The Washington herald., 1916-12-20
Victory.


the urgent necessity of increasing the
salaries of government employees to
meet the demands of the higher cost
of living.
The movement was begun on No
vember TO- two weeks before the con-
vening of the second session of the
Sixty-fourth Congress, with the pub
lication on the front page of The
Herald of a news article and the pub
lication of an editorial setting forth
the facts that while the cost of living
had increased on an unprecedented
scale and industrial corporations in
all sections of the nation were raising
the salaries of workers, the salaries
of government employees still were
on the basis of half a century ago.
The movement so inaugurated
soon won numerous supporters.
After a few days other newspapers
offered their aid. The government
employees themselves took heart and
entered the fight for higher salaries
with more enthusiasm than ever
Various civic and other organizations
gave Endorsement to the movement.
Cabinet officers, members of the Sen
ate and House, government officials,
churchmen, business men and others
gave praise to The Herald and Of
fered their support.
Daily The Herald devoted columns
to the publication of facts relating to
the movement, printing news articles,
interviews, letters from poorly paid
employees, statistics. cartoons and
other material designed to arouse
members of Congress to the fact that
the increased cost of living, jump
ing by leaps and bounds, had made
necessary the enactment of emer-
gency legislation to relieve the poor
ly paid workers for Uncle Sam.
The movement bore fruit when the
House Appropriations Committee
recommended graded increase of S
and 10 per cent in the salaries of gov
ernment employees.
The movement resulted in vic
tory yesterday when the House,
without roll call, voted to increase
by 5 per cent the salaries of govern
ment employees receiving between
81 200 and $500, and by 10 per cent
the salaries of government employees
receiving less than 1900. The vote
by the House affected only those en-
ployes provided for in the legislative,
executive and judicial bill, but readers
in the House say it is certain that the
same increases will be granted in all
of the supply bills, so that, in effect,
the House is on record as favoring
the increases for all government
workers receiving less than $500.
OF course, the Senate must pass
the bill before the wage increases are
written into law, but there seems to
be little doubt that the Senate will
act favorably. In fact, the vote by
the House may be accepted as a COM
plete victory for the underpaid gov
ernment employees.
This victory probably will be re-
membered as the most important
single act ever recorded in Congress
in behalf of the residents of the Ma
tional Capital and government en-
ployes throughout the nation. The
victory of The Washington Herald
also probably will be written into
newspaper annals as the most i'm
portant ever attained by a publica-
tion in this city In acknowledging
the congratulations received over the
telephone, in letters and In personal
calls last night, The Herald wishes
to congratulate the members of the
House of Representatives in their
wise recognition of the necessity of
giving aid to the government en-
ployes who have suffered most be-
cause of the increased living cost.
There will be many who will suf-
fer disappointment, but their disap-
pointment must be alleviated by
knowledge that important reforms
rarely, if ever, are accomplished over
night and that the action of the
House, in voting S and 10 per cent
increases, may be accepted only as
preliminary to careful and COM
plete revision of the salaries paid
government employees.