Evening star., 1928-04-06
BY BEN McKELwAY.

Conins, as it does, while a committee
cf the United States Senate has been
questioning coal operators relative 70
alleged methods in vogue for reducing
wages of their employees. a petition TO
Controller General McCarl from a
rro,In of emploves in the post once oi-
H,iSirl, nf tbs General Accounting once
sheds An interesting light on the tactics
o. Uncle sam rs an employer Ihe Pc
tstso,, ,,1ea0s for relief from conoi-
tfo,, wl,fc1, is described as tending 10
seSfrov the morale Of the ofIlce, ana. IN
c,,r humble opinion, does not opeFSte
for the best interests OF the Govern
mcnt" ~ - -
controller General McCarl has re.
eejved the petition, and has authorised
= committee Of officials to seek ano put
remedy will effectively clear up Tue
trouble remains to be seen.
Briefly. the condition complained 10
E,Ss yFncle sam IN the role Of an en-
rIoyer who has agreed to pay his work
erS ON the basis Of their production ana
efSciencv. and in order TO do this mas
set \ standard by which both may Dc
measured But in actual pracuce TINS
standard is changed. and the revision Is
inward 50 that employees who once
eyceUed the standard find themselves
falling behind while those who nave
worked hard and fast TO increase theT
eficisncy and meet the standard. arc
barely able to keep up with 1t. Another
result is this. Those who IAN oeioW
The standard. though in the past nave
hacy, above II. are denoted But those
whose exceptional ability enables them
n rise above the standard, find their
mains in vain. for the funds are aek-
inx 10 give them the promotion tneE
have earned. The whole system Is one
founded on working the employees al
tounotch speed. making them 90 a SET
amount of work to earn given salary,
en6 6eSuctine as much as half days
production for one error. 1t is SyS-
tenn which benefits the employer en-
tireiv. and a gamble in which the oooS
are all on one side 1t is not creation
Of the present general accounting Of
fee. but an inheritance frcm what en-
pioves term the Cram regime wnicn
takes II name from the late ChaTIes
z Cram. once auditor for the Post
CSice Department.
Human Element in Tale.
But there is a human element in the
tale which should count more IN remeoy-
Ing the condition than the unique
manner in which cold figures and the
law have worked to bring 1t about.
This story goes back about Is years.
whan some OF the employees in the office
were-and this explains much--ls
years Younger. In fifteen years one
may lose. or gain. much. One Of the
things lost is youth. another is resilient
hone
The work they did then was what it
ts now. One woman. grown old N the
service, once compared its effect on
the mind TO the expeoient adopted by
q busy mother TO quiet noisy child.
The chIld's fingers we're dipped in mo-
lasses and a feather stuck on one
finger While the mother went about
her work the child tried TO rid its
fingers Of the sticky feather and the
story goes. was very quiet. but in the
end became an imbecile. That is prob
ably a fable. but il tells much. The
employees in the post Office division Of
the general accounting otfice audit
froney orders which come in a never
ending stream One lis Eeyer able TO
get rid OF the feather II is always
sticking TO another finger.
This auditing is q mechanical process.