Evening star., 1920-03-15
|NDORSES REPORT
Of RECLASS|F|ERS
Federation of Federal EN-
ployes, However, Sees
! Need of Amendment.

The legislative committee of the
National Federation of Federal En-
ployes has lined up behind the report
with certain reservations. Al !. meet
ing held yesterday afternoon the
committee voted to ask Senator Ster-
ling and Representative Lehlbach,
chairmen of TIL" Senate and House
committees on civil service, for early
action to bring the report before both
houses of Congress.
The federation will ask for hear
ingS before these committees at an
early date, at which to present the
amendments it believes essential to
make the commissions recommends
tionS just and sclf-COnSIStcnt
President Steward Calls Conference.
Meantime Luther {. Steward, presl-
dent of the federation. has called a
conference for next Saturday night
at the organization headquarters. !i-3
New York avenue, Of the presidents
of the four local federal employees
unions. and OF the employees rEITt-
sCntativeS on the departmental ana
service committees set UP by lie re
c.assication commission. in order TO
formulate such amendments as the
employees may deem 1t necessary TO ASH
Congress To grant.
If amended as urged by the fcdcr-
alton. the report Of the commission
Nill be welcomed by he urCaTIZr rt
employees in lieu Of the so-catled
bonus SO far as the District of Co
lumbia is concerned, tac committee
states. the bonus to be asked for The
field services only until Reconsideration
is effected there.
I'VE have always regarded the so
called bonus as a temporary eNpcdient,
admittedly unscientitic, and unduly ex-
pensiye to the government as any nat
increase must be unless the base rates
are just" continues the statement
What we believe in is a proper mini
mum at the bottom of the pay scale. a
provision for retirement at the other
end with a free channel of promotion
in between, the salaries along the line
to be based on skill and training.
Notes ..Important Exceptions"
with certain very important eXcep-
tions the reclasSifcation commission has
provided the basis for this very essential
reAdjustment Aside from these, the
defects of the report can be remedled
through the machinery set up by the
report itself. Such inconsistencies. for
example as rating the chief admins
trAtiye librarian of the Department OF
Agriculture below the chiefs of division
in the Library of Congress. and, as a
further example, placing the director of
the child labor tax administration Tor
the whole United States lower in the
schedule than the secretary of the board
OF children's guardians for the District
Of Columbia, are clearly unintentional,
possibly typographical errors. The rat
ings for veterinarians in the Department
Of Agriculture, for women in the print
ing trades. and some other groups of
machine operators. need revision, which
the reclassification commission itself
WOtld doubtless wish to make.
"The outstanding feature of the re-
port to which the National Federation
Of Federal Employees objects is the dis
regard of the Nolan minimum wage
standard. which was twice passed by
the House of Representatives, by an
Overwhelming vote, and is now before
the Senate with favorable recommen-
dation from the committee on education
add labor. The federation considers the
Nolan bill a basic provision, and looks