Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-01-19
Government Salaries
BY Frederic j. Haskin

washington, ID. q, Jan. 1G.-Shonld D
worker receive just as much money as
his work is worth, AS compared with
other work in the amount Of ability and
energy II requires; or, il he is able and is
permitted to do the work at all, should
he receive enough money with which IN
keep himself and his family adequately
| clothed and nourished?
In other words, when il comes TO
| fixing the amount Of the reward which
| society IS going to give an individual
| for his time and energy, should an effort
be made to compute the amount In money
his tim" and energy are worth, or should
| the effort be directed to finding out the
least amount upon which he and his
family can live, and should that be made
the basis of pay?
This question, which is interesting to
every individual who works for a salary
| or wage, has been raised in connection
with the work Of the Reconsideration
| Commission, which is making study Of
the salaries paid to government en-
ployes.
ARMY OF WORKERS.
The question of government salaries
Is attracting widespread attention There
are several reasons for this In the first
place, more than 100000 Americans now
work for the government IN Washington
alone This means that about one
worker in every two hundred works for
the government. and the percentage Of
Americans who work for the government
tends constantly to increase. Further
more, the government employees are
typical salarled workers. IT. IS generally
conceded that the salaried worker at
large has suffered more from the rlse in
the cost of living than has either the
laborer who IL a member of a union or the
capitalist who lives, on the income
from Invested funds. The ca1ee of the
salaricd government employc is IN s6mc
sense the cause Of the salaried man
everywhere, and the salaried class IS
therefore keenly Interested 70 know how
the government workers are going 10
come out in their effort t. get higher paw,
and especially IN the theory upon which
that compensation IS b. bc based
In the debate on the question with
which the article begins brilliant arglI-
ments have been made on both sides
Our object here is to set forth these
arguments fairly
The argument of the government clerks I
If briefly this la the last thirty years their
average advancement IL salary has been
slight, varying from nothing t. fiftv per
cent with m average probably somewhere
around twenty or twenty-five per cent
and during the same period the cost NJ
living hes more than doubled Therefore,
they assert, they are unablc ID live upon
the amounts now paid them. They demand .
large increases. primarily on the ground i
that they must have enough tn live on
Thus is the chief object from the ndiyidu-
Al point Of view But from the social point
Of view, they contend that tho whole ma
ton must suffer If these increases are not
granted, because men cannot and will
not work for less than living. They point
0ut that experienced men are constantly
leaving the government service, and are
being replaced by inexperienced men or
not replaced at all, that the government
as 4 result II far behind with It's work
and that unless the increases are granted
the civil service Will be a wreck inside of
] year, and 1t will take ten years 10 put
It in running order again.
The facts, the publication Of which pre-
ripitated the debate, had to do with the
salaries received by examiners There
trc men bearing the title Of examiner ina
number Of government departments.
they examine claims for money orders,
arm loans, pensions, insurance. Indem-
lities, public lands and great many !
,ther things atur3lly an examiner
hould know a great deal about his sub
Get and should have good judgment.
he should be an experienced and lntelh-
rent man. Now the man representing
he examiners before the commission
presented figures 10 show that u many
ases the salaries of examiners have nos
increased since 1888 and
II some cases since 1872. Thus the eX-
rmners IN 1888 passing on revolutionary
var claim got 81 400 year Examiners
n the pension bureau today get from
300 70 - 600, but only one OF them gets
be top salary and most Of them stll get
i 100.
SALARIES HAVE NOT INCREASED.
THIS may be an extreme case. but ample
violence was submitted TO prove that
urlng a period when the cort q living
as doubled, the average salaries of eA-
miners have not increased twenty-five per
ent. Il Is argued that while an examiner
lIght very well tiyc and raise a family
II Si,200 IN 1890, he could not possibly
o 30 now. It i further argued that the
4X-paycrs are not really saving money
y paving this leSs-thauIlylug wage, nc
alsc the examiner has Ia do with ne
pending Of public money Upon AiS r. {
art II largely depends whether elaIns
ggregatlpg millions shall be paid or not :
he Is ignorant or careless. he may lose
lore OF the people money IN an hour
nan they can save on his salary III many :
ears.
Senator Smoot Of Utah made IN elab-
rate attack on tins whole contention
Ie asserts, IN the hrsG place, that the /
feet Of this publicity about the small
llaries of government employees wlll
AXE them all discontented and cause