payment of the extra allowance, the Committee on Contingent Expenses shall not pay it. Now, let us look at this case. The Senator's amendment provides that hereafter no extra allowance shall be made. Suppose that at the next session an extra allowance is ordered. The Senator certainly does not mean, if that is ordered by the Senate, and paid by the Secretary out of the contingent fund, that he shall lose the money. It unquestionably means nothing but this: that no extra allowance shall be paid unless the Senate direct it. If it means that, say it. I submit the amendment to make the proviso consistent with the state of the law.

Mr. CHASE. I am quite aware that the Senate, at the next session, may, if they choose, notwithstanding this proviso, grant the extra allowance; but the object of the proviso, I suppose, cannot be mistaken. It is to declare that in the judgment of the Senate the system is wrong, and ought to be discontinued. We have heretofore, upon almost every occasion, as is well known, when propositions for granting extra allowance have been made, been told it is the last time. Now, I wish to put it upon record that it is the last time. We all know very well that it is perfectly competent for the Senate at the next session, if they see fit, to overrule or rescind the proviso. They may do that; but unless it is adopted there will be nothing to indicate that it is the understanding of the Senate that this system ought to be discontinued. On the contrary, if the proviso be adopted now, in my judgment, the system will be discontinued. If it is not adopted, the Senate say in effect that the system shall be continued. I hope that the Senator from North Carolina, inasmuch as he says his amendment will not affect the case at all, will not press it.

Mr. BADGER. I think my proposed amendment does affect the case greatly; for the amendment of the honorable Senator, as it stands, declares that no payment shall be made, whether directed by the Senate or not. Undoubtedly that

vain and nugatory? I am sincere about this mat-
ter, and I should be very sorry to have such a
proviso appended to the resolution. I think it
places the Senate in a very absurd position. It
uses the word "shall" as applied to the Senate or
somebody else. It is admitted that nobody has
anything to do with it but the Senate, and it un-
dertakes to say that the Senate hereafter shall not
do a particular thing. We thus undertake not
only to say that we shall not do it, but that no
Senate hereafter shall do it. I cannot see the pro-
priety of it. I believe, myself, that when the Com-
mittee on Retrenchment reports at the next ses-
sion, the system they report will be adopted, and
that will put an end to this business. But I would
rather the system should continue forever than
adopt such a proviso as is proposed by the Sena-
tor from Ohio.

Mr. CHASE. Every law is subject to repeal;
every rule is subject to alteration. The Senate, if
they see fit, may proceed in disregard of their rules,
by unanimous consent. They cannot disregard
a law which they impose upon themselves, except
by unanimous consent. It is true that this amend-
ment will become the rule of the Senate unless it
is repealed. Therefore I desire its adóption be-
cause I know it will constitute a rule, and because
I know that unless it is adopted we shall continue
to be found in precisely the same situation as at
the last night of last session, and the same ap-
peals will be made to us, and we shall be under
the duress of which Senators have complained.

I offer the amendment because I think it is right, and because I think it is due to us that we should arrest this system. I have no complaint to make of Senators who differ with me, and who regard this as a fit and proper system. The honorable Senator from North Carolina has said frankly and explicitly that he approves the system in itself. Now, if the Senate approve the system in itself, they will show it by their vote, in adding to my amendment the amendment which he proposes, and thereby reduce it to a nullity. If, on the contrary, the Senate is of opinion that the system should be discontinued, and concur with me in that, and do not concur with the Senator from North Carolina, they will reject his amendment and adopt mine. It is simply a question of difference as to policy. I am unfortunate in differing with a Senator for whom I have so great respect; but differing as I do from him, I think it proper, and feel bound to present the views which I entertain on the subject.

Mr. DOUGLAS. I hope the honorable S-nator from Ohio will have more firmness than either the Senator from Iowa or myself have shown in offering an amendment and then withdrawing it. I hope he will not withdraw the proviso. I confess I admire the apparent earnestness and frankness with which the honorable Senator from North Carolina has argued this question. The real point at issue is this: shall this abuse be discontinued or not? Whenever we have attempted to arrest this practice towards the end of a session, we have been invariably told that it will not do to stop it at that time, because the employees have been engaged, and have worked under the expectation of getting it; that we must give notice at the beginning of a session that we are not to make these allowances; that there was an implied_obligation to grant it at the end of the session. That argument invariably prevails when objection is made to the adoption of a resolution towards the close of a session. Then the advocates of the system, when a proposition is made to give notice, think it is very unbecoming to give such a notice, and say that we must have firmness when the time comes at the end of the session, to resist and stop the abuse. Thus by one course of argument at the opening of the session, and by another course of argument at the close of the session, the system has been extended till it has reached now the character of an intolerable abuse. I hope we will adopt the amendment and give the notice. I believe that is the object of the Senator from Ohio by his amendment. The effect of the amendment to the amendment offered by the Senator from North Carolina, is to carry the implication that hereafter we will grant the extra allowance.

Mr. BADGER. No; but that it must be paid if we do.

Mr. DOUGLAS. I understand the argument of the Senator upon that subject; I think it would be an improvement of" Chitty on Special Pleading." The proviso is, that hereafter no allowance shall be made. If that proviso be adopted there is a notice that our employees are not to expect it, and if they do they will not get it. Then the amendment to the amendment that the allowance shall not be made unless authorized by the Senate carries the implication with it that we will pay it hereafter as we have on every former occasion. Hence, the question is now distinctly stated whether or not we will put an end to this abuse, and we arrive at that distinct issue by rejecting the amendment to the amendment, and standing firmly by the amendment of the Senator from

Ohio.

Mr. DODGE, of Iowa. I trust the amendment to the amendment will be rejected, and that we shall adopt the amendment of the Senator from Ohio, although I yielded to the solicitation of my friend from North Carolina, and thus showed his power over me. It is not the first time that I have yielded to that power. But I look upon the amendment just as I do upon the amendments made to appropriations for custom-house buildings. Congress has the power to go on and appropriate its dollars ad infinitum, I know. When a bill is before us granting money for the construction of a custom-house, a proviso is always added that the expenditure shall not exceed the appropriation, and my friend from Virginia [Mr. HUNTER] has almost worn out his fingers drawing up such provisoes. But we know that Congress has power to override then. I look upon them as a proclamation to those engaged in erect

« PoprzedniaDalej »