The
salary must then have been deemed small for the responsibilities and
dignity of the position, but justifiably so from the impoverished
condition of the Treasury and the simplicity it was desired to cultivate
in the Republic.
The salary of Congressmen under the Constitution was first fixed at
$6 per day for the time actually in session--an average of about one
hundred and twenty days to each session--or $720 per year, or less than
one-thirtieth of the salary of the President.
Congress have legislated upon their own salaries from time to time
since, until finally it reached $5,000 per annum, or one-fifth that of
the President, before the salary of the latter was increased.
No one having a knowledge of the cost of living at the national capital
will contend that the present salary of Congressmen is too high, unless
it is the intention to make the office one entirely of honor, when the
salary should be abolished--a proposition repugnant to our republican
ideas and institutions.
I do not believe the citizens of this Republic desire their public
servants to serve them without a fair compensation for their services.
Twenty-five thousand dollars does not defray the expenses of the
Executive for one year, or has not in my experience.
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