Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-15
SALARY RAISE ISSUE
Another Phase Given of the
Employees Contention.
OTHERS BESIDES CLERKS
About 1000 Employees in Scientific
and Technical Work.
HIGHER WAGES PAID OUTSIDE
Better Compensation Necessary to As
sure the Highest Grade of Service
for Uncle Sam.

LII Tic uiScuSSiOh OF the SUBJECT or salaries
Of employees of the government, the latter
are generally spoken of collectively as
clerks. There are, however, a great many
men in the executive departments Of the
government besides heads of bureaus and
clerks. A large amount of scientific and
technical work is being done by the gov
eminent, and reporter of The Star has
learned after an Investigation that engaged
In this work is a considerable body Of thor
oughly trained specialists who have devoted
many of the best years Of their lives in
gaining the training in universities and
technical institutions to At them for the
highly specialized work they are carrying
on. The civil service reports show that
there are in the District OF Columbia alone
about 1000 professional. technical and
scientific men employed by the federal gov
eminent. The opinion has been expressed
that those of them who are receiving sal
aries In excess of $500 are getting enough.
only the lOwer-paid men being entitled to
an increase at the hands of Congress.
IF 1t be granted that a scientific or tech
nical man should be paid only enough to
live on" remarked a well-known govern
ment employe to The Star interviewer, land
that the present salaries (above $4,000 en-
able man to support his family In WASH
ington as we'll as any scientists family de-
serves to be supported, there is perhaps no
room for argument. But If 1t be granted
that the government ought to pay men as
much as universities, technical institutions
and industrial concerns pay for the same
service, and, further, that the government
ought TO employ at least fair proportion
of men of first-rate ability, then there Is
room for discussion. In employing such
men the government is in direct competition
with educational and industrial institutions,
and If it pays insufficient salaries the grade
of men retained in the government service
i ~, tI0 how J,oy>d IN
crease in present salaries will assure cor
respondingly higher grade of service, for
fewer of the best men will resign and
better selection can be made in filing posi-
lions.
Higher Than Government Salaries.
1T is well known. said the gentleman,
that salaries for chemists. mineralogists.
engineers and other technical positions in
the business world for the best talent are
higher than Is paid by the government. and
theree are often privileges and opportunities
afforded to such experts in commercial work
denied to servants of. the government. Many
Of the larger universities and technical
institutions also pay higher salaries to
some of their scientific staff than is pad by
the government to any of its scientific
considerations besides salary offered to
scientific men in educational work, and as
many of the scientific experts of the gov
eminent are CdpdDle VI illuiS pIoiSSSoi-
ships in the best universities (some have
already done So and others are resigning
from time to time to accept such posit1ons),
it is proper to compare the inducements
offered by the government with those Of
fered by the universities. In the first place,
the long vacations of colleges and UNIVERSE
ties are great inducement, An ambitious
college professor seldom spends the whole
vacation in rest or recreation, unless he be
travelling abroad, but the change of scene
and of work made possible by the summer
vacation is greatly priced. Is not the
government scientist whose work keeps him
in Washington eleven months in the year
Qncluding most and often all of the hot
summer months) entitled to. some compen-
sating inducement in the way of salary?
Suffers by Comparison.
Again." continued the department work.
er, the ambitious college professor works
a goodly number of hours each day and is
often as busy on Saturday as on other days,
but he is able to work when it suits him
best. He can take recreation if he pleases
in daylight and work evenings instead AL
though he must meet his classes and other
appointments regularly, he is largely mas
ter of his own time and can do his work
in the way that is most effective or most
agreeable. The government scientist, on
the other hand, must conform to rigid rules
Of attendance on his official duties. He
must be present six days week from to
4:3O, and is not expected to take any time
out of this for recreation, no matter how
much of his official work he may do even
ings at home (and some or the best scien-
tifc work done for the government is thus
done). This lack of freedom mot the total
quantity of work required) is irksome to a
man who has served in a college uni
versity, and If the government offers no
compensating inducements it is at a dis
advantage in the competition for the best
men.
Again, the universities not only afford
their professors opportunities for travel and
study in the summer. but many universe
ties give them at intervals years leave
of absence, either on half pay or full pay,
that they may travel and study, thus re-
cuperating physically and growing intel
lectualy. This is coming more and more
into vogue, and is one of the many induce
ments for engaging in university work
The government occasionally sends its SCI
entific experts abroad for short official trips,
but a years leave on half or full pay is
impossible, no matter how long or how
brilliantly a man may have served his gov
eminent.
Custom of Universities.
again, no university ever cuts off the pay
of a professor because he Is unfortunate
enough to have a long illness. On the other
hand the government rules operate as mer
ci!essly on it's eminent scientific servants as
on it's clerks or laborers No matter how
lorg how faithful or how regular ones
service has been, IL one Is necessarily abb
sent from duty several months on account
of typhoid fever for example POSSIBLY con-
trao ted by drinking impure water in a gov
eminent building) his pay is cut off after
the usual allowance of time has expired.
This arbitrary sick leave rue is one of the
most exasperating features of the govern