The Washington times., 1920-11-22
HARRIS URGES
PAY REVISION
Adlutant General in Report to
Baker Cites Strong Argu-
ments for Higher Wages.
By JOHN SNURE.

Strong recommendation that Con-
gress provide for readjustment oil
the salary scale of Federal employees
is a feature OF the annual report OF
Adj. Gen. p. &. Harris to the Secre-
tary of War. He urges prompt re-
classification legislation emphau-
cally.
DISCUSSES ECONOMIC FEATURES.
General Harris. whose report is
made public today, takes the position
that read justment OF pay plus the re-
tirement law which is now in opera
ton will result in increased economy
and efficiency. He maintains the
present Government salary scale Is
too low in comparison with the scale
in the commercial world.
After referring to the fact the re-
tfrement law Is now effective. General
Harris proceeds to the subject OF pay
Of Government employees and, in an
interesting discussion Of the matter,
says:
81 hope most earnestly that Con-
gress will. in the very near future,
recognize likewise the need for read
justment OF the salary scale of Fed
eral employees. This. as well as the
recently enacted retirement legisla-
tion, will undoubtedly result in an
increase OF both economy and eff
cheney through making the Govern
ment service attractive to a better
trained and more highly educated
class OF workers than 1t has hitherto
been possible to obtain and keep In
the service. With its present scale Of
wages the Government Is unable to
compete successfully with the COM
mercial world. 1t cannot expect to
retain its best employees indefinitely,
because, in justice to themselves and
to their families, these men and wom-
en- must sooner or later accept the
larger opportunities that are offered
to them outside the Federal service,
unless the Government decides to pay
them salaries that reasonably ap-
proach the value OF the services ex-
pected OF them.
TRAINS MEN FOR BETTER WORK.
This, however. is not the only point
involved. This office has always suf-
fered seriously because OF the dis
parity existing between the salaries
paid by the various bureaus and de-
psrtments of the Government service
for the performance OF practically
women accept appointments in this
office and. after having acquired a
high degree OF skill as the result of
the training which they received at
its hands and despairing of further
advancement. secure as soon as pos
sible a transfer to some other branch
of the service which is so situated
as to be able to offer them the pros
pect of substantial increase in sal
ary in the near future.
In short. under existing conditions
this office is acting as a training
school for certain other branches of
the Federal service and for CONNER
cial concerns generally. Until the
present salary scale shall have been
revised and its employees assured Of
q compensation equal to that allowed
for similar services by other Govern
ment departments and by the busi-
ness world, the office cannot hope
to establish a clerical force Of perma-
nent character.
"These conditions with respect to
incommensurate and unstandardized
Government salaries and their effect
upon the service generally, are dealt
with fully in the report of the Con-
classification of Salaries now in the
hands OF Congress. 1t Is believed that
the enactment of the legislation pro-
posed by the commission. or some
similar legislation, would be the
greatest possible forward step in
civil service administration"