Evening star., 1949-02-04
Pay Raise for All
D. T.. Workers
To Weighed
Fire, Police Increases
To Be Considered in
Light of Other SoIories

eISut VI StUST SQlQEteS
A House District subcommittee
chairman today promised to give
immediate attention" to a District
Building proposal to give all city
employees raise.
Chairman Davis of a subcommit-
tee considering a bill to provide pay
raises for flremen and policemen
here said he hoped to have another
bill covering all District employees
introduced in order to hold hearings
next week on the overall picture of
more pay for all District workers.
The Georgia legislator made the
comment when he was advised bv
Corporation Counsel Vernon E. West
that the Commissioners were in favor
OF a bill to grant $3.50 annual pay
raises to policemen and firemen only
If District school teachers and clas-
slfled workers were included.
Mr.. West submitted to the COM
mittee a draft of bill which would
cover everybody"
JolHt ncdTulSS suggested.
Chairman Davis, in promising i'm
mediate attention to Mr.. Vests pro-
posal, said he would have to talk to
other House District Subcommittee
heads under whose Jurisdiction the
other phases of the proposed pay
raises would fall. He said joint hear
ings probably would be the answer.
During his testimony, Mr.. West
estimated pay increases for police
and flremen would cost more than
81 100000 year. If pay raises were
granted to all District employees, he
said, the bill would come to approx
mately s5,200,0O0.
The pay bill for police and fire.
men would grant them raises retro
active to last July /. when raises
were granted to Federal employees
but District employees were excluded.
Spokesman for the bill cited the
high number of designations from
the Police and Fire Departments
during the past year because of
low salaries.
"a Quit Fire Department.
Fire Chief Clement Murphy told
the subcommittee that "a men re-
signed to take higher paid jobs last
year, the greatest number" in his
80 years in the department.
Inspector Clarence H. Lutz of the
Police Department told a similar
story. He said 42 men had resigned
and another 1s were dropped for in
efficiency during their first year on
the force.
AS a result, the Police Depart
ment has 214 vacancies while the
Fire Department is short IL men,
they testified.
Chief Murphy stated that replace
ments for resigning firemen were
hard to find. He said the Civil
Service Commission right now has
not a single man on its lists for us
to appoint"
Chief Murphy, who gets $4,000 a
year, told the committee:
Il would like to be excluded from
any raise. Ten thousand is too
much. The more I get, the more
I get into trouble"
Most Get Below s3,39s.
The Fire Chief stated that more
than half of the men in the Fire
Department get below the s3,398 paw
OF top private. Beginning privates
receive S2,720 at present and only
about 1870 men get more than $1,000
a year.
When Inspector Lutz was testify
ing, Representative Simpson, Re-
publican, of Illinois asked him what
the take-home pay each month was
OF the lowest private on the police
force. Inspector Lutz told him that
an unmarried private of the lowest
grade received only $185 a month
after deductions.
The inspector told the subcom-
mittee that in practically every
case the men resigning from the
department gave as their reasons
the fact that they could get better
salaries and better jobs elsewhere.
The same point was made by Fire
Chief Murphy.
Raspberry Testifies.
Capt. Mark H. Raspberry, head
OF the United States Park Police,
also testified that the proposed
raise was justifiable because the
police were deprived of pay in
creases granted to other Federal
employees last year.
The Park Police receive the same
pay as the Metropolitan Police and
would receive the same raises under
the bill in question.
School Supt. Hobart M. Corning
was called but did not testify. DR..
Corning said he would like to talk
to the new bill" which would in
clude school teachers when it was
incorporated. He said the need for
pay increases for the teachers was
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