Mr. FESSENDEN. Oh, yes; but they state anything that comes in their heads about the Depts aswell as about us. The senator’s experience of newspaper remarks, I think, should satisfy him that it is quite as wellto omit payin any attention to them. I came to that cone usion long ago. If they would examine and be sure of their facts, and understand them before they made their statements, it would save a great deal of difficulty and trouble. But they take, as Senators do, floating rumors about what they hear, and they make articles 11 on them as Senators make speeches upon them, without knowing really what they are talking about in many cases. The condition of business in the Dept, as I have said, requires that there should be power to a point temporary clerks. When 1 was in the Dept I found another dif ficulty which required a remedy. The business of the Dept became very much dependent upon a certain class of clerks, and those generally the ablest and most important men in the Dept. It became dependent upon them, and they could not be dispensed with in point of fact. It became necessary, therefore, to provide some way in which they could be kept, because banks were being in stituted and all sorts of business corporations all over the country, and looking out for accomplished men, men who could conduct their affairs. They came here and they took a great many men out of the Treasury Deptand would have taken a great many more but for the steps that were taken to retain them. It became necessary, in order to conduct the business of the dept, that there should be power to raise the salaries of acertain class, to increase the pay of a certain class of clerks. Everybod was petitioning for an increase of salary. n examining into the matter I he came satisfied that there was no necessity for increasing the salary of the largest number of the clerks; that it would not do; that the 1st class clerks and most of the 2nd class clerks received as much pay as they ought to receive. To be sure, some of them who had families could not live very well upon their salaries; but you cannot make distinctions between clerks and pay those who have families more than those who have not. They are divided into classes, and perform the same duties. You can get any numlier of them. The applications are innumerable. You can get any number that you please at any time, and for the great mass of them the pay is high enough. Consequently it would not do to increase the pay all round; there is no necessity for it, and it Would involve an enormous expense. Under those circumstances, and to obviate that difficulty, I drew, with my own hand, the amendment that I wanted passed to enable me to get along in the office and keep the services of those men who must be kept in order to do the business. Into the appropriation, which Congress had.been in the habit of making for the employment of temporary clerks, I inserted a provision that in cases where the Secretary deemed the public service to require it, he should have the power to increase the pay of clerks. I drew it with that object, to increase the pay of those men who were absolutely essential to transact the business of the office, who were resigning at the rate of 6 or 7 a week, sometimes, because they could get very much larger pay elsewhere. The cases were numerous where a man receiving $1, 800 or $2,000 was offered $3,000, and sometimes more, to become cashier of a bank, or something of that description; and there was great danger that we should lose many competent men, especially in the office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and in the office of the Treasurer, where you must have trustworthy and able men. I therefore had that clause inserted, with a view to remedy the difficulty without unnecessarily increasing the expenses of the Dept. The present SecyTreasury was then Comptroller of the Currency. He understood it perfectly; and when, after the appropriation was made according to my recommendation, he went into the office of SecyTreasury, be up lied the money precisely asI intended it shoul)d be applied and as he understood it ought to be a plied, a certain portion ofit, just as little as lie could possibly get along with, to the men whose services were absolutely necessary. All at once an outery was raised by the lower classes of clerks, who received all that it was intended they should receive, that this money, instead of being given to those who received the least, was used to swell the salaries of those who received the most. They got up a noise about it; and people did not understand it; it was not understood outside; nobody took pains‘to inquire of the SecyTreasury what was meant. Articles were written in the news papers on the subject, and a great noise was made. The HoRep, I see, when they passed this bill, in the clause which the ComFinance have moved to strike out, went to work, yielding to that out cry, thinking they were doing justice, and appropriated a certain sum out of this money to those who received not over $1, 200 a yearand giving the balance to the 1st class clerks and to. the 2nd class clerks. The increase has been given in a great many cases to the 4th class clerks, as it was intended it should be, and to some of the 3rd class clerks; but as this section came from the HoRep it would leave out the 3rd class clerks and give something additional to the 1st and 2nd class, which it was really intended should not be increased at all. I have drawn this amendment precisely to cover the ideas under which the original provision was drawn. The sum which I have put in here is not so large as the SecyTreasury or those who are more conversant with the business of the Treasury Dept than he is becau'se some of the subordinate officers are necessarily so think will absolutely be required; but I think they can get along with it. If this amendment is not made, the result will be that there will be no power to retain the services of men who must be retained in order to carry on the business of the Dept; and it is too late in the session now to sit down and revise the whole arrangements of the Dept and classify the clerks anew. I think it would not be wise, and it would lead to a large increase of expenses, and especially for those very classes w rich are already sufficiently provided for. I think the storm for etting men in will be over before long; and if we get back to the specie basis, as 1 think we shall in the process of time, the old salaI H ries will probably be enough for all the classes of clerks. This is a temporary expedient, resorted to only during the existing state ofthings and to save the necessity of passing a law which shall fix increased rates of salaries, which we shall find it exceedingly dilficult to get rid of at a time when we may desire to do so, because it is always hard to strike down; it is much easier to strike up. I have now given an exposition of the whole matter. I think that the view which has been taken by my honorable friendfrom Massachusetts is founded in misap rehension and error, and that we should be oing great disservice to the Dept in refusing to make this appfrro. pKriIaRtKioWn.OOD. My attention has been called to this section, not precisely upon the point which the Senfrom Massachusetts as raised, but another. It appears that in 1865 there was an appropriation of $250,000 for the employment of temporary clerks and increasing the pay of the permanent clerks in the Treasury Dept, and a portion of thatmoneyremains unexended.