Evening star., 1921-05-17
DETAILS PLAN TO RECLASSIFY
EMPLOYEES OF THE DISTRICT
Herbert D. Brown Says Wood-Smoot Bill
! Contemplates Inclusion of Local Gov
ernment by Executive Order.

Employees of the District govern
ment would be included in the re-
classification. as proposed by the
Wood-Smoot bill. by means of an ex-
ecutive order. Herbert u Brown
chief of the bureau of efficiency, ex.
piaincd to the Federal club at a
meeting held at the University Clut
last night.
i'ointinc out that the bill would
not be applied Immediately to the
field service or TO the employees OF
the municipal government OF the Dis
trict. Mr.. Brown explained at lenStf
how the extension of the ciasSIhca
tion to the employees of the District
and field service might be done or
an inStaliment basis. He said:
Suggestion of Method.
I'm the case of the District govern
hment. a schedule might be first pre-
pared for the Public Library. for cX.
ample. and put into effect in that de-
partmcnt. Then the fire department
could he taken up, then the schools
and SO on.
N separate executive order could
hc issued for each department. and
IT, entire District government Gov
cred as rapidly as possible. The
same system would be applied to the
ficId services of the federal cstab-
GShment. The immigration service
might he taken up first. then the
Indian service. and so on. each serv-
fr. being considered separately. with
due regard. of course. to the fact that
q considerable number Of clerical
<mploymentS are common to all neld
Offices. In any event the clasSihca :
ton would be extended to field serv-
fees as RAPIDLY as possible.
As matter of fact. with respect to
the government of the District of
Columbia particularly. there would
He no legal obstacle in the way of
putting the classification into effect
/ simultaneously with the. DEPART
F.! mental classification. This would in
| necessary supplements to the sched-
GIe contained in the bill and the
PRONUNCIATION of the necessary ex-
ecutiSe order" Mr.. Brown continued.
Need of Salary Standard.
1T probably is true that the en-
ployes of the District government and
the employees in the field services OF
The federal government are on the
whole as much in need OF salary
Standardization as are employees in the
departments at Washington. The rea-
sons for the omission of these classes
from the initial application of the pro-
posed legislation is wholly one of
necessity.
The employees Of the District gov
crnment are practically all specialized
employes-that is to say they fall into
classes. such as school teachers. fire
men, policemen and SO forth--classes S
that find no counterpart in the de-
partmental service. The same thing is
true of field services. except that there
the condition is even more compli-
Gated. The field services are so ex
fremely diversified that il is entirely
out of the question to provide gem
eral schedules which will cover them
all.
Differences Pointed Out.
A schedule which would fit the
needs of the navy yards. for instance
employing almost as many people as
are employed by the government in
the District of Columbia. would. of
course. not apply to the immigration
service. or to the Indian service. or to
the reclamation service. or to the
lighthouse service. As matter OF
fact, reclassifcation in the field estab-
lishmen, OF the government must in
evitabIy be piecemeal. service by
service.
Moreover. the widely different liv-
ing conditions in various localities
throughout the United States would
certainly have TO be taken into ac-
count in any assifcation system
applying TO field services. To adopt
the same schedule of compensation
rates for employees stationed on the
Atlantic seaboard as that adopted for
the middle west or the south or the
west coast would seem on its face
10 be standardization of salaries.
but as A matter Of fact il might be
precisely the reverse.
Costs of Living Compared.
The cost Of living for federal en-
pl"yes stationed al Pine Ridge s D..
which is the central Office of one OF the
largest Indian agencies in the country.
is proba bly, not more than one-third the
cost Of living in sav New York CITY or
Washington. Such varia tions as these
must be given considera ton in deterTnin-
ing TN" salary grades and the ranges OF
pay under salary grades for the various