Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-05-17
Consider the Office Worker
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

New York, May la.--Now that the
overall obsesaion has subsidized, the poor
office workers are just as poor ms they
were before. They have To buy new
spring clothes, after all, because so many
employers have objected 10 having their
offices resemble headquarters Of the build
ing trades. Rent, too, has taken another
leap upward, and the spring has brought
no reduction in the price OF food Accord
ing 10 a soda mixer IN the Wall street
district most of the office workers patron
ising his counter have now cut their
| lunches down 10 mere mlIkahake IN
order TO save money for tho coming sum-
mer vacation.
But no ono ever seems 10 get excited
ovor the trials and difficulties of the office
workers. They have no special repre-
sentatives in Congress- To plead their
case; no presidential candidate espouses
| it; and no one writes a book about them.
Labor no longer has any trouble IN
attracting the respect and attention oI
| the world. Capital can cnuse sensation
| whenever ID wants TO. Tho more TACT
that Mr. Baruch rctires from Wall Street,
! or TINT John Wananaler eats an apple
every day In published all over tho coun-
trv But the office workers and the
salary-slaves in general, toll on IN hope
less obscurity
FE DAL FIGURE.
Tho small-salaried worker is the chief
| survivor Of the feudal aystefn, which
/ was supposed TO have died out centuries
/ ago. Ills work has no standardized
| value. He is still the henchman OF hls
employer receiving whatever the employer
i considers he is worth, which often de-
pends upon how much tho employer iikes
/ him or her. Here in New York, It - a
well-known fact that Office employees DONG
! tho same kind of work are often paid
widely different salaries Often, more
over, il is the newer, less experienced
ernploye, who makes the most
Said young stenographer - rs re-
Gently Il happened To sec the pay
check Of Miss Is the other day she does
| tho same kind Of work ] do, only am
/ willing TO admit she does IL better, be-
cause she has been with the firm FIVE years
and knows all the technical terms they
use. But | am making ton dollars
week more than she ls.
It's largely matter Of demanding
what you want, she continued fol
notice that most of the ads IN the want-ad
columns aak you To state salary desired
Well. | always state the largest possible
salary Then, If have 70 come down .
few dollars, II isn't quite 70 bad. Nc
firm il apt t. feel that il is getting bar
gain.
Every office has q mystery all its own
these dave the pay check Ana u y
mystery which no one l. supposed to
penetrate The clerk who exnibifs Any
curiosity as to what the other clerks II
the Office are making is sternly rehnked,
or sometimes even fired When New
York magazine recently employed an
efficiency expert at thirty thousand =
yenr. one Of the frat things he did vas =
tack up the following notice here
has been too much gossping about sat
aries ANY comparison OF pay envelopes
vii be punished by instant dismissal
THE INTERESTING GHOST
Nevertheless, great deal Of gossip
concerning salaries goes on among the
employers Each il extremely ANXIOUS
10 learn what the other pays ns office
workers 80 that II you happen into a
downtown lunchroom dunng the noon
bot4r and have to listen "a the conveTsa-
ton at the surrounding tables you come
awav convinced that business men are
authorities on only one subject their
nav rolla For instance. here IS sample
Insurance office manager; Lee, you
ought 10 see the way my new stenoRTapher
tvnevrltes. / bet she could break hat
40 word q minute record. I lever Young
sfer. too, and pay her only forty dollars
1,ces..fi,I lawyer You're lucky.
b.,a - "a, mluc fortv i've bat then yoGr
Nork i not AZ difficult IS ours even he
ofhce Eov n our office has 10 ne "a expert
Banker Hmm, | thlnk roq Re aoth
couple of nats paS my stenograpner
,spIv=fWet4tx IKE a Heek She no genius
mt she gets the WORK done
Fditor ii IIghbroN Magazine
nav my secretary only eighteen.
THIS yoa can see that there ls very
httIe 5lnaaIfulty oi opinion IS - Nhat
employees dong the same sort u WORK
should set etesogTapheTe are PAID any
where from nfteeu dollsrs a ~eek r. tify
ssak keepers ali the WaS from twenty
dollars 70 sky i've, CLERKS may fnahe auEE
hug NJ all teloW twenty dollars s "eeA
ara very feW Of these employees, however
great their merit. ever get as much - iht
a1en y ho come ID to eiean me Once = II
doWs, OF the IanltoT
One Of the factors causing tais iacA q
Standardization Is ~aebbssaness. some
f3n1.s + ls called prlde Nou may have
> noticed III the conversation reported aloN'
hat il vas the banker AID the edltor
snDIoXtS who made less money IL
amazing truth y that an othce wogke
would much rather 40 the hanlh.est
worst-psid work n the office Of . dl4nines
or cultured institution than taAe an eas1
,ob paving three tunes aS much ~
: factory Nc know 4 mlilner whe work
!. IN large hat factory which pays her Sl0
:. week. and ve know al assistant e a
: exclusive Madison aveu4c lntenor de-
oratsT who is making only hIteen q
: ,ybes re, tv.a1 s5rls meet at the \ " {. \
! gymnasium II IS the young assistant VII,
!. !. iearfnlly naughty and patrouizing e
: the milliner
: There Is one thu9. however whlcl
all employers will admit, ami upon whacl
! all employees are agreed, and that Is tn
! fact hat the Office workers are tearlnl
: rhe brupt 81 tie high cost Of living.
What IS the remedy organkauol
; has been suggested