Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-01-06
Civil Service
Faces Collapse
BY Frederic j. Haskin

Washington, d. C., jan 3.-Tha ma
ohipery Of government in Washington is
literally on the verEs Of > collapse be-
cn,se the United States will not pay the
men who work for it enough TO live on,
much lcsu enough to compete in tho
brsins market with other governments,
| with b,xanasB and with univn-nitics.
Tho Forust Service since July 1, 1918,
has lost 700 man. which % fourth Of its
pcrrnsnent force OF thtse men, AGO are
trsincd technical experts, who arc hard
To replace, and require several years TO
attain their fullest usefulue,e in a Job.
The Buresu of Standards rs said 10 have
lost / 400 n,cn in four ycarr, and nearly
slI of thore technical men-the brsins OF
tho institution.
Tho Bureau of Markets m he Depart
ment Of Agriculture, which rs dong IN
valuable work for the farmers, IL loeing
its rsen ~ fast as it trains them. Business
wants them and gives them double the
salaries the government pays. Ihn and
othc, government bureaus ar. now nothing
but hndergnrserm Tor business.
VALUABLE Mgr axsrGr.
The income tar division OF the Internal
Revenue Bureau Is another branch that
cannot hold its really valuable men. That
p fact for which many Of IN sufcr. Ono
big concern reports that IL has not yet
gott.n its 1917 income tax sccount
strnirbtarsd out- The r~sson Is that each
man in tho division Who has started on
tho work has resigncd his poeition to
nrcer,t A brttrr one before be finished the
NIL over agnin.
Tts Bureau of Public Roads has about
&GOO ,000. 900 To srcnd this yea IL used
To be run by man named Logan Waller
Pag. lie drew the magnificent salary
of 81 500, hus her was $ rich man and
r,od engineer. Salary was no object 70
him. When ihe died and IL came to filing
his position the salnry WAS raised TO
5000 Yet the highway commissioners
in many States draw salaries Of fi0 600,
ard they have not tithe If responsibility
that rest. upon the head Of the Bureau
Of Public Roads.
rnvfNG TO xIyr Nyv.
Another technical bureau of the govern
men. il taking desperate measures 10 hold
it's staff togrther II is against the law
for a man connected with a government
bureau 70 do any other work in the
United States This h,lreau gives Its best
men leave of absence to go 10 foreign
countries and do work for other govern
ncnts and for private concerns 80 that
they may make enough money u return
To the United States and do the work Of
the American government.
One government bureau, III order 20
make it's caae clear 10 the Reconsideration
Commission, studied the fortunes Of
eight of it's best men for a period Of years
before and after the war This study
showed that their earning capacity
rose until about 1914. 1t then
began 20 decline 50 that they are now
earning less than they did IN 1912, 40 far
as power To buy the necessities Of life Is
Another study has been made Of 900
technical men who have left the govern
ment service IL shows that nearly AL of +
them have at least doubled their IN
comes, and many have multiplied than
By three. |
You may find this hard r. believe, but
the work Of the government is dome very /
largely by men who are losing money 20 /
do it. If every technical man IN govern /
rnent employ who has been offered a
better JOB outside the government should I
accept tomorrow, and leave, The govern
rnent work would collapse There are
many instances of men working for
s. 800 or - 900 year vho have refused
salaries ranging from IS 900 TO s. 900 =
year, because they wanted to see through .
Jobs which they had undertaken, or be-
cause they were deeply Interested in their I
work. But these motives cannot be relied .
upon to hold an organization together /
and the government organization .
rapidly gong to pieces.
The Forests Products Laboratory At