Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-11-20

special committee of the ENGINEERING
Council. given before a masssmeeting.
oatechnical engineers in, the govern
meht service here, held. at the New;
National Museum auditorium last
night. .4~s
A study of the changes in prices and
wages during and after the civil war
was presented to uphold these con-
illusions. as presented by John c.
Hoyt of the geological survey, John
houses and o. c. Merrill of the forest
service, who constituted the commit
tee.
Points to Civil War Times.
During the civil war retail prices
rose to 1919 per cent of the prices in
1860, and wholesale prices to 1873 per
cent said Mr.. Hoyt. who presented
the study for the committee. From
1865 to 1872 all prices showed a grad
ual downward trend, and in 1872 the
retail prices had fallen to 143 per
cent and the wholesale to 126 per
cent.
From 1918 to 1919 the cost of liy-
ing followed closely the trend Of
wholesale and retail prices from 1860
to 1855. If history repeats itself we
cannot expect a large reduction in
prices during the next eight or ten
years. 1t is interesting to note that
the rise in wages during the civil war
vas almost simultaneous with the rise
In prices of commodities.
During the world war the rise in
wages has Jagged about a year behind
the rise in prices. Furthermore, In
the period Immediately following the
civil war wages continued to rise
after prices started to fall. The pres
ent price level is not considered
merely temporary by such of our gov
eminent agencies as the Department Of
Labor and the Federal Reserve Board"
Mr.. Hacker Opens Meeting.
Morris Hacker. president of the
Washington Society of Engineers,
opened the meeting, which was held
to hear the report of the committee
on the results of its questionnaires to
the $500 engineers here in sixteen
civil establishments and four organi-
cations in: the Navy Department.
The meeting was preliminary to
hearing which is to be given technical
engineers and scientists in general in
the departments before the joint con-
gressionaI commission on reclasSiica-
ton of salaries in the District. This
week in December, it was announced
last night. .
In presenting it's tentative salary
schedules. running from minimum
salary grade of $500 for chief engi-
neers to a minimum salary grade OF
$1,000 for. junior aid. the extremes of
the seven professional and non-pro-
fessiona1 grades determined upon, the
committed was controlled by TWO
principles:
a reasonable living wage.
9 Every position should pay the
amount necessary to secure Tor ana
rezain in the government service EN-
ployes capable of conducting the pusi-
ness Of the government with an EN-
cheney and a spirit of initiative equai
to that required in private business
Mr.. 'Hoyt's Conclusions.
Mr.. Hoyt said:
.aThe preliminary analysis OF the ques-
tionnaires has shown the lack OF any
adequate or consistent employment
policy with respect to engineers and
other technical employees in the govern
ment service. This is shown by the ioi-
lowing conditions. which are believed TO
be largely responsible for the unsatistac
tory status Of this class Of government
i. Absence of any system Of grading
Of positions.
80. Lack. of uniformity in classes Of
positions and in their titles and duties:
49, Inequalities in compensation Tor
positions of the same grade In dlnerent
organization units.
q. Generally Inadequate compensation /
for services rendered.
inequalities in compensation are as fol-
lows:
II. The absence Of any system Of
graded classification in the government
'2. The different methods used by
Congress in making appropriations for
salaries, one of which is known as the
lump sum- and the other as the 'statu-
tory.
positions, particularly in the lower
grades, are on the statutory roll'-that
is, the salaries for the positions are
fixed annually by Congress in the bill
which carries the appropriation Tor the
department. With few and unimportant
exceptions, these statutory salaries have
not been changed since the date they
were first fixed by act OF Congress, ten.
twenty or forty years ago. Hundreds
and the money appropriated for them Is
turned back into the Treasury because
Il il impossible to fill them at the rates
which Congress has fixed.
'sThe salaries of the greater part OF
tfD technical positions. however. are
paid from lump-sum appropriations
and are fixed by the head of the de-
partment, although Congress ordinar-
lily limits the amount which may be
paid as salary under a lump-sum ap-
preparation for example. the four
thousand FIVE hundred dollar maxi
mum limit in the Department OF Agri-
culture. Notwithstanding these limi-
tations, the general scale of salaries
on the 'lump-sum' roll is less made.
quate than that on the statutory
roll. This explains.-in part, the varia-
ton in salaries paid for similar posi-
tons in different bureaus. For ex-
ample, the salaries for engineering
positions in the general land Office and
in the coast and geodetic survey,
where there are many statutory posi-
tons, are less than those in the bu-
reau of standards and in the geologi-
cal survey. Furthermore, compensa-
ton in the younger bureaus, such as
tAskbureau Of mines and the Interstate
Commerce Commission, is generally
higher than in the older bureaus.
The most striking inequality dis
closed by the questionnaires is that
between the several civilian bureaus
and the four bureaus of tho Navy
Department With the exception Of
grades l and the positions reported
civilian employees. In 1915 the aver
age salaries in the Navy bureaus in
grades 3 to z, inclusive, exceeded the
average in the civilian bureaus by 2
to 20 per cent. The excess in 1919 is
from 40 to "a per cent. The highest
average increase in any grade for the
civilian bureaus for the four-year Pc
$50 a year. The highest average in
crNase in the Navy bureaus is in the
same grade and amounts to $1,576. or
1894 year. This inequality is due
to the fact that the salary schedules
fixed by the labor adjustment board
in its decision of October "a, 1918,
were made applicable to the Navy De-
partment. but to none Of the other bu-
reaus covered by this report y
INEQUALITIES Of this character can