The Washington times., 1919-11-13
ASK RAISE FOR
PLAYWORKERS
Committee Tells RecIassifica-
ton Commission Poor Pay
Causes Dearth Of Employee

The necessity OF a munIcfpxl recr~.
ational service TO guard the morale a,
boys and girls and 10 provide health.
ful pastimes for children and .dr,s.
was impressed upon the con~res-
sional joint commission on reclasxI-
hSauon OF salaries this morning NV 81
com mmittee representing plxyxroun<~
and the community center depsrfmert
OF the public schools Of wssbfnrto.
IN presenting it's brief for an i'm
proved recreationd service and for
increased salaries, the comrni,fes
pointed out that while some citl.s
pay as high as 32o0 a month for CO.
saln positions In their depertnn~cs
sni1.isn pays "a skilled Isborer,s
work" "e same
A plea for a more permanent sn.
Slal basis instead OF the uneertsin
.Shp sum appropriation upon wh,cb
Us & "ork Is now dependent wa
Many E.picyes Less.
The need for higher s.l.~s
only attract but hold the be,t o,s~S
MoTkers was emphasized In the f~~t
shat since 1917 the recreatiopas ,~rv~
re IN Washington lost thirfv-ex~Ss
directors Of Playground. eIrhteen -
shlsnt directors. fifteen assIstanfs
we've watchmen. and ave ofr5c, p~o-
PIE who went into higher salarsed
District Commissions o>rss~~
under whose Office plsv~roor6 -
1alis' opened the hearing b<forr IT,
reciassincation Commission Ne ..tS
mat mat tne statements which werI To b.
presented by the spokesm<u To fot-
low were m accord with his vIexs
commissioner Brownlow said r.c.
reatlonai work was OF the most viz,
Importance to this city He said th.f
unfortunately IL had not been e.t.h-
o tohs enough TO receive the sup
the hope that substantial ,tstr,o-s
salaries for the work will be exf.h.
iished by Congress.
nope that this important ~rork
VIII be-put on such q salary hssf. tb.s
it VIII not only get but hold workerr
SO efncient that all doubt Of the COM
munity value Of the recre..xov,.s
service will. be removed" comUts-
sioner Brownlow said.
municipal recreauonaf s@rysc~
VIII pay the greatest dividends on
any Investment which will be made.
~ VIII 90 more toward the moral pro
tection OF our children and remove ,
AT once the greatest danger spots "a
our youth than any other social in
stitution."
He said the n yority Of the 1.ooo
eases which came to the attention Of
the women's bureau o fthe police de-
partment during the pas yrSf sh---os
that the girls got into trouble 49,
cause OF the lack OF recreation.l -
ciittes. Mr.. Brownlow said thar ~
WouIo IKE TO see this city's dsn-s
halls under municipal mans xeuue-f
Mrs. Rhodes Urges Rate.
Mrs. Susie Root Rhodes. su7errIsox
Of Fairgrounds. who HEADED the ee,usl
mittee, presented a brief Tor il.f-~a.~s
salaries. She said thar TIE srrr--s~
in population in this city Lad f.-<st-
~ increased the demand tea ni.v-
grounds facilities and t.svrroancs
She declared that the saErs xos~S-
ule of the workers in her deparful~nf
had not changed since 1911, ~hea
Congress took over the system, "a
lcept one class OF workers who re-
ceived an increased OF SO, and spots-
er class which was raised IS per
month. She said that playground
workers should receive a salary equal
at least TO that OF the teaching pro-
fession since they must be able to In
terest and instruct various rr0ups
from kindergarten to adult
As contrast OF the small salaries
paid in Washington Mrs. Rhodes mAa-
toned the salaries paid IN Other
cities for equal The uperiptendent of
recreation in Philadelphfa receives
$1,000 year. while in this city the
position pays $500. The Director
of athletics receives 5000 q m ,rth In
Detroit while here he is given q skilled
laborer's wage Of $3.50 per day. Such
inequalities exist In other positions
Mrs. Rhodes explained
Miss Cecil B. Norton, general seeye-
tary of the community center work
presented the claims of her Depart
nent She traced the growth Of this
work and showed the rerponsibilitftes
which IL entails. Salaries comnun-
surate with the high dutfee OF the
workers were asked for.