The Washington herald., 1910-01-02
Evil begets evil.

LrfAA DSSNtS NNAAs
With the laying bare by The
Washington Herald of the loan
shark business, as practiced in
Washington, opportunity was given
for a scrutiny OF the economic oondi-
tons under which the nefariouS
transactions exposed could reach
proportions OF such magnitude
Each days investigation gave added
proof that small and average wage
earners were the greatest sufferers.
The reason was not far TO seek.
While life everywhere through
out the United States has each year
become more complex, and the cost
of living has annually been advanc-
ing Samuel Gompers said yester-
day it had advanced 50 per cent in
FIVE years., there has been no cor
responding increase among a large
proportion of wage-earners.
The inevitable result has been
that which The Washington Herald
has been laying before Its readers
in the last two weeks. The wage
Garner who receives the same sti-
pend as he did ten years ago found
himself face to face with a problem
too great for solution.
INCREASE OF EXPENSES.
Each year expenses increased, with
wages at a standstill, until many a man
taking a retrospect finds confronting him
Il condition which. as Mr.. Gompers point
ed out, amounts 10 a reduction in earn
ings.
As a consequence. TO escape one evil,
an economic condition, before which he
found himself pOwerless, the poor IN
fortunate sought a greater evil-assist-
ance through the loan shark system. The
results of such a desperate step have
been made familiar to all readers Of this
paper.
While it was apparent at the outset
that earners Of modest wages were the
to- No
.evil. it remained to be brought out at the
citizens committee meeting last Friday
afternoon. that those who had been
squeezed the hardest were from the ranks
of the governmental classified clerical
force.
Then a glance backward revealed the
'fact that in spite OF changed economic
conditions, there had been no change
in the scale Of salaries in the classified
service for more than a half century.
Civil Service More Exacting.
During all these years, not only has
the scale Of living prices been on the
ascendant. but the civil service has been
all the time more exacting in its de-
mands upon those who should consti-
tute the governments great corps OF
workers.
The service, intrenched behind its rigid
rules. has been permanently established.
and various reforms have been instituted.
Yet the system thus highly developed has
failed to take cognizance of one vital
fact. The scale of salaries by which
the compensations Of the 2S6, SOP officials
in the competitive system are determined
remains exactly what it was fifty and
more years ago.
With an increase in the business of
the government in recent years has come
a corresponding increase in the new DO
sitions created.
An examination of figures compiled by
a committee from the Chamber of Com
merce to show the need of Redistribution
shows the average salary of a government
employe in this city, in round numbers,
is SIOOO. out of a total of 2S.e0O en-
ployes. only 2.4OO receive S.l9O. but 1900
receive $500 a year, and $500 receive less
than 500 year.
Further deductions from conditions as
thus outlined shows the injustice to which
the government submits those in the civil
service.
Reduction of His Salary.
Take the case Of a government clerk
who earns 500 a month, and was earning
the same amount, say, ten years ago.
Advances in the price Of living have
been more rapid during the last decade.
Analysis shows that. in effect, the