The Washington herald., 1920-01-07
Senate by Bitterest
Attack on Federal En-
ployes Of Washington
Heard at Capitol in
Decade.
PAY RECLASSIFICATION
BOARD Is HIS TARGET
Senator Heard Telephone
Conversation In Which.
Woman Worker Was AS
sured All Would Get at
Least $3.50 a Year.

Senator Reed Smoot yesterday
made the bitterest, most sweep.
ing, attack on the Federal en-
ployes OF Washington that has
been heard on the floor OF the
Senate for a decade.
Out into the open in a cam
paign to slash into shreds~ the
work of the Salary Reclassihcs-
ton Commission, Senator Smoot
shocked the Senate by chasing
all OF the government workers
into a conglomeration of mishts
and incompetents.
Nine out of ten Of them are
|>overpaid, not underpaid,- he
shouted. They could not earn
anywhere near as much from any
other employer in the world as
they get from Uncle Sam.
~Net Many Usderpaid.
paid. But not many. The day has
arrived when the truth ought 70 be
told.
Il knew at the time that this
Reciassification Commission was es-
tablished that IL would bring q
great deal OF trouble for the gov
ernment and create a vast amount
Of Dissatisfaction among the en-
ployes," he declared. 1T has
worked out jast a. 1 predicted it
would.
The matters before the commis-
sion have been handled by one
Keating and one Luther Steward. I
hope the members Of the Senate
will pay little attention TO the re-
port Of these two gentlemen.
Il want to say that n ever there
was scheme of propaganda started
with the svowed purpose of bringing
every employe Of the government into
labor union and making them dis
satisfied with the salaries and the
employment the government offers
them the work Of this Commission
will bring it about.
On Saturday evening l by chance
listened in on a telephone converse
! tion. while waiting for a number.
One woman asked Of a man. appar-
emily her chief: Well. are you going
to take care Of me: I want at least
S.eOo.'
This was the reply: My dear, you
need not worry. We are going TO
see that every empIoye Of the gov
ernment gets at least s1.s9O'
Quotes CoIored DemeetIe.
"A colored woman who comes to
my house says that she has heard
that every scullery maid in the United
States is going TO be paid sl,z2o q
year. even IL she only works four
hours q day.
L want to say that it is high time
that Congress take notice OF these
things and learn the kind Of a cam
paign to which il is being subjected.
Take the recent statement thar the
average salary Of government en-
ployes has been raised only - cents
in s6 years. This emanation from the
Commission is absolutely misleading
anG a distortion OF the facts.
Il have no records for the year
1873. but in the year 1851 there were
only l.lco persons in the whole gov
ernment service, less than % per cent
OF the number now working in one
division OF one bureau OF the Treas
| ury Department Now. the character
Of work done in those days was very
different from what it is now. Since
the advent OF typewriters. adding ma
chimes, and all sorts OF labor-sa wing
devices clerical work has been sinnpn.
fed. much highly skilled work has
gone by the board. There was a time
not so many years ago when the
Treasury Department paid big SAL
aries for highly skilled work which 10
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