The Washington herald., 1922-06-22
House, in Committee.
Adopts Resolution by
Mr.. Lehlback.
MADDEN DEFENDS
ATTEMPT TO CUT
Appropriations Chairman
Claims Cost of Living
Has Decreased.

BY a vote of 22o-to-3s the House
yesterday restored the s240 bonus
paid to government employees in
lieu of adjusted compensation which
had been reduced to $3.50 per an
mum by the Appropriations Conn
mittee.
Early in the debate on the bill
it became apparent that the House
was determined to reject the modi-
fication made by the committee IN
charge of the bill and by a vote of
sS-to-43 the committee of the whole
House passed the amendment Of
fered by Representative Frederick
r. Lehlbach to strike out the sum
of $3.50 provided by the committee
and restore the original amount of
$40.
Chairman Madden. of the APP
propriations Committee was the
first to speak. explaining the mo-
tives which inspired the committee
to reduce the bonus of $3.50.
Tries to Justify Cut.
He attempted to justify the ac-
ton of the committee by explaining
that the cost of living had decreased
to such an extent that the payment
of the s240 was no longer justified.
Due to the world war, he said,
Congress had decided that some
contribution should be made to the
government workers to offset the
Increased cost of living and in 1918
Congress had provided s11,4O0.ooo
for this purpose In 1919 the amount
was Increased to $4,000. 900. in 1920
IT became $1,000 900 and in 1921,
due to the fact that the Secretary
of the Navy included the personel
of that department the amount was
increased to s64.200,0oo."
Reduced I'm 1922.
In 1929 the amount had been re-
duced to $40, 900. Madden stat
ed. insisting that the report of the
Secretary of Labor. relative to the
cost Of living. showed that COM
moditfes had decreased 20.s per
cent. and upon these figures the
committee had based it's reduction.
should the $3.50 bonus be accept
ed by the House it would mean
saving to the government of $40
OOo. Madden declared. He said
he appreciated the fact that the
clerks were worthy, but he was
Obliged TO look at the other side
of the question. which affected the
taxpayer.
You are not elected by the gov
ernment employees. If no one voted
for you but government clerks, you
wouldn't be here" he told the
House.
Garner ArsaiIs G. o. p.
Representative John Garner, OF
Texas, inquired as to whether or
not the holding up of the reclassl-
fcation bill in the Senate affected
the bonus. Told that the bonus
would not have been necessary had
the Senate passed the reclassih-
cation bill. Garner scored the Re
publicans for the delay and ac-
cused them of not having kept
their pledges. He suggested that
the bonus bill be defeated in the
House in order to force the Senate
to act. Madden agreed that 1t might
be a good idea.
Representative Frank Crowther.
New York. then took up the gaunt-
let in behalf of the government
worker and ridiculed the attempt
to economic at the expense of the
low salaried government clerk.
Representative Joseph w. Byrne
Tennessee. a member of the House
District Committee argued against
the bonus which he intimated was
a makeshift for the reclassificatioD
bill.
BegE QuiEres Byrns.
Representative James T. Begg,
Ohio. interrupted to ask whether
not Byrns voted for the Reclassifi-
cation bill. Byrns admitted that
he did not but gave as his reason
the fact that the reclassification
bill benefited the high salaried
man.
salaried man. Why is the gentle
Begg inquired.
Representative John Rainey. Illi-
nois, opposed the cut and criticized
would save s10.0OO,0O0 a year by
taking IS out of the envelope OF
the poorly paid clerk.
No employer is as unkind to his
employees as Uncle Sam" Rainey
ucCldEtu Indl
leaders there had gone on record
as saying that something must be
done to relieve the poor federal
employees.
Linthicum Champions Bonus.
Representative ]. Charles Linthi-
cum. Maryland. championed the
cause Of the poorly paid clerk, an
insisted that the same principle
should be applied in effecting econ
omy in the government as are used
to collect taxes.
If We want to reduce the ex-
penses in the departments by re-
ducing salaries. then we should be-
gin at the top with the high sal
aried men," Linthicum advised.
He said the principle of the in
come tax law was to tax the man
with the greatest income the most
money. but in this case the poorly
paid man was about to be taxed.
The Shipping Board I.inthicum
pointed out. has just appointed
several officers to receive a salary
Of s25.0o0 a year while In an at
tempt to retrench 1t was planned
to deprive the small salaried man
of $40 a year"
8 In an attempt to emphasize the
parsimony OF the Government,