The Washington herald., 1916-03-26

lndisputsble evidence of the conditions of abso-
lutte poverty under which thousands of govern
ment employees in the lower grades of the clas-
sihed civil service exist was submitted to a COM
mittee of the House of Representatives last week,
and with the facts in its possession it is not to
be believed that Congress will adjourn the present
session without enacting legislation to wipe out
what amounts to national disgrace Many for
mer Congresses have neglected to take step
in the direction of doing justice to the civil
service employees it has fallen to Represent
alive Nolan, of California comparatively a new
conner, to draft and introduce a bill designed to
afford them immediate relief. His measure is
not ideal, but it is admirable in one respect; it
cuts the red tape, discounts-the interminable
delay that must necessarily ensue if such legis-
lation is entrusted to~the usual process; and if
it succeeds, as it should, it will put money into
the homes of needy workers with the utmost
dispatch.
1t through the hearing given by COM
mittee on Mr. Nolan's bill that really startling
conditions of injustice and poverty existing in
Washington disclosed From the gravedig-
ger, struggling to keep family OF four alive
on the $40 month the government pays him,
to the doing scientific work for 5000 year,
who lost his home and spent the money he
saved while serving in the United States army
for living expenses while employed in the civil
service, the story of the governments shame is
unvsryng. The who has worked twelve
years for s. day and whose family has not
seen the inside OF theater in seven years and
rarely goes even to moving picture exhibition
is only of thousands.
This scandal Of he Cantal having herp ex-
posed to the world Congress cannot permit it to
continue, and quick and effective remedy is
offered in the Nolan bill, which provides for a
minimum government wage OF S. day and a
horizontal increase of 20 per cent OF all salaries
in the classified civil service. 1t is intimated
that effort will be made to eliminate the pro-
vision for a general increase, but this should be
steadfastly resisted by friends OF those thou
sands of employees whose compensation is not
more than ST 900 a year and whose living condi-
tons are but little better than those of the
gravedgger. The adoption of a minimum wage
alone could only defer the prospect Of relief for
the majority, because members of Congress would
be only too quick to felicitatc themselves hav-
ing done their full duty to the whole body OF
government employees for years to come. The
horizontal increase is not generous, but it is
just and should be granted in the absence OF any
indications that a scientific adjustment will
be made in the immediate future. The solution
is no nearer perfect than the minimum wage
provision, but together they provide prompt
remedy that is both feasible and commendablc for
a shocking evil, for which former Congresses are
wholly to blame.
But already obstacles calculated to delay il
not defeat the Nolan bill at this session are
appearing, one of them in the form of resolu-
ton appropriating $1,000 for inquiry into the
cost of living in Washington. If the Nolan bill
awaits the result of such an investigation the
prospects OF its passage win be reduced. There
is not the slightest need of such investigation
Members OF Congress know from their own
actual experience of living in Washington VIVA.
the cost is; it is not necessary to tell them that
families cannot be supported in the Capital in
decent comfort on $40 or SI2 week. The author
Of the resolution, Mr.. Heating, must realize the
wide gap between the cost OF living and the
wage the government pays employees in the lower
grades of the civil service. 1t would seem that
he might conscientiously consent to the shelving
of his resolution and combine his energies with
those of sufficient number of members who are
convinced of the justice of the provisions of the
Nolan bill to insure its early passage. The en-
tire country has surely been aroused by these
recent revelations in Washington, and it is look
ing to Congress for the redress of grievous
wrongs thousands of faithful workers are suffer.
ing at the hands of neglectful government