Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-09
REPRESENTATIVES View of Sixty
Dollars a Month.
PAY OF THE PARK POLICE
Hearing Before House District Com-
mittee on Plea for Increase.
AVERAGE OF ANNUAL SERVICE
President of Citizens Association
Discusses Matter, and Is Inter
rogated by Mr.. De Forest.

Representative De Forest Of New York.
q member OF the House committee on the
District of Columbia, declared today that
to require a park policeman TO live on
$50 month lis outrageous Ills re-
mark was in the form of an intersection
at hearing before the committee, at
which DR.. Charles NJ. Emmons. president
OF the Suitland Improvement Association.
appeared to argue for q change in the
Revised Statutes Of the United States
whereby the forty park policemen and
their two sergeants would be put on the
same salary plane as the members of the
metropolitan police. In his talk DIR. En-
mons made It plain that the old song. "a
policeman's lot 10 not a happy one" was
written especially for park guardians.
In the first place he said that these
forty men are paid go a month. which
drew forth Representative De Forests
exclamation. They receive two uniforms
a year. which cost the government 1880
apiece. One sergeant gets $40 a month
and another gets $1,000 a year.
Without Right Of Petition.
Now you have taken away the right Of
these men to petition Congress for an in
crease" he said.
by what act?" asked Chairman john
son. us not the right to petition guaran-
teed under the Constitution"
These men are civil service employees"
explained DIR. Emmons.
THE park policemen work 2.sS4 hours
a year, as against 1859 hours for govern
ment clerks: that makes them give one
third more service In a year.
Representative Prouty OF Iowa was In
trested in the fact that there are three
separate police organizations I'm the Dis
trict, the metropolitan police. crossing po-
lice and park police. He asked IL il
would not be better to have one general
police organization.
DR.. Emmons continued his remarks, ex-
planning that park policemen patrol Loo
acres OF reservations and are in addition
supposed to watch out for violations Of
the law on the streets. and read from
letter from Col. Spencer S. Cosby, super
intendent OF public buildings and grounds.
to Secretary Taft, now President in
which II was said: The washington
paid man in the United States who has
police duty to perform
DR.. Emmons also said the park police
men have the same duties to perform as
the regular force, with the exception Of
reserve duty"
Reserve Duty Described.
This reserve duty" he said. consists
mainly Of sleeping in q nice clean bed
at government expense. 1t Is only about
once a week that a man on reserve duty
is called out from the station house to
90 to . IRE or O riot 2.
Representative Prouty again wanted
to know about the three sets OF police.
Berkeley Inge. a park policeman, said
that as far as he was concerned a
general police force would be all right,
but that owing to friction between the
three forces he imagined that IL the park
men were taken over to the metropolitan
force the park men would be gradually
railroaded out Of their Jobs. He made
one strenuous objection to his present
condition:
Under the present law we do get
an extra uniform. but II IL quite possible
that when q man leaves the service an
other man 10 given his uniform. I OBJ
ject to wearing the clothes Of another
man."