Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-09
|LEHLbACH CALLS
PAY BILL MEETING
House Civil Service Commit.
tee Will Consider Salary
Measure Tomorrow.

Chairman Lehlbach of the House
civil service committee has called a
meeting of the committee for tomorrow
morning at 1890 o'clock to consider the
bill he introduced yesterday for relief
of Government employees who did not
receive benefits intended for them by
Congress under the WEIGH pay bill Of
May % last.
Mr.. Lehlbach made available today
cost estimates on his bill showing that
total of $1,16S,560 probably would be
spent annually If provisions In section
l of his bill are approved. OF this
amount $369,520 Is in the District of
Columbia and $77s,04o in the field serv-
ices.
He says that under section 2 there
would be some small decreases, but they
are negligible in amount.
S616,111 for Present Benefits.
Section of the Lehlbach relief bill
calls for single payment of $616,111.18
to defray benefits which employees are
to date later than July last by ad-
ministrative action. OF this amount
$571 ,486.96 Is in the United States Vet
erans' Bureau, $42,04432 in the Navy
Department and $1,620 in the Depart
nent of Justice.
Mr.. Lehlbach said that no estimate
has been made of the cost under Sec
ton Of his bill.
Bill Meets Opposition.
Although apparently welcomed by the
Personnel Classification Board, the Lehl-
bach bill is meeting opposition among
Government workers and their leaders,
the Brookhart-Cellar bill being favored
in its place. Board officials are de-
Tended in the Lehlbach bill in their
fight with Controller General McCarl.
Luther G. Steward, president OF the
ployeS. and Mrs. Margaret Hopkins
Worrell, president of the League of the
American Civil Service, have both come
out for the Brookhart measure.
Capt. Carlos Van Leer, chairman Of
the Personnel Classification Board, was
plain in approval of the Lehlbach bill
in its general provisions. Capt. Van
Leer admitted the McCarl decisions had
virtually nullified the power of the
board in attempting to administer the
classification act. In this the chair
man was reiterating an opinion recent
ly expressed by another member of the
board.
The Lehlbach bill would place In
the hands of the board final and con-
elusive" power to administer the act
and to make ALLEGATIONS of positions
ION all officers of the Government
including those charged with the duty
of preparation and audit OF pay rolls"
Among certain personnel experts in
the Government departments fear was
expressed that the Lehlbach bill would
put too much power in the hands Of
the board as 1t now is constituted, and
with whose decisions the personnel ex-
perts are more or less continually in
conflict.
Terms Bill "tO Intricate"
"The Lehlbach bill Is too intricate"
declared Mrs. Worrell, who has been
waging fight for higher pay for lower
salaried employees. 1T don't do for the
underpaid employees what the Brook
hart bill will do. We don't want any
of the high Salaried people cut down,
but we want the lower salaries raised,
equally, and the Brookhart bill will do
that. The Brookhart bill should pass
and the Lehlbach bill should be thrown
into the discard
Steward explained that parts Of the
Lehlbach bill were all right, but that
the measure did not go far enough. He
disagreed with the mathematical for
mula designed by Lehlbach to determine
the relative position of persons pro-
NOTED from the old to the new salary
rates.
Steward approved of the Lehlbach
provision to adjust the pay of persons
who were clearly intended to be within
the purview of the Welch act, but
who were deprived of increases on ac-
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