Mr. FESSENDEN. But the amount ofstationery in the House must be vastly greater, and there are so many more persons to he waited upon that undoubtedly it maybe necessary to have a messenger there, but it is not necessary here. One man can do the whole, and one man did the whole for a long period of 'ears until this proposed increase. Mr. Cln b, who was in that room for many years, never had a clerk or messenger, and never called for one. He did the whole work and did it well for a series of years. Now we are to add $1,500 for a messeeger to stay there and do the work and wait upon us while the "keeper" himself is to be allowed $2, 500. There is no reason for it in the world. If the keeper of the stationery chooses to employ I confess that I do not; l i I A clerk is himself about other business and puts some body clse in there to be paid, one of the mes sengers to the Senate in reality, I think he should pay that person out of his own pocket. We allow enough to the keeper of the station ery to perform all the duties for the small number of Senators there are here. While I am on that subject, I willsay thatl really wish that the Committee on the Contingent Expenses of the Senate would turn their attention to the stationery room and put it under some regulation. Nothing in myjudgment is more necessary; nothing calls for reform here in the senate more than that stationery room. It has got to he an abuse in my judgment, and avery serious one, and this is adding to it. I notice in the table appended to the report the last item is “messengers, H and the table showsthat our messengers are now paid $1, 200, and it proposes to pay them $1,500, and that is put down as an ition of $300. I suppose there are 20 or 25 of them, and each one is raised $300. The number of me: sengers is not at down, and instead of this item being an additional expense of $300 only, as the report would seem to show, we are at $300 additional expense for every messen or we have got connected with the Senate. IVs have increased' the number very much since we came to the new Hall, with a larger gallery; and the Sergeant at Arms has been obliged to add to them now and main. I think this bill needs careful revision. n is leaping in the dark in the 1st place. on the supposition, taking it for granted, which, I take it, is not the fact as the law stands, and cannot be, that the officers of the House receive all that is fixed by a vote of the House and that therefore we must come up to that by law. If we do, the result will be that the House will add the increased salary for their employees as an amendment to the bill, and then this very large increase of compensation all around will take place. Whatever officers there may be here in the Senate connected with us ought to be well and properly paid. I think there are some whose salaries ought to be raised; but I think those whose salaries ought to be raised are thosv who do the great work of the Senate, and have great responsibilities, and whose salaries have been kept too low. With regard to the others generally, I have not heard any complaint until this effort on the part of the House, which resulted one year in compelling the Senate to yield to it in order to pass a bill, if I recollect aright, and is now attempted again. I think it would be better to refer this bill to the comContingent Expenses on the part of the Senate. I do not know whether the senator who has charge of the bill will object to that or not.