The Washington times., 1919-12-17
LOW Salaries
CAUSEU.S.b|G
Loss, ICLA|M
Entire Federal Organization
Menaced by Poor Pay, Say
Employees Committees.

The wasting OF enormous sums OF
money by the Government through
iasrficiency resulting from made
quate salaries. and a jeopardizing of
the. entire structure OF the Federal
organization" the largest business In
the worid.- was related to the Con-
gressional Joint Commission on Re-
classification of Salaries this morning
By committees representing the tech
nical, scientific and professional serv-
ices OF the Government
The National Research Council. rep
resentlng $1,000 scientists In the
United States. gave warning TO the
commission. through James r. Angel,
that -our Government will certainly
pay for its inefficiency and low sal
aries in the terms OF national disas-
ter unless present conditions are
remedied at onre.
Prefsets Great Lss.-
Studies made by the Coast and
Geodetic Survey, in relation to its
commissioned personnel. show that
the aSxreszse cost during the fiscal
year ending July 1, 1920. OF using
experienced men for training new
employees. Of lost time due TO person
mel changes. and OF lessened EN-
cheney due 20 inexperienee, Is likely
TO be more than e5 per cent In excess
OF the total annual pay roll for such
personnel the commission was told,
BY way of illustration OF a general
CONDITION, by o. c. Merrill, chief en-
gtneer of the Forest Service and
chairman of the general committee
representing technical scientific, and
professional employees OF the Govern
ment.
II wss emphasized that the adequate
exercise OF the many functions Of
the Government and the economical
expenditure of tn ecounffees millions
involved depend primarily upon the
sohts eficiency and integrity of
the setentfstss engineers and profess
siond men In the executive branch
OF the Government.
stanaarss' cs4.s DSvs. ~
Instead of rising. the standards Of
personnel Of these responsible posi-
tons have been going down, Mer-
rill declared He showed that in the
Bureau OF Standards the turnover .s
20 great that the average service
given by an empioye Is on'y eight
months in duration
Ne private business coula stand
such working basis and avoid dts
aster Merrill commented.
IL was shown that some engineering
schools In the country have not had q
single graduate enter the Governmsnt
service since 1910 Generally colleges
have been advising their graduates
not to enter the Government service
because IL no longer II desirable em-
ployment and offers no future. II was
declared
SNsaey Depreeiasssu CITED.
The $1,000 salary OF July. 1914. Is
worth less than $3.50 today" said the
brief presented to the commission.
The accumulated depreciation On
that salary since July i, 1914, to the
end of the present year viii be ap-
proximately uID. II II is assumed
that the average salary paid to the
1o0. 80 employees OF the government In
The district OF Columbia is but y1,.s00
per annun, and even IL IL u further
assumed that 90 per cent OF them
have received the full salary bonus
Ss partial compensation for Q de-
prsc1sted salary, the accumulated de-
preciAttn remainfng-the amount. In
fact. which these employees In
addition to All their Liberty bond and
other subscriptions have contributed
toward the cost Of the war-is more
than 10000. 600
BY charts, IL was shown that tech
nicAl men resisning their Govern
msnt position at a salary of s4.6oo
have entered outside employment at
an initial salary of sll ,6ST, repre-
The lowest tncrsase received BY any
OF the many employees leaving this
branch of the Federal service for out
side positions has been q. per cent
IL was stated
Meakers sf CSaalttee.
On the general committee with
Merrill were W. T. Bawden- assist
ant to the Commissioner of the Bu-
reau OF Education. and W. d. Collins,
food Investigation chemist. Bureau
OF Chemistry.
Others who appeared before the re-
classification commission as repre-
sentatfves OF the various branches of
the technical, scientific. and profess
sional servicees. were W. A. Taylor,
=. c. Crittenten, @. A Hill, James
Robertson. II. q. Ayers, c. c. Clarke,
W. c. MendenhAll. David White, R c
Tofmsn, C L Parsons, Bertram Nc
Cunonn, z. NJ Hiatt, w. T. Norton, J.
o. Lewis. h s. Graves r. J. Keppel,
;. Franz, Thomas Ewing, W. A
Ktnnan, and z c. Henry.
Future HearsnGs-
A final schedule OF dates for hear
tngs was announced by the commits
sion this morning as follows:
Dec 1850 g. m, supply and
equipment: IL a. m. detention and
reform alton
Dee $3.50 g. m. Administrative
and supervisory clerical; 80 n m.
actuarial; II M, theological; 2 D. M,
police.
Dee 1850 a. m, miscellaneous
clerical; dead letter. docket and
clerks OF courts, tellers and counters,
assessor and appraiser, comparers
and ycrifers, summary brief for cler-
zeal group OF services; D. m. fnyes-
tigAtional and inspsctional.
Dec 2s-e;3o a m, accountancy; IL
a. m. examiner; .. m, law.
Dec. So--ef3o a. m. specialized busi-
M AnA