Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-04
TO RAISE CLERKS PAY
Recommendations of the Keep
Commission.
GRADES ARE REARRANGED
Matter viii Be Pressed at the Next
Session.
IT NOW RESTS WITH CONGRESS
Comparison of Salaries of Government
Employees With Those in the
Business World.
GRADES ARE REARRANGED
IT NOW RESTS WITH CONGRESS

Should the recommendations Of the
Keep commission be followed, it will re-
suit in the increase of the salaries Of
government employees in Washington an
average of 10 per cent.
The matter of salaries and rearrange-
ment of the different clerical grades in
the service were gone into extensively by
subcommittee of the Keep commission,
with the result that the commission rec
commended a comprehensive scheme for
revising the work Of the departments.
This report was submitted to the Presi-
dent, by whom it was approved, and was
also considered by the House committee
on appropriations, where it met with
favor, and by the Senate committee on
appropriations, where it was pigeon -holed
for the time being.
The report of the commission is of
great interest to the government en-
ployes, because it will be pressed for con-
sideration at the next session of Congress.
1t is signed by c. H. Keep, Lawrence Q.
Murray, James Rudolph Garfield and Glf-
ford Pinchot, committee on department
methods.
The commission declares that the grades
and salaries have been arranged with the
view of placing the lower salaries sum-
GENTLY high to attract competent persons
to the service; to have the salaries suffi-
GENTLY graded to assure frequent promotion
as a stimulus to the best efforts; to place
the higher salaries sufficiently high to de-
velop and retain the best executive and
expert service and to make the graduation
and equaliza ton OF salaries in all depart
ments according to the character and the
responsibility of the work performed
Schedule of Salaries.
In the schedule of salaries submitted by
the commission me subclerical grades are
arranged as follows:
Employees whose work occupies only part
of the time each day, as charWomen, jan
itors etc., s240 $500 and $500 per annum.
Employees who enter the service at an
early age "a to is years. and who are en-
800, $500, $50 and $3.50 per annum.
Employees engaged in rough and UNI
skilled work, as laborers generally, Sooo ana
$3.50 per annum.
EMPLOYEES whose duties are not clerical
or mechanical, but require some special
skill or involve personal responsibility, as
messengers watchmen, classified laborers,
sorters counters, etc, $3.50, Si2o, $iSo ana
$40 per annum.
No person whose principal duties are as
above shall be paid over $40 per annum
The clerical grades are arranged as fol-
lows:
Under clerks-Employes who are assigned
to clerical work of a simple or routine
character requiring care, accuracy ana
skill, $500, $780, 81 ,O2o and $l,0So per an
mum. $500
Junior clerks-Employes who are assigned
to clerical work of a routine character re-
curing but little original thought or con-
sheraton but requiring Judgment, respon-
sibility and special skill, Sl,Zoo, slZoo' Slo<o
and $3.50 per annum
Clerks-Employes who are assigned TO work
more or less routine involving responsible
ity. special ability and original thought
consideration and investigation, $I,ooo' $l,-
$40 and 81, 74O per annum.
Senior clerks-EmployeS who are assigned
to work largely supervisory, or recurring
the highest order of clerical abi1ty, IN
yolying much original thought, considera-
ton and investigation, 1880, $l,9so and
81, 100 per annum.
Chiefs of divisions and chief clerks-Em-
ployes who perform supervisory, executive
and administrative duties, $500 to $4,2OO
per annum.
General Considerations.
The salaries of professional, scientific and
technical and miscellaneous employees shan
be assimilated, as far as practicable, to the
scale established for clerical and higher
grades. The number and variety of desig-
nations shall be as small as practicable;
and the duties assigned to such employees
shall be confined as far as possible within
the lines indicated by their titles and for
which they may have passed examination
No fixed scale of compensation for skilled
trades employees is recommended in the re-
port but it is suggested that whatever
salaries are determined upon should con-
form to the grades fixed in the schedule.
The plan outlined by the commission
serves to reduce the number of titles, and
at the same time the number of different
salary grades is increased.
The commission points out that the sal
| aries now paid in the departmental service
in Washington are based upon classified
ton of the clerks made in acts of Congress
of 1858 and 1854, both being effective from
July 1, 1858
These acts graded the entire clerical
force Except the departments of State
and Justice) into four classes, designated
as first, second, third and fourth-class
clerks, and fixed the compensation of
these classes at $1,000, $1,400 1900 and
81 800 respectively The average salary
of the 700 clerks provided for in these
acts was $1,446.
| Comparison With Business Salaries.
The commission states that an effort
was made to secure data from business
establishments of various kinds as to
i salaries paid, and that, by comparison, it
| has been found that, in general, directive
! and supervisory agents and those using
technical skill or expert knowledge, are
much better paid in private and cor
| porate employ than under the govern
| ment, and that the lower grades of
| clerks, stenographers and typewriters
| are better paid in the public service than
| in private employ.
The commission states that such SAL
| aries as $3.50, 5000 and 500 year, which
! have become quite common in several de-
partments of late, are entirely too low for
| any person who has passed creditably
| civil service examination for the clerical
! grades, and that they tend to the deteri-
| Grafton of the service.
Effect of Proposed Change
1t is stated that the results of the appli-
cation of the proposed schedule, according
| to the principles set down therein, would
| be the raising of salaries of all clerical
| positions below $500 year to that amount;
| the REIMBURSEMENT of salaries of the direc-
| tive and supervisory positions and profess
| sional, technical and scientific positions,
| according to the character of work and
| responsibility, which would bring about an
| increase for many, but not by any means
! for all such positions; the readjusting of
| salaries for the intermediate positions be-
| tween 500 and the supervisory grades,
| now distributed into a few regular and
many irregular classes, so as to distrib-
! ute them into fourteen regular classes