The “Salary Grab.”
At the same session—1871–’73, acts were passed to abolish the franking privilege, to increase the President’s salary from $25,000 to $50,000, and that of Senators and Representatives from $5,000 to $7,500. The last proved quite unpopular, and was generally denounced as “The Salary Grab,” because of the feature which made it apply to the Congressmen who passed the bill, and of course to go backward to the beginning of the term. This was not new, as earlier precedents were found to excuse it, but the people were nevertheless dissatisfied, and it was made an issue by both parties in the nomination and election of Representatives. Many were defeated, but probably more survived the issue, and are still enjoying public life. Yet the agitation was kept up until the obnoxious feature of the bill and the Congressional increase of salary were repealed, leaving it as now at the rate of $5,000 a year and mileage.
A House committee, headed by B. F. Butler, on Feb. 7th, 1873, made a report which gave a fair idea of the expenses under given circumstances—the increase to be preserved, but the franking privilege and mileage to be repealed. We quote the figures:
| Increase of President’s salary | $25,000 00 |
| Increase of Cabinet ministers’ salary | 14,000 00 |
| Increase of salary of judges United States Supreme Court | 18,500 00 |
| Increase of salary of Senators, Members, and Delegates | 972,000 00 |
| Total increase | $1,029,500 00 |
| Saving to the Government, according to the official statement of the Postmaster-General, per annum, by the abolition of the franking privilege | $2,543,327 72 |
| Saving to the Government by abolition of mileage, stationery, postage, and newspaper accounts (estimated) | 200,000 00 |
| $2,753,327 72 | |
| 1,029,500 00 | |
| Total net saving | $1,713,827 72 |
The House passed a bill for the abolition of mileage, but in the Senate it was referred to the Committee on Civil Service and Retrenchment, and not again heard from. So that the increased pay no longer obtains, the franking privilege only to the extent of mailing actual Congressional documents, and mileage remains.
The following curious facts relating to these questions we take from Hon. Edward McPherson’s admirable compilation in his “Hand-Book of Politics” for 1874.