The Washington herald., 1920-01-12
us. WORKERS
NOT SHOOTING
AT THE MOON
Axelson Tells, in Conclud.
ing Article of Series, of
Definite Purpose.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE.
as administrative abuses and also I'M
doubtedly could be corrected without
Congressional action. That 1T is be-
lieved. will be the attitude Of the Re-
classification Commission which. how
ever is expected to bring the COM
plants to the attention of the law
makers.
The attention of the commission
has been caI'"d frequen'lv to the fact
that the different services have suf-
fered and are sGfteriGa ....L -
administrative defects not easily COZ
rected except through legislative
actments. This, however, concerns tn
departmental systems and do not fig
ure to any great extent in the for
! tunes of the inii Giduals except as he
or she is retarded in merited adj
vancement In such cases REFORM
have been suggested along with sal
airy recommendations.
Night Workers. Raise Asked.
/ Aside from the actual scales of pay
proposed certain fundamental re-
!
been generally agreed upon among
those who filed briefs that night
work was unnatural" and as such
demanded a higher scale of pay.
Twenty to % per cent increases were
recommended.
! Certain trades, now classed as I'M
skilled. should be elevated to the
skilled" in the opinion of many.
The sewing trade. in which women
are mainly engaged. has been quoted
as a case in point. Among the I'M
skilled there is a desire that char
women. for example, the lowest paid
OF all classes. should be given the
benefit OF the $3.50 rate. In sup
port OF this argument it has been
argued that they are entitled to the
unskilled labor rate prevailing at the
Navy Yard which is s3.s7 a day.
Combining the requests of the
skilled trades the recommendations
may be summarized as follows:
Double pay in excess of eight hours
and on Sundays and holidays.
Saturday half holiday.
Twenty-Five per cent increase over
regular pay on night shifts
Privilege of transfers.
A minimum rate of 81 a day for
apprentices for enc year; s. a day for
the second year: Sc a day for the
third year and after.
Adoption of an equitable retire
ment bill.
Lump sum appropriations.
specIhc Schedules.
Specific salary schedules have
been proposed for practically every
department. A few have left it to
the discretion of the commission. In
some cases sealed" proposals have
been offered and will be known only
when the commission makes its
recommendations to Congress.
In the miscellaneous clerical
group, the largest class in govern
ment service, the salary demands
range from $500 to $4,000. 1t was
recommended also that where pro-
motions of those qualified could not
be made for lack OF vacancies an
increase of $3.50 a year for three
years should be in effect IL advance
ments did not figure within that
time.
In the counting division in the
Treasury, where the maximum is
$1,000. the compensation in the fu-
ture would range from the 1890
minimum to 1890 with automatic
increases of $50 every six months
until the maximum in each class
would be reached. The tellers and
cashiers would have a higher rate
with a maximum of $4,000.
Professions Well Paid.
In divisions where the profess
sions' figure the "sky" is really the
limit. the same as in private enter
prises. In the Census Bureau sal
aries would range from $3.50 to
1850 for economists and statisticians
In the law service recommendations
were made for salaries from $1,000 to
$500 and up" These specific sug-
gestions were on behalf of the law
departments of the Interstate Com
merce Commission. the Treasury and
the Interior departments.
Summing up, the recommendations
could be boiled down to these pro-
posals:
An average of % per cent increase
for all employees.
A $3.50 minimum wage.
Enlargement of the Civil Service
Commission or the creation OF some
other body to sit as a permanent
wage board and court of appeal.
A policy Of lump sum appropria-
lions.
A merit system of promotions that
will function.
Equal pay for equal work.
| Thirty days annual leave.
Want Discharge System.
The elimination of the superan-
nuated and inefficient would be left
jointly to the depa rtment heads and
to whatever permanent commission
that would have Jurisdiction. The
employees are willing to have an eff
fciency test applied, but they are not
in favor of wholesale discharges
without cause.
In the case of the superannuated it
has been pointed out that the gov
eminent would actually save money
in retiring them on a fair pension as
only a 20 per cent replacement would
be necessary.
AS for eliminating the inefficient
the saving would be still greater as
1t is admitted that the government
annually loses huge sums from in
ferior work.
| Although not on record employees,
in presenting their demands. have
taken into consideration the differ
ent character of government and
private employment. Thus the
spokesman for the 10000 government
workers in the District Of Columbia
have not aspired to the scale of pay
prevailing outside except in the low
er classification. They have, however.
shown that IL the business of the
government is to be run efficiently
1t must be partially put on a COM
Detitive basis az that denarfnents