The Mena weekly star., 1919-10-23
MANY PAID FOR
DOING NOTHING
Republican Congressman Claim That
Governments Economy Effort Is :
Sham When Applied to Depart
ment Clerks at Washington.

Washington. Oct Republican
representatives, members Of the House
appropriations committee, are cndeav-
oring to find an answer to the follow
ing question:
If the War Department has been
able to demoblize 92 per cent Of the
enlisted men whose salaries are $50
month, why is it that the govern
ment departments have been able to
dispense with only approximately 2
per cent of the temporary war work.
ers whose minimum salary is 500 a
month?
A subcommittee, Of which Repre-
sentative Good is chairman has been
asking this question of the heads OF
departments and bureaus who hava
heen appearing before il for several
weeks IN connection with the Def
cheney Appropriation Bill without
avail.
Realizing that the expenditures
for the fiscal year 1920 threatens to
exceed the anticipated revenues by
more that $500 million dollars, the
representatives are naturally looking
for some means of cutting down. The
men they have had before them have
been of little assistance, however.
Practically all of them asked for more
clerical help, told Of the months they
were behind in their work, and Of the
threatened nervous exhaustion from
which their present forces were suf-
fering.
"But an officer coming from sons
of these temporary buildings" is Mr.
Goods answer, "told me not more
than two weeks ago that as he went
thru his department and would go into
door and look in, he would count
ten or fifteen persons. five men and
ten women and only two working.
| He said he did not count the number
of women knitting or crocheting; bus
unfortunately, more we're engaged ON
that kind of occupation than perform-
! ing government work.
| Surprise and the declaration, Com
ditions in my department are differ
emf" has been the reply that Mr..
Good has received.
Nevertheless, there are in Washing
ton today somewhere in the neighbor-
hood Of one hundred thousand persons
! in the employ Of the government un-
der civil service regulations, whereas,
/ before the war the number was close
to thirty thousand.
The bureau Of war risk insurance is
fair example, for it employs more
than $4,000 persons Of all grades
The average salary is S1.140. With
this average, the civil service clerical
payroll alone is more than ia mill
lions in the district Of Columbia and
altho all government officials say that
altho they expected the peak Of en-
ployment to have passed long ago,
! they fail TO report its arrival and cam
not predict when the downward trend
will begin.
| Efforts have been made by the adj
ministration to show the reductions
which have been made in the made in
the most favorable light. For in
stance the War Department has just
issued a statement showing that I4,-
1872 clerks have been released in that
department since November IL. This
/ is 80 per cent Of the clerical force az
lcomnared with 92 per cent Of the en-
listed men. but the War Department
statement fails to show that the civil
service commission has made every
effort to place these ia,000 clerks IN
other departments and that complaint
actually has been made before the
House by one Of the civil service COM
misisoners that sufficient number Of
| the government employees did not APP
ply for unemployment.