The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1911-11-20
MEYER WOULD AID
UNDERPAID CLERK
Navy Secretary FaVors Re-
tifing Aged Employees.
HE CITES PRIVATE EXAMPLES
eEwithout PensioninE or Retiring
of superannuated Civil Employees,
the Government Can Never Sc
cure satisfactory Service"
Points to Industrial Corporations.

Ranging himself with other high gov
| ernment officials for. higher pay and
better conditions among government
clerks employed under civil service, See-
retary George Won L. Meyer, of the
Navy Department. in his annual report
states that unless Congressional pro-
vision is made for the pensioning and
retirement of superannuated civil en-
pIoyes the government can never hope
to secure efficient and satisfactory serv-
ice.
The civilian clerical and technical
forces of the Navy Department have
not received the recognition that the
| increased activities of the service and
conditions in other executive departments
and in private employ warrant" said
Secretary Meyer.
| Chances in Private Life.
BY reason OF opportunities for more
desirable private employment and better
| chances for Advancement in other de-
partments of the government in which
the scale of salaries for similar service
appears to be appreciably higher, the
| loss of competent employees by reslgna-
| ton and transfer has been a source of
embarrassment to the department and
has seriously affected the stability of
| the force.
THE total number of officers and en-
listed men authorized for the navy and
Marine Corps has increased from q 1862
in 1899 to 6O,O74 in 1911, an increase of
ia per cent. In the same period, the
classified civilian force in the department
! proper at Washington has increased from
5O7 to 700. an increase of IS per cent.
Navy Compensation Lowest.
z THE Census Bureau prepared a state
ment, as OF date July l. 1907, giving
statistics of employees in the executive
civil service of the United States Com
pairing the civilian force Of the depart
ments proper in Washington, the Navy
! Department ranked lowest as to average
rate of compensation, the Department Of
| Agriculture not being included, as the
| figures for that department were based
| on the total number of employees in and
| outsid- of Washington. The conditions,
| so far as the Navy Department is con-
| cerled, have not been materially bet
| tered since the statement referred to was
prepared. Eliminating the technical mes
senger. laboring and watch force, the
| discrepancy between the Navy Depart
ment and the other executive depart
ments is still more pronounced.
Concrete examples can be cited OF
positions involving duties OF a high char
acter where the discrepancy is unusually
| large. A provision of law in the legisla-
| tive act approved June p, 1906, prevents
! the transfer of an employe from one
| executive department to apother until
4 such employe has had at least three
years service This provision has worked
to the advantage of the Navy Depart
ment. so far as employees in the lower
! grades are concerned but the loss of
transfer is still felt. and is due in a large
measure to the universal impression that
the chances for advancement in the Navy
| Department are much less than in other
| departments of the government, owing to
the low rate of compensation for posi-
| tions requiring a high order of clerical or
| technical ability.
Revision Downward.
| During the last few years great stress
| has been laid, by heads of departments
and others, upon the fact that the sched-
ule Of salaries for. clerical employees in
the executive departments in Washington
| has not been revised since the passage
of the act of April %, 1854. AS a matter
| of fact, the schedule of 1854 has been
| revised-downward. OF the employees en-
| gagged in clerical and technical work in
| the departments in Washington. approx
|
| than 81, 200 per annum, the minimum sal
airy prescribed for clerical services in
the act of Is +, and in the Navy Depart
| ment this PERCENTAGE is 80.
It am of the opinion says Secretary
| Meyer, that existing conditions as to
cost of living warrant a general increase
| in compensation for all departments of
| the government. but IL Congress is not
| ready to make general increase It
should at least equalize the compensa-
! ton OF positions of the higher grades.
| Not only should increased compensa-
4 tio1 be provided for The clerks, but legis-
| lation should be enacted at the earliest
| practicable date looking to the establish
| ment of some form of civil service re-
tirement. 1 am not prepared at this
| time to advocate any particular system
| believing that this is a matter which
should be determined by Congress after
| careful consideration; but unless some
provision be MADE for the pensioning or
retiring of superannuated civil employees
| the government can never hope to
| secure the most efficient and satisfactory
| service.
Deserving of Pensions.
There is no class of employees who
| are more deserving of increased compen-
| sation and retirement with reasonable
lay than the employees of the govern
| ment. Very few of them are able to
accumulate much, IL anything, during
| their long years of service, and when old
age disability does come to them they
must either be carried as a burden on
the governments rolls or thrown out on
tho world with no suitable provision for
their last years.
But. aside from all sentimental con-
siderations. believe that civil service
retirement by the government would be