Evening star., 1924-11-26

with It's Increased salaries. should ap-
peal TO all as great constructive step
taken by the late President Harding
and Congress, which certainly has paved
the way for ultimate uniformity and
fairness to all the civil employees OF the
Federal Government Col. r.. Lester
Jones, director of the Coast and Geo
detic Survey. declares in his annual re-
port to Secretary Of Commerce Hoover.
made public today. Col. Jones COM
neuts at length on the results Of adop-
tiop OF reclassif1cation, declaring that
| 1T is not strange that the act itself.
which might be considered in its yart-
GUS stages as having been worked over
| for nearly half century. should con
tain discrepancies resulting IN some con-
fusion. To those who have studied the
history of this legislation and under
stood both sides OF the questions that
have arisen 1t is really gratifying that
Congress was able 10 offer so much re
| lief at the start 10 the underpaid Gov
ernment employees
Col. Jones declared that since this
! legislation became effective there has
been "a problem OF concentrated effort
on the shoulders Of those charged with
putting the machinery in operation TO
give every Immediate benefit 10 ovcrN
individual that properly. could be bcuC-
fitted under the law.
Praises Early Results.
1T is a fact, and necessarily So"
/ he says. that everybody could not
i be satisfied with the first results Of
! an interpretat tion of the act, but K
! seems, considering the comparatively
/ short time that those III charge have
had to work over this trcmend.~
+ probl zm. that their untiring efforts
/ and ConsCientiousnes should bear a
mark Of approval and appreciation
/ BY those who have been materially
| benefited b!- this act OF Congress.
''Thr conclusion is that Congress
! has made II possible for q happier and
| more substantial existence for the
| Government employees and that the
| machinery for Interpreting the au-
| th"ritE given by Congress has been
! generally we'll handled. considering
! the greet task and the time within
| which 70 do it, and have not a
doubt. in view OF the facilities that are
offered by Congress to hear those who
see Inequalities, injuSticeS and am
/ hisutieS in the act, but they Will be
! ready to consider changes that Will
/ carry in full force late" the full intent
| OF Congress when Il passed the bill.
/ The results OF this legisla tion are far
reaching. Not only has II taken the
Government W orker from mere @X-
istencc - state OF contentmeut OF
mind and body, but The investment
: tEat the Government has mad, by
. this or any other salary increase will
be returned to the country at 4
higher rate Of interest than almost
! any other Investment the country has
or can make"
Closely allied with the relief Of
the Government employees by in
creased salaries, the director says. is
the question of retirement. Under
! the present law, he says. the method.
! as well as the terms of retirement.
are inadequate and inequitable. The
civil empioyc today who serves the
Government for 50 10 50 years he
declares, must retire a. 20 years at
the Iueagar sum of not exceeding $50
per month. This arbitrary and
NJ eager amount must be accepted ir-
respective OF what the value OF ths
eE.plOye has been TO the Governm ent
or what range OF salary he might
have received during the various
stages Of his activity.
Asks New BuiIding.
The director again calls attention
in his report to the need for : new
centralized building for tie Coast
and GcOdetic Surve-. Much has
been said IN my annual reports. he
SAID, Regarding the handicap under
which the bureau is operating in its
present quarters and the extent to
which production Of nautical charts
is retarded. due TO the utter impossi-
bility of organizing production units
50 that the maximum results or re-
J suits that ought reasonably to lie
expected shall be attained.
This = due TO the fact thai The
bureau is housed in a group Of eight
buildings, more or less detached from
each other, each, with the exception
of one, built for purposes other than
the housing Of this bureau and not
at all adapted to the efficient use OF
the bureau.
"The subject has been discussed so
thoroughly in the various annual re-
ports that there is little additional to
offer except to urge that the impOr-
tance Of the matter shall have the
considcrat tion il merits by the legis-
lative branch OF the Government and
that steps be taken TO provide a
building in Which the maximum OF
production can he realized at the
minimum Of cost per unit"
Commenting on some OF the OUT
standing achievements OF the year
under review, Col. Jones emphasized
photographic tasks. Along the At
lantic coast" he said. "hydrography,
including offshore work, was extend
eu SDulIN 1Iu stS ldI d. VI lIipi4'lJ i lSt',
and a photographic survey was made
in the vicinity Of Cape Fear. On the
Gulf coast the survey Of the approach
to Sabine Pass was completed. y
photographic survey Of the water Of
the Virgin Islands was begun In this
fiscal year and at the close of the
year was about half finished. A sur
vey Of Lakt Okechobee, Fla, was be-
gun during the year. y triangular
ton net Of control stations has been
extended entirely around the lake and
connected with the Atlantic coast
control by u high-grade geodetic
traverse. This will be followed by