Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-11-03
government HAS
NO WAGE POLICY
Investigator Finds ". S. Has Had
No System for Fifty
Years.

.Tuuput employees hae deem to haNc ~"
pohcy. have been gathcred by MARY,
,'opyugton. who prepared charts and
figures Tor the Bureau of labor Statis-
tlc~ vt the Department OF Labor.
Tables showing the average salaries
~ various groups Of employees at WASH
,ngton have been prepared by Miss
Cnnyngton, and without exception great
,liseropanc,cs appear betwccn the aver
nge salary necessary 20 MAINTAIN inc
purchasing power ot the 1898 salary ana
The salary paId today.
Take the case of he assistants IN the
reading room and catalogue DIVISIONS oi
tho Library Of Congress. In 1877 their
average salary was sl,2lO. he inueN
of retail prices Of food wac put AZ .f a9o.
In 1910 their salaries were $sS2. Inc
,n1ex II r,tail prices ~ food WAS 2S3,
and this means that IN 1919 the Assist,
ants were able to purchase goods valued
al S3t7. compared 20 the 81 200 purchase
inc mower value IN 1897. Had their sal
nf,ea bean Increased IN proportion TO the
,ndox retail price OF food they would
,ov he paid 81, 800 instead Of $qS2, whose
pnrchasirs power is s347 compared to
that " 1907. :,
In the samc way the hydrographo
and gradetiC engineers, whose average
salary ~ 1898 was s. Ob5. received All
l.Nt
retail pricrs " food having gonc up IN
the intervening wears from 100 70 259:
Thn purchasing power of the salary oi
these employes is sos, compared 10
that II 1893 The average salary necss-
sary 20 maintain the purchasing power
~ the salary would he S5,34S. Instead
the employees receive <i,SS5
Tho average salary of naval archi-
trcts and craftsmen IN the Bureau OF
Construction Navy Department, IN 1875
Was sl.4q4 In 1919 II WAS SLABS,
sum which = valued st so65. compared
g. the purchasing power OF the lssS sal
AIRY The average salary necessary 70
MAINTAIN the purchasing power OF the
iSaS salary is s3.Sti4. Instead, the enl-
ployes receive 2,i9s
The average salary ~ adiudicatng
clerks. General Land Office. Depart
u1cnt Of the Interior wa, Sl47S IN 1898
and SI.a1l IN 1910 The purchasing pow
er 10 1910 N relation o. the lsaS ssary
was S6C5 The average salary ncces-
AZ, tomalntaTn the purchasing power
oi the lSQ3 salary " S3,Sl5. Tho pay
ia 1919 was sl.5-i
The geologkts 81 The Geological Sur
vey we're paid an average Of 81, 2s3 In
1893 and g. .S3 N 1912 The purchasing
poNer ot the 1910 salary in comparison
~ tho lS93 snlsry WAS sl,055, and the
average salary necessary 20 MAINTAIN
tho purchasmg power ~ the lS93 snlary
4 S5QiS Instead the salary IS 81. 1:SS.
The compositorS IN the Government
Printing Office received m average of
81 OO2 IN lsQ3 and 81 SIS IN 1919. The
purchasing power OF the 1919 salary ~
relation a. the 1898 salary was S125.
The average salary necessary 10 mann
tain the purchasing power ot the lssS
.alar- - q 5q5 Instead, the sslsry last
VasT was 81 SIS.
Tho average Of the s.laries Of gov
srnmcut employees IN Washington 10 1898
w. - 0et and that ~ 1919 was 81 S2l.
not tucb1irg the bonus The purchas-
~ mower 81 the 1919 salaries n rels-
urp % the 1913 salary WAS $50, and
tho average salary neceSsarv to main
tam the purchasing power of the 1898
SALARY Is s. $50
"In sense the Government can
scarcely bc said 70 have hsd $ wage pol
< for half a century or more, says
llss CouNugtou | nquestIonahly, when
Tho close 81 the civil war. the salary
,.ale was set u was liberal as com
t..rrd both with the cost of living snd
NE prevailing wage and salaries outside
tho Government service. The ldea
mat A Government position was
widespread and deeply rooted thst II
ncers Is tn, dav. 70 the considerable
deiument 0f the service. But having
established lts organization and set It's
s-al, ri campensatlon, the Government
..npeared 70 ieel that the matter was
done with forever. and took no further
,teps except when IN some particular
aroup or division conditions arose which
lprced action Thus such changes as
occurred were merely alteration. in
specific salaries or groups OF salaries,
and the salary scale as whole was
almost uHtOuched
After referring % the increased num-
her of Government employees during the
war Miss Convngton saws that the war
brought the Government into close re-
atious with labor outside its immediate
force and that for these workers, from
the first the Government committed It
,ef 10 the general principle that the
worker u entitled n a living wage and
ruai ~ insure getting tins. wages must
rse proporuouately with the cost OF
living
The War Department, the National
War Labor Board aud the Macy Board
acted on this principle a. wartime meas
ures tout the Government has recog-
uizcd the principle SINCE the signing OF
kiif AilIl4~iitt, - NlNilC~~ iilt dQUllSslQn
80 the Fuel Administration last Winter
that the woFkers might fairly claim an
advance proportIonate 10 the increase
III the cost Of living and along the same
line. the Lsch-C ummlns act lnstructing
the Railroad Lahor Board 10 take into |
consideration the relation between
wagcs and tho cost of living
sSurveviug the whole situation. il
does not seem too much 20 say that the |
Government only policy in regard TO
wages has been 20 have no policy"
saws Miss Convngton "As shown bv !
IL pronouncements during the war in /
regard 10 labor troubles, il recognizes
ii theory the advantage of establishing
liberal scales Of compensation for work
uf standard quality and the necessity
Tor frequent revlsions OF the wage or
salary scale IN order that due rela- |
ton may be maintained between the !
cost Of living and earnings
But in practice il has shown a com
plete obllvIousness 70 both considera-
tions During the whole period covered
by the accompanying charts Whose |
contents ARE summarized in the forego- |
4 there has been no general revision !
the salary scale, and such advances |
have been made varied according |
the degree of pressure which the en- |
owes or outside circumstances have |
ought 20 bear upon the Government. |