Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-12-05
FIFTY YEARS AGO IN
THE STAR,

The controversy fifty years ago
over the question of how the space
betwe the
Street Car Tracks; tracks OF the
Cobblestones. Gsorretown car
line on Pennsylvania avenue should
be paved. reached the point OF con-
fiict between the corporation and the
onicials. The Star in it's issue OF No
vember 2s. 1870. thus describes the
situation:
Despite the official notification by
the paving commission-Secreta
Delano. Mayor Emery and Gen.
Michler-to the railroad company
that the pavement now in progress
Of construction by the company is
not satisfactory to the commission
and they require that in all respectsl
1t should reasonably conform to that
which has been adopted for the resi-
due Of Avenue the company Is today
continuing to relay tho cobblestone on
its tracks between I'd and Sd streets.
Three men. with pipes in their mouths.
are squatted at the work. while q
fourth. also with pipe in mouth,
wheels the familiar cobblestone. the
whole operation presenting At en-
blem and portraiture Of the niggardIy.
old fogyish. behind-the-time spirit
that animates the company in refusing
to do their part Of the work OF i'm
provement. These gentlemen are
making prfncely fortunes out of their
franchise and can afford to pay their
president an annual salary of $4,000.
lard's and other incidentala But
when the great thoroughfare Is to be
paved upon which they hold this val
liable franchise. instead of co-operat-
ing with the heavily taxed citizens to
make the improvement uniform, they
bubble about the work. shirk their
part. and set three men at work with
wheelbarrow relaying the abomi-
nabie cobblestone as their contribu-
ton to the work Of progress now 60
ing on IN washington! Well. II they
choose to lay the cobblestone, so be IT:
but 1t must come up again."
Sentiment in Official circles was
general fifty years ago that the gov,
eminent pay scale was
Government too low. In its issue Of
c.,.: November 90. 1870, The
Star presents this mat
ter with quotations from numerous
| officers OF the government and leeis-
lators. saying:
Probably no question to be settled
AZ the coming Or some future session
OF Congress Is of more interest to our
washington readers than the increase
| OF government salaries. In connec-
ton with the civil service reform,
about which SO much has been said1
| and 80 little Is known. every one
! seems to admit that II the govern
! ment wants better servants 1t must
pay better prices, 1. d, II II SUBMITS
all applicants for office to rigid edu-
cational tests it must give larger
| salaries to those who are capable of
passing the required examinations.
The bureau heads, clerks. and in short
ali the employees Of the government
| take this view OF the subject, very
naturally. and in their conversations
with members insist that their quail
as they would be in private service"
Secretaries Fish. Robson. Bout
well and DelAno and Postmaster Gen.
eral Creswell are all quoted as urg-
ing increased pay for the depart
mental personnel, and in addition The
1
| liams. Pomeroy, Schurx and Trumbull.
to the same erect. Senator Williams
! urged that "everybody's salary ought
| to be raised" He proposed to give
| the President 100000 q year. cabinet
officers $4,000 and congressman $10,-
| 900. The Star concludes:
These are but q few Of the many
| opinions in approval Of the claim OF
government employees for additional
| compensation that we have collected
| In fact, we find but very few follow
public servants are overpaid. but a
| great many Of them. particularly
among the members Of the House.
qualify their approval by the state
nient that the people generally accept
the prices now paid as extravagant."
In The Star Of November 30. 1910.
are extracts from the annual report
! Of the commissioner
Tho Schools of OF education. which,
~,. bearing on condi-
washington. lions In Washing
ton indicate that the Districts school
system was then, as now, inadequate
iy equipped to accommodate the pu-
pills. The commissioner pointed out
that the capacity Of the public school
buildings was utterly inadequate. In
Washington city there were In the
public schools 6,S5S seats for pupils.
while the enrolment during the year
ended June 30. 1870. was 8,119. This
meant that the white public schools
OF Washington could accommodate