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Congressional Plundering

Congressional Plundering image
Parent Issue
Day
4
Month
August
Year
1845
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Sometime since we took occasion to exposé the shameless rohbery of ttie National Treasury, in the shape of nppropríátion9 Tor bouks, amouniing rri one session to 600 each member, or 6133,000 in all, making thfi pay of the members arnount to Twenly-Five dollars a day. - Tlüs yyua a fair business ibr a ninety days sesüioh. But tiiis was far from beiog all. A portion of the Señale carne i:i lor ndciit ional spoils. Thesession of Congresse.[)ifeii at 2 o'clock, A. M. of March 4, 1345. -An extra session of the Sonate was callod to meet at 12 o'cloek of the snme day. to i Confírm the mernbersof theCabinet, ! eign Ministers, &c. The new members of the Señale arrived and took their seats, and drew their iñileage lees, of course. IBut the old members, (about two thirds ; of the Señale,) wero. allowed constructive mileage fees for travelling to tlieiirespective States and back again.between 2 o'clock A. M. and 12 M. of tlie same day. This was according to a decisión of Vice President Dallas. Some if not all of the old members, thus pocketeu ihe fees for travelling wliich th.ey never jicrformed averagingabout 700 cach, or some!$20,000 in all. TIjus to apply the case in our ow n State. Gen. Cass, . the new Senator from Michigan, toolc his seat March 4th, and drew bis travelling fees according to the established ru'.e. Gov Woodbridge, who remanís as Senator till 1947, was already in Washington, ar.d by this decisión was entitlcd to draw Ninc Iluudred Dollars for travelling to Detroh and back in imagination. As the officialdocument is nat y et publishad, we Unow not for n certainty whelher he was guilty of taking the feo: but as the decisión was made by the proper ofiicer of the Sonate, we presume íhat he did accept it in common witli the otber niembers. The Whigshiy the Llame oí this frnud upon the Treasurv upon the decisión of Vice President Dallas, which they allege is without a precedent. But our impressions are thal a similar allowance for constructive miieoge was made at the firstSeñale session at the nccession of Harrison in Í840. Bul we are unïible to' pui our hands upon the evidence of it. Wheth er theiniquity has ever been perpetrated befúre oV not, its character is lire same. The correspondent of the Tribune sa vs tliat the official statement of the amount paid out to Senators tor constructivo müeage at the last session, and .the members lo whom h was pa;d,iskeptconcenled trom the public eye at Washington, ahhough npplicatkms have been repeatedly made tb theSecretary of the Senate. Ie is intimated that the intention is to keep the matter as dark as possible, until it sball be parüaily forgotten by the ppople. But tliere are a!so otlier peoulations upon t!ic Treasury of a most flngrtinl claracter, which demant! the stern rebuke of the people belbre they become adoptcd asa legitimare ustige. Wc quote the following expositionof Ihem from iho Washington Correspondence of the N. Y. Tribune. "My attention has becn called to an abuse." which, If not ciicekcd jn thc bud by the influencc of public opinión, wíl) sopn ov( íplo fofirlul m.-igniui c. On turniug to page 68 of Ducument VI, pi:blishedby the House of Hepres-nuüivcs, ! being the same account wliioh gféfi fefipj back by McNulty for some time, í linü the following item: 1S43, Drcembrr, Nathan Clifortl, to 17 days per dieni aa a Meinber oi' 'Congrcss from tho 3d day oí' :!arch, lb-KJ, to the 20tíi of liie suido monlh at -S8 pord.-iy, whilu conlinru ai Washingí"!. by reveré vr.l ily indisposilion and unablo tü leave íbr home $135 50 Now il must be rpmemberod, t!.;it Mr. ClifforíPs term of service o.pired on i!il8d of March,nr;u yel hcre lie vas n:iJ $8 per day for 17 dfiyssubsequent to the e.piralion of his íerm on tho ground iliat ,.. un.sivk at Washington. This is o principie which, if niímiTtPO ahd jiHoweil j io lnÍL& root: will spivad itseJvíitl) fcrítTul rapidity, ibrThe tixníiiy wiih v.hich Moinbers of Congress habinraU: t!u-ai:elvcs to grospiog all the pubüo nionc-y whicli they can havo anéxense to handle, has beán strongly pjtöpipHfied: Witness thoConstructive Milonge ail ï!ie immense sums j païd for BbööRs fortheir use at overy session of Congress. Where vill thfS fetp fit Lo allüwed to go unchcckeil- íf overy ij.emuer whom.ay hampón lo be uñwell atthe closof thc tcíRJ of service, pi atthe adjournment oía session, can remain in Washington and charge and recovet bis $8 perday as long as he remains sick? A lew pages further on in thra very document I fii.d a slrong exemplification of what may.be e.xpected if this principie is tu bo aeted upon. On page 114 of the same document ihere is the fullowingf tem: 1344, April, J. J. Roan?- lor thirty days d.etenlion by sickness in Washington City after the adjournment of Congre.ss, iu July, 1Ö3-J, at Sö per day 8240 Otf líere see the principie illustrated. Per diem pay having been allowed to one member whose term of service had expi red, bsenuse he was detair.-cd by sickness in Washington, Mr. Roane goes baclc a pc-riotl of hcelïy. years, and claims pay on ihe name account lor thirty days' detention. Is nol Uiisan rtl)se? Andshould it be allowed to go on and taire root without beinff checkedl Nor is this all. Iam informeel that, during the present yenr. tbc accounts of whieh will not bo published until December, the cxecutors of Barker Burnell, a deceased member' from !Iassachusetts, whodied n tliis city after the expiralion of his tern: on the J3d ?lnrch;13 1:?, have made claim and recovered payment tbr per diem Por him düring' the time he waa sick previous to hisdeatlw and the Congiess was over. Is this to' be allowed to continue, and grow xi until, by presuription, it becomes a vested right?"

Article

Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News