The Washington times., 1902-09-09
AUDITOR OF NAVY SAYS
SALARIES. ARE TOO SMALL
Below the Least Average OF
Other Departments.
Character of Work. Is Such That Each
Employe Must Be Skillful
Accountant.

The question of salaries of the clerks
in his division is one of the main fea
lures in the annual report for the past
fiscal year Of Mr.. W w Brown. Auditor
| for the Navy Department Mr. Brown
claims there is great disparity of sala-
ries in his Office. as compared with the
| other auditing bureaus in the depart
| ment In this connection Mr.. Brown re-
| news his recommendation for readiust-
ment of the salaries, and has the follow
ing to say:
The employees are paid semi-monthly
There are on an average 3,10O employees
on the New York rolls, 1920 on tne
Washington rolls. while the rolls OF the
navy yards at Norfolk and Mare Tslanc
are nearly as large. This requires al
examination of 1s.600 pay tickets for
New York. 1920 for the Washington
yard. and corresponding number Tor
the other yards, each quarter
Inc question OF salaries is discussed at
length by Mr.. Brown. He claims there
IS great disparity of salaries in his Of
fce as compared with the other auditirs
bureaus in the department In this con-
nection. Mr.. Brown renews his recon-
mendation for readjustment OF the
salaries. He says:
Reason for Increase.
Exclusive of the auditing officei for
the Postoffice Department, the average
salary is s17S less in this office than the
highest, and s51 less than the lowest
average in the other auditing Offices.
The character of the work in the audit
ing office of the Navy Department is
such as to require a very high order
of clerical ability. There is very little
copying or formal work. Nearly every
clerk must be an accountant. and he
must also be familiar with the large
volume of legislation pertaining to both
the War and Navy Departments. To
secure and hold such class of clerks the
salaries must be high enough to com
pete with others of the highest grade |
in the auditing service.
"A brief reference to the recent |
growth of the naval force will clearly |
demonstrate the needs of the office I
which audits the naval accounts
by the acts of 1864, 1868 and 1875 |
the number of enlisted men In the navy
was fixed at not to exceed $500. The
act of March g.. 1898, fixed the limit of
men and boys at 10000; the act of June
I. 1860, at 10000, and the act of March
B, 1901. at $4,000. This increase is ex-
elusive of the volunteer force provided /
Dy Congress for the Spanish war.
Growth in Business.
"By the acts of 1861 and 1867. the Ma
rine Corps was liked at not to exceed
1853 men. The act of March 4. 1898, in
reased that number by 1.6i0. for tenn
,orary service during the Spanish war.
The act of March 3, 1899. increased the
iarine Corps to 5000 enlisted men. By
his legislation the naval force, includ-
ng the Marine Corps, was made to ag-
,regate $1,000.
Prior to March 8, 1899. there was but
paymaster in the Marine Corps; now
here are 2. Prior to said act there
1ere but quartermasters: now there
re 5, besides several officers detailed as
citing quartermasters, all of whom rem
er separate accounts.
'In addition to the foregoing, 1t |
heuld be borne in mind that by the act
f July l, 1902, the naval force is in
reased by 5000 and the Marine Corps
y $50, so that when fully enlisted the
maximum naval and marine force will
Zach S4.S10. or nearly 5000 greater than
lie army prior to the war with Spain"