Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-03-16

| November, 1914, before the starvntSo
Smith of Michigan. Sterling. suther,,
! and Wolcott--2S.
| Noes-Beckham. Borah. Cummins,
| Fail Frelinghuysen, Gallinger. Gore,
Harding. Johnson of South Dakota,
! Kenyon. King. Kirby. Myers, Nelson,
/ New. Nugent, PoindeXter. Pomerene.
| Shafroth. Smith of Arizona, Smith of
| Georgia. Smoot, Thomas. Tillman,
Wadsworth, Watson, Weeks and Will
| liamS-29.
| Just before the Senate adjourned
| Senator Williams gave notice he would
appeal from the decision of the chair on
| his amendment for time-and-a- half
| overtime for work longer than elght
! senator Reed of Missouri made
| fervid appeal to the Senate to sup
! port the Sheppard amendment and to
strike out the Sorland amendment. He
| compared the ready approval which the
Senate gave to the large appropria-
| tions made for the food. and fuel adj
ministrations the other day to objec-
| ton now raised by senators to paying
the clerks small salaries for Il seven
| hour day and the privilege of working
the clerks as long as they are needed.
Compares Other Expenses.
-" nile we are complaining Inc
salaries of the 500 a month clerks"
said Senator Reed, land while we are
complaining because they are not COM
PEELED to work as q minimum more
than seven hours a day. there are gen
tlemen travelling up and down the
country, with huge expense accounts
at their command. who are drawing
1900, $4,000 and $4,000 a year, and the
Senate has never even paused to in
quire into the facts. The other day
when the food administration came
here asking for s1,750,000 of additional
money. and it was disclosed that it
proposed to increase its expenses 200
per cent between now and the month
of June, there was not a whimper
from any of the economists in the SEN
ate. Every one of them sat mum, and
you could not get an inquiry into what
was to be done with the money, al
though that food administration had
cost the government in less than ten
months of time over $3.50, 900, and was
asking an increase. which l have in
| cluded in the $10,000.000 estimate of
| $3.50. 900. upon the express claim that
| it proposed to increase its expenses
| 200 per cent. According to the esti-
| mate. may expect to pay $50, 100000
| or s30.000.o00 during the next twelve
months. We go about complaining
here and dsclaiming there because
! some woman who may be supporting
| an invalid husband or an invalid
child or old father or old
| mother. only being required to work
seven hours a day: we insist that for
her 500 a month she shall work eight
hours as a minimum, with no pay for
! overtime, but We say nothing about the
enormous salaries men receive who
have been appointed by the food admin
istratfon or fuel administration without
regulation by law and without confirma-
( ton by the Senate. Here a few gen
| tlemen who hold offices unknown to the
law. We do not even know what their
/ titles indicate. All we know is that
they hold their authority OF office by
grace of Mr.. Hoover, who selects the
men, prescribes their duties, assigns
their titles, arrange their expenses
! and mayhap pays their rents. The lat
ter l cannot affirm with certainty.
More Comparisons.
Senator Reed read list of the en-
ployes of the food and fuel administra-
ton drawing salaries ranging from
Sc, 900 to $1,000.
Here is a lady drawing twice the
salary that the clerks in the departments
draw. Which one of the economists in
the Senate rose up to protest against
that? Why. when l asked that there
go out of the deficiency appropriation
bill the other day $1,750.ooo to be used
million dollars that has already been
! squandered, you did not vote then for
economy, that was not economy day.
That was Hoover day. Now, there IS
nothing to oppose this rare bit of econ
omy but o few poor clerks. and there
are plenty of gallant gentlemen willing
to charge the breastworks that are
defended by the helpless.
The food and fuel departments to-
| gether, in the city of Washington and
| elsewhere. | think | am safe in saying.
are employing thousands. Some months
| ago the food administrator stated that
/ he had. l think it was, eleven or twelve
| hundred clerks here in Washington
! alone.
! Not a word is said about these
/ things; but. oh, how we will convince
! our constituents that we are looking
I after their interests if we can just go
| back and say. Look at what we did to
! the clerks. See how we have guarded
/ work an extra hour every day How
! about these others?
''Mr. President the thing is sickening
! to me. If we want to economize, let US
| begin right Let us begin by placing
some restrictions upon the wild extrav-
| aeance of men who spend money as
| though it Were leaves upon the trees,
and though, to Dol row the express
/ sion of another, we owned the forests
of the world.
| Senator Jones of Washington strong.
| ly opposed the Borland amendment,
| which he declared to be unfair and dis
| Grim fnatory. He insisted that it had
( not been asked for by any of the de-
| partment heads. and that they should
! know better what was needed in the
/ matter of WORKING their employees than
| Congress. lie pointed out again and
| again that under existing law the en-
| ployes are compelled to work as long
! as they are needed without extra COM
! pensation.