Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-05-13
BY DAVID KOONCE

One of the most irksome problems
faced by many Government agency
heads is how to get and keep first
rate employes-men of maturity.
judgement and talent who. because
of these qualities, are sought for
jobs in business at much larger
salaries than they are paid by Uncle
Sam.
Allen w. Dulles, director of the
Central Intelligence Agency, has
come up with a new idea which
might provide a solution: Income
supplements in the form of college
scholarships for the children of
valuable Federal employees.
Mr.. Dulles proposal is the result
of an especially critical situation at
CHA. where some of the agency'S
most valuable men are being en-
ticed into out of Government jobs.
He has found. he says. that a major
factor in the departure of these
employees, most of them in their late
thirties and early forties. is that
they have found they cannot edu-
cate their children as they want to
on Government salaries.
The CHA director cites this case
in point: A career man, talented
and highly trained for his extreme
~ technical post. regretfully sub
mitted his resignation recently. He
has three children, the eldest of
whom will leave for college shortly.
The other two will enter college
before the eldest finishes. The edu-
cation of all three will cost mini
mum of $4,000 over seven years.
The father could not swing this
expense on his Government pay and
therefore was leaving for a job in
business at much higher salary.
He assured Mr.. Dulles he would be
back as soon as his children are
educated, but in the meantime his
talents and training are lost to CHA.
That is just one of many similar
cases, according to Mr.. Dulles.
Follow Regular Grodes
CHA employees, like most Govern
ment workers, are paid according
to standard Civil Service grades.
A CHA employe rated as a GS-18
(there are only few of these in
CIAl will earn the same S14.800
paid to any other Federal employee
with the same grade. This is true.
although CHA jobs frequently call
for special talents and are more ex-
acting and sometimes more dam
gerous than those of other Gov
eminent workers. Thus CHA
economist who is master of nine
languages might make only $4,000
a year. In the export-import bust
ness he could command perhaps
$25 900 to $4,000 year.
Since the pay problem seems to
be most oppressive for men in early
middle age with college-age chill
dren. Mr.. Dulles feels that if some
provision can be made for scholar
ships or other supplements to the
salaries of these men for as long as
their children are in college, the
problem would be licked.
He has several plans of attack.
He thinks that the wealthy founda-
lions may help by providing Schol-
arShips. The eligibility of those for
such aid. he says, would have to be
determined by the value of the in
dividual employee and the usefulness
of his work
There is the possibility that Con-
gress might vote some kind OF
income supplement. He says that
he has talked to several Congress
men about his problem and that all
listened sympathetically.
OF course. whether such aid would
come from the foundations or the
Government, there is the question
of whether or not combining it to
CHA would constitute unfair dis
elimination. Undoubtedly the ques-
ton would be asked II this is done
for the employees of one agency.
shouldn't all Government employees
IN like situations also benefit?
Mr.. Dulles already has antici-
pated the question, and he does not
quarrel with 1t. His answer is this.
III we're really going to compete
in the world this agency must have
first-rate people. And We can't
get these people and we can't Keen
them when we get them unless