The Enterprise. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 192?-1930, 1928-10-25


ident Of the National Equal Rights
league.
Appointed Under Demoeratie Regime
"This release is designed to show
how generous the Republican Nation
al Administration has been to the
colored people of the entire Nation
in the matter of appointments to Fed
eral Offices" charges Mr.. Clarke. at
is intended to convey the impression
that the Republican Party should be
given credit for this showing all Of
which is entirely wrong. for the very
simple reason. that by far the larger
proportion of these employees were
appointed under the Democratic Adj
minisration of Woodrow Wilson.
ut happens to be the incontestable
fact that it was during the war period
when this expansion took place. Ev-
cry, department. of the Federal Gov
ernment was greatly enlarged and
many, new departments created. More
than I25,000 new war workers came
to Washington and were employed by
the Democratic Administration then
in power. 1t was at this time that
the colored force of employees was
more than doubled.
"The release fails to relate that
while there are over 10000 Federal
employees in the City of Washington
there are less than $50 colored men
and women of clerical status within
the nine departments of the Federal
Government, exclusive of the city
Post Office, which is local.
"Colored employees of the civil
service have been appointed to post
tons as the result of competitive ex-
aminations before the institution of
the photograph system of identified
ton These people won their appoint
ments not through political favor but
because they met the requirements of
the Civil Service Law.
1.-THE statement is made that in the
Department of the Interior there are
495 employees of all grades and that
they draw the combined salary of
S473,940. This is intended to fool
somebody, but it won't. Taking the
combined salaries, and dividing it by
the total number of race employees,
We arrive at an average salary of
$l,032 per colored employee-not
hardly a living wage-not anything
like the money earned by skilled la
borers and mechanics.
Since the installation of the
photograph system of Identification
no colored clerical eligible has been
appointed in the last two years, al
though many were on the eligible
list"
The Secretary of Labor, comment
ing in The release on the facts dis
closed in his report, points out that:
THE tremendous gain of 29,265
workers and the lump total salary
sum of $4O,199, 1919, caused by the
increase from 22,540 workers and
$l2,456,760 in yearly salaries in
1910 to 51,S05 workers and $751;
655,959 in 1923, Is no more remark
able than the salary total of $64,-
4S3, 1873 for the fiscal year 1928, a
gain of $ll,827,174 over that of
1928, year which represented the
close of an era in the rapid recovery
of prosperity from the economic raw
ages of the World War.
'The personnel totals of 51,S05
for 1928 and 81, 1872 for 1928, while
varying but little, following the re-
turn to normally after reduction of
war time personnels, clearly show,
when considered in connection with
the monetary gain in annual salaries
of the army of Negro civil service
that the efficient group
of governmental workers made a
large per capita gain in income, as
well as significant gain in num-
bers and occupations"