Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-01
Workers Report
for Tasks at
Usual Hour.
SEEN
IF CRISIS LASTS
5000 Employees to
Lose Pay Raise
Temporarily.

pr1atlonS Tor the conduct or the
municipality of Washington eX-
pired at midnight last night the
District Building opened for bust
ness as usual today and every
thing went along smoothly, al
though none of the District work.
ers knows when his next pay day
will be. The deadlock at Capitol
Hill which has held up the appro-
priation bill, customarily passed in
May, was met by an order to de-
partment heads by the District
Commissioner too' calling on
them for a. solicy 'ot business as
usual.
The order reads:
Ordered that as Congress has not
appropriated money for the fiscal year
1881, or adopted a continuing resolu-
ton, heads of departments are to con-
tinue on the basis of the 1880 appro-
priations for maintenance and operating
expenses, eliminating all improvements
and new work.
Effect on Salaries.
THAT annual employees land certain
of the per diem employees whose SerV-
ices are covered by the 1880 act) of
the District government are to continue
in the service on the basis of the 1880
salary appropriations, with the under
standing that no money will be available
with which to pay salaries until Con-
gress takes some affirmative action on
the 1881 bill.
THAT none of the improvements
contemplated by the 1881 bill now pend
ing in Congress shall be undertaken
until it becomes law"
While it Is not so stated in the
order, it was said at the District Build
ing that it was based on the premise
that sudden emergency" existed.
The net effect of this proclamation,
for today at least, is that nobody has
been laid off as far as can be aScer-
tanned. In most Of the departments
1t would be a matter Of extreme diff
Guilty to segregate the employees and lay
off those whose work deals only with
improvements and new work" and re-
ain those whose work deals with main
tenance and operating" This will have
to be done in the next few days if the
regular appropriation bill fails and some
kind of start has been made on it in
most of the departments where it is
a factor.
Architects Office Hit.
Perhaps the department worst hit of
all is the municipal architects Office,
and this on account of the method of
paying most of the force. There are 81
and of these, II are on the
salary roll. The remaining 40
are per die mworkers. When an appro-
priation Is made for a new building, 3
per cent of 1t is allotted for Office serv-
Ice OF craftsmen, inspectors, etc, and
the salary roll of the 40 per diem en-
ployes is met out of these sums.
There is available about 10 days pay
for the force on projects authorized in
1880 an dbeing carried on with money
provided in the 1880 appropriation bill.
After this money is gone these men and
women must be laid off unless a new
appropriation bill is passed. Passage of
a continuing resolution will not help
these workers since it will carry no new
projects and therefore there will be
no appropriation for them. Nine of the
40 are women.
Last January the Commissioners, after
a long study decided to increase slightly |
the wages of per diem laborerS in all |
OF the engineer departments effective |
today. Yesterday they were compelled
to order these increases indefinitely
postponed, since they we're not sure
that they would have even the money
to pay the men their old rates. About |
5000 workers, including unskilled labor |
Frs, mechanics, carpenters, painters
and the like, are affected by this.
All Workers on Hand.
A. Co. a..
District worker failed to show up on |
account of the uncertainty of getting |
his pay. In the District Building the |
day went on about the same as any !
other day except that department heads |
we're frantically figuring on the. divi- |
sion between their maintenance and |
new construction rolls.
The District Commissioners assembled |
1t their regular bi-weekly board session |
at 10 O'Clock and acted on numerous
routine matters. One of their first !
actions was to disapprove bill pending |
in Congress to change the name of |
Meridian Hill Park to Henderson Park |
While 1t Is true" they wrote to |
Senator Capper of Kansas, chairman of |
The Senate District Committee, that |
Senator and Mrs. Henderson took an |
active part in the development of this |
area and that Mrs. Henderson had a |
large part in establishing the park, it is |
the opinion of the Commissioners that |
the historic name of this park should |
not be changed, but that if it is desired |
10 recognize the part played by Senator |
Henderson in the development of the |
city some other method of doing so be |
found"
Three Privates Assigned
The Commissioners assigned three |
privates in the Metropolitan Police |