Evening star. [volume], April 02, 1938, Page A-18, Image 18

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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A. M. A. OFFICIAL
AND SCOHCONFER
ON G. HI DISPUTE
Dr. Woodward Arrives and
Takes Hand in Group
Health Issue.
DR. VIRGINIUS DABNEY
TAKES OVER NEW POST
Statement of United Federal
Workers Backing Chest Is
Welcomed by Director.
The American Medical Association
again entered the District Medical
Society-Group Health Association
controversy today following the ar
rival here of Dr. William C. Wood
ward. legislative representative of the
A. M. A. and an avowed enemy of
the G. H. A.
Dr. Woodward conferred yesterday
with Representative Scott, Democrat,
of California, champion of G. H. A.,
w ho has included in his pending reso
lution a proposal to inquire into ac
tivities of the American Medical As
sociation. His resolution is before
the House Rules Committee.
Although the American Medical
Association has not recently showed
its hand openly, it is firmly on record
in opposition to Group Health Asso
ciation. This position is outlined in
a comprehensive statement from the
Bureau of Legal Medicine and Legis
lation. of which Dr. Woodward is the
director. It first was printed in the
October 2 Journal of the Medical
Association, and later was reprinted
and given wide distribution, in the
form of a 23-page pamphlet.
The Medical Association recently
was charged by Senator Capper, Re
publican, of Kansas with influence
in a Nation-wide movement against
voluntary group health associations.
Shafer Opposes Scott Plan.
Representative Scott's move to in
clude the A. M. A. in the investiga
tion has been opposed by Repre
sentative Shafer, Republican, of Illi
nois, who has praised the doctors
for their "fine ideals," and attempted
to have the investigation made in
stead by the Subcommittee on Hos
pitals and Welfare of the House
District Committee, of which he is
chairman.
Meantime, Dr. Virginius Dabney,
one of the chief surgeons at Episcopal
Hospital, has taken over his new post
as head of the Group Health Associa
tion's ear, nose and throat depart
ment of its clinic at 1328 I street,
Herbert L. Willett, jr., director of
the Community Chest, this morning
■welcomed a statement by the United
Federal Workers of America support
ing the Chest generally, despite at
tempts of some G. H. A. members
to cancel their subscriptions.
Mr. Willett, who has insisted all
along that the Chest takes no sides
In the controversy, indicated the re
quests of some G. H. A. members
for cancellation of their Chest con
tribution will be taken before the
Executive Committee. No action can
be taken by that committee, he said,
until the return to the city of Coleman
Jennings, president of the Chest.
U. F. A. Statement.
The U. F. A., in its new statement
concerning the situation, said:
"While the United Federal Work
ers of America regrets very much that
the Community Chest has not seen
fit to disavow the anti-social prac
tices of the hospitals that are benefi
ciaries of the Chest, and who are act- !
ing in concert with the management
of the District Medical Society to
deny hospital privileges to thousands
of Washington citizens, we do not feel
the Chest as a whole should be pen
alized because of the sins of one group
of its beneficiaries.
"All members of the United Federal
Workers of America w-ho are sub
scribers to the Community Chest are
urged to pay their subscriptions
promptly in the full amount pledged.
If any subscriber specified that his
funds were to go to a hospital, and he
now wishes to change that, he can do
that without cutting off his subscrip
tion to the Chest.
"We have today, for the second
time, asked the Community Chest to
take specific action in disavowal of
the action of hospitals denying hos
pital facilities to 6.000 Washington
residents. The United Federal Work
ers of America has also asked the
hospitals and their Boards of Directors
carefully to consider the serious prob
lem being created by this denial of
hospital privileges."
Sees Congress Members.
Dr. Woodward, who could not be
reached today, was reported in re
liable circles to. have interviewed sev
eral members of Congress yesterday.
The exact position taken by him now
representing the A. M. A., has not been
disclosed.
The Bureau of Legal Medicine and
Legislation, however, in its official
statement attacking the Group Health
Association, was unequivocal in its
strong opposition to the movement. It
attacked the principle of corporate
practice of medicine and the quality
of medical service such an organiza
tion could render.
*---•
BANDIT BRANDISHES
BLACKJACK IN FORAY
Robber Using It Instead of Gun
Gets $40 in Hold-up After
Threatening Woman.
Brandishing a blackjack instead of
the customary gun, a young white
bandit last night frightened the
woman manager of a cleaning estab
lishment into a back room while he
robbed the store.
Mrs. Marion Houlon. 26, of 1454
Park road N.W., manager of the
Smith Cleaning & Dyeing Shop at
1527 Seventeenth street N.W., told
police she was in the place alone
when the bandit, whom she described
as “athletic looking,” entered.
Pulling a blackjack from his pocket,
the bandit held it up for Mrs. Houlon
to see and said, “I’ll split your skull
if you don’t keep your mouth shut.”
He told Mrs. Houlon, who is the
mother of a 5-year-old daughter, to
,get In a back room and stay there.
j The bandit then leaped over a wide
«- counter, Mrs. Houlon said, and robbed
^ cash register of about $40.
_Cats and Mice Doing 4Lovely’ in Joint Show—in Separate Rooms, That Is
Everything is just lovely” at Washington’s first cat and mouse show,
which opened at 10 a.m. today, according to Miss Mary E. Hantzmon,
inanager of the joint exhibition of the ancient enemies. Maybe that’s
because the cats—such as these champion Chinchillas, photographed
with Marian Trowbridge of Chevy Chase—are in one room and the mice
in another.
!
This little red mouse—show officials say there are 40 differ
ent colors among the 80 mice on display—shores no signs of fear
of his 150 feline enemies in the next room as he tries to gnaw
his way out of his cage in the exhibition at the Lewis Hotel
Training School, Twenty-third street at Washington Circle.
Suzanne Cotchett of Hingham. Md... lets a curious
chocolate Japanese mouse make himself at home on
her shoulder. The exhibition, sponsored by the Co
lumbian Cat Fanciers. Inc., and the American Mouse
Club, will be open unfail 10 o'clock tonight and from
9 a.m. to 8 p.m. tomorrow. —Star Star Photos.
SUSPECT ARRESTED
IN MAUHEFTS
Colored Man Taken After
Month’s Search by Police
and Agents.
Captured after a month's search
by Metropolitan Police, the Postal In
spection Service and the Secret Serv
ice, Edward T. Ward. 51, who has
twice served prison sentences for tam
j pering with the mails, was held here
today for investigation in connection
I with a series of robberies from apart
ment house mail boxes and forging
of 40 checks and post office money
orders.
Waid, a dapper colored man from
Richmond, was arrested in a down
town department store yesterday after
noon when a clerk, to whom he had
given an indorsed Government check,
recognized him from a photograph on
a "wanted” circular sent recently to
all business houses in Washington by
Inspector Bernard W. Thompson of the
Metropolitan Police, in co-operation j
with the postal inspectors and the
Secret Service.
The forgeries with which officials'
| are seeking to connect Ward mount1
i into thousands of dollars,, according to
W. D. Kahn, in charge of postal in
spectors for the District. Mr. Kahn
said that apparently the forger, who
ever he is. enlisted the aid of apart
ment house janitors and cleaners in
Harrisburg. Pa., to make it easier for
him to get at the letters in the mail
boxes.
Police are holding Ward at the third
precinct station for questioning. Ac
cording to police he was sentenced in
Wilmington, Del., on January 4, 1933,
for the theft of mail from letter boxes,
and served two years in Newcastle, Del.,
penitentiary. Records show he W'as
sentenced here on the same charge
March 29, 1935, and served one year
at Lorton.
D. C. CATHOLIC ACTION
SCHOOL IS PLANNED
Six-Day Course Will Be Held at
Washington Hotel Starting
August 8.
A six-day summer school of Catholic
action will be held at the Washing
ton Hotel, August 8 to 13, it was an
nounced yesterday by Albert S. Cake,
Eastern representative in the Queen's
Work Office, in the Washington Build
ing.
Mr. Cake said the school will be
sponsored by the Eastern Catholic
educators and leaders and the sodal
ity unions of Baltimore and Washing
ton. The school will be one of five
to be held in various parts of the
country.
This is the first year a Catholic
action school has been held in Wash
ington, previous sessions having been
held in New York, Chicago, Boston
and other large cities.
ANNUAL DINNER TONIGHT
Disabled Emergency Officers to
Conclude Program.
Disabled emergency officers of the
World War prepared today to elect
new national officers for the coming
year and conclude their annual con
vention tonight with the annual din
ner at the Hamilton Hotel.
Maurice S. Stevenson of Boston,
president of the group which is com
posed of Reserve and National Guard
officers who served in the tVorld War
and became disabled, said one of the
resolutions expected to be adopted
would call for an adequate national
defense program.
Representatives Edmison of West
Virginia and McCormack of Massa
chusetts will speak at tonight’s ban
quet.
STUDENTS VISIT HERE
Fifty junior civil engineering stu
dents .from the Case School of Ap
plied Science. Cleveland, planned to
visit the laboratories of the Bureau of
Standards and the Coast and Geodetic
Survey here today.
The students, on their annual in
spection tour of engineering projects
and laboratories, will remain in Wash
ington until Tuesday, when they will
head northward to see the Conowingo
hydroelectric development.
Fair Taxation Committee
Asks Procedure to
Settle Issue.
Provision in the new 1939 revenue
j bill for establishment of machinery
or some procedure for working out a
I satisfactory basis of fiscal relations
; between the Federal and District Gov
j emments was recommended to the
; House District Committee today by
; the Citizens’ Committee qn Fair Taxa
tion.
Repeal of the long inoperative pro
vision in aubstantative law requiring
the Federal Government to pay 40
per cent of the expense of the Dis
trict, as called for in the bill, was
deplored by the organization, which
pointed out the District would be left
without a statutory basis of fiscal
relations with the Federal Govern
ment.
Present Procedure Hit.
"The present procedure, whereby
the Congress makes lump-sum grants
with no fixed technique for deter
mining its contribution, is not satis
factory,” it declared, "and steps
should be taken this year to solve
the problem.”
The organization also urged com
mittee members to approve certain
features of the revenue bill, espe
cially the income tax plan, and rec
ommended disapproval of the pro
posed 75 cents a barrel tax on beer.
In addition, it suggested a series
of amendments to the proposed in
come tax plan and pointed out a
"blind spot” is inevitable in income
tax collections in the 1940 fiscal year
as a result of the decision to make
1938 instead of 1937 the first taxable
year.
Explain Contention.
“The District would not lose any
revenue for the budget for the fiscal
year 1939, because the tax on 1938
income would all be paid in March,
1939,” the organization explained.
"These receipts would be available
for April, May and June of 1939.
But In the fiscal year 1940 only the
first quarter installment would be
paid in March, 1940, and the District
revenues available for the budget of
the fiscal year 1940 would be reduced
by three-fourths. The remaining
three-fourths of the tax on 1939 in
comes would not be available until
the fiscal year 1941.
“It should be realized now by the Con
gress it would be called upon to make
a special contribution of about $2,
000,000 to meet the resulting deficiency
in the 1940 budget.”
FIVE PLAYGROUNDS
WILL OPEN MONDAY
Remainder Not to Be in Operation
Until July 1 Due to Lack
of Funds.
Because of a lack of sufficient oper
ation funds, only five school play
grounds will be opened Monday by the
District Playground Department for
programs after school hours, instead
of 15 or more customarily opened in
the spring, officials announced today.
The department said its funds were
unusually limited this spring because
more than the customary number of
playgrounds were used during the win
ter, due to the continued mild weather,
which made it possible to enlarge win
ter activities.
The five school playgrounds to be
opened are at the Cooke School, Sev
enteenth and Puller streets N.W.;
Hayes School, Fifth and K streets N.E.;
Corcoran School, Twenty-eighth and
M streets N.W.; Banneker School,
Third and K streets N.W., and Shaw
Junior High School, Seventh and O
streets N.W.
The rest of the school playgrounds
will not be opened until the beginning
of the new fiscal year July 1. The
school playgrounds operated by the
Playground Department are in addi
tion to the 37 municipal playgrounds
operated the year around.
*--•
Diesel Locomotives.
Twenty-two of the Nation's princi
pal railroads now use Diesel locomo
tives. It is possible to travel from the
Atlantic to the Pacific Coast in 58
hours on trains powered by Diesel
locomotives.
Employers of Non-Residents
To Tap Wag es for Income Tax\
Congress Stymies Possible Escape From
Levy—Bookkeeping Costs Pat
on District Firms.
This is the second of a series I
of articles analyzing the income j
l tax plan in the neiv District rev
enue bill.
By JAMES E. CHINN.
A non-resident who works in Wash
' ington hasn't a chance of avoiding
! or escaping the proposed District in
come tax.
He'll be caught for the tax even
before he gets his pay envelope,
whether he works for the Federal Gov
ernment or a private concern.
Predicated on the theory, perhaps,
that non-residents might be difficult
to catch, the income tax plan em
bodied in the 1939 revenue bill places
the responsibility on the employer to
impound the tax from the salary be
fore it is paid. The plan is com
monly known as withholding a tax at
its source.
Mandatory Provision.
Just as the employer now collects
the social security tax from hiS em
ployes. so will he be forced to collect
the income tax. Section 30 of the
bill makes it mandatory on the em
ployer to withhold from the employe's
salary enough to cover the amount of
the tax he would be required to pay. \
Residents and non-residents alike |
will be required to file a return on an
equal basis. But the non-resident
employe, unlike the resident, may find
himself paying in advance on the in
stallment plan if his employer elects
to withhold the tax payment that way.
In other words, the boss must see to
it that the pay envelope is tapped to
guarantee the District its revenue
from non-resident income tax payers.
There's no loophole for evasion.
Problem Involves Expense.
Imagine what a responsibility that
is going to place on the employer,
especially the gigantic Federal estab
lishment, which has thousands of its
employes living in nearby Maryland
and Virginia. In the case of the pri
vate employer it also will mean addi
tional bookkeeping, more records, etc.
But the Federal Government will have
a far greater problem. How will it be :
solved? Will monthly deductions be
made from the pay checks of the non
resident employes? Or will the tax
be taken out in a lump sum on the
last pay day before payment is due?
Aside from these added responsi
bilities on both the Government and
the private employer, the non-resident
employe, too, faces some inconveni
ence.
Suppose the employer takes too
much out of the pay envelope and
turns it over to the District. The only
way the employe can get the amount
of overpayment back is to go to the
District Building and file a claim for
a refund.
Must Notify Employer.
In providing a set-up for non-resi
dent tax collections, the bill specifi
cally directs that the non-resident shall
file with his employer on a form pre
scribed by the Commissioners data
showing the amount of personal ex
eruptions, which, incidentally, are the '
same as those allowed und« the Fed
eral income tax law—$1,000 for a
single person, $2,500 for a married
couple and $400 for each dependent.
After that it becomes the duty of the
employer to withhold from the em
ploye's salary the amount of the tax
he will be required to pay. The rate
ranges from 1 per cent of the first
SI.000 or less of taxable income, up
to 10 per cent on taxable income in
excess of $50,000.
Credit for Non-Residents.
The non-resident, however, will be
allowed a credit for payment of any
income tax to the State in which he
lives. For example, if a resident of
Virginia paid the State $20 in income
tax and the District tax amounted to
$30 he would be required to pay the
District the difference, or $10.
But the Federal employe with the
same taxable income w-ho lives in Vir
ginia pays no income tax to the State,
and therefore has no credit. Thus,
with his District tax figured at $30,
the Government would be obligated
to take that amount out of his salary
and pay the bill.
A Water Cycle Built for Two !
It’s old-fashioned to paddle a canoe on the Tidal Basin now.
What you do, as Jane Reuss, 2403 Third street N.E., and Hazen
Kennedy, 2821 Seventh street N.E., are doing, is pedal a twin
pontoon water cycle, just put in service by the National Park
Service. % —Star Staff Photo.
j
Citizens’ Committee Calls
for Impartial and Expert
Probe in District.
A resolution commending Senator
Elmer Thomas, Democrat, of Okla
homa and Representative Collins,
Democrat, of Mississippi for "their
successful effort to have Congress
provide for as thorough an investiga
tion as is possible by August 1 of the
whole problem of relief in the Dis
trict,” was passed yesterday by the
Citizens' Committee on Unemployment
and Relief at a meeting at the Family
Service Association.
The motion for adoption of the
resolution was made by Canon Anson
Phelps Stokes of Washington Cathe
dral. The statement also included the
committee's opinion that "it is im
perative that this investigation be
made by some impartial agency or
group," whose report will "carry weight
with all thoughtful elements in the
community.”
i The group also pledged its aid to
whatever commission or agency the
congressional joint committee may
name. It suggested the following as
possible conductors of the investiga
I tion: The American Public Welfare
Association, the Social Security
Board, the Brookings Institution, the
Bureau of Labor Statistics or the
Russell Sage Foundation.
If the committee should select a
; special commission, the statement said,
the citizens' committee "strongly rec
ommends that it appoint a commission
of three or more members of which
at least two shall be recognized as
; authorities in the fields of govern
I ment administration and social wel
j fare.” The committee also asked that
some preliminary results of such a
survey be given Congress prior to
the adjournment of the present ses
sion. if possible.
George Cleary, president of the St.
! Vincent de Paul Society and chairman
I of the committee, presided at the
session.
DEFICIT OF CHEST
REDUCED IN 1937
Total Is Cut to $101,262, Report
Shows—Expenses Put at
$1,652,597.
The Community Chest reduced its
deficit from $169,561.87 to $101,262.06
last year, when it collected a total of
$1,684,897.29. the Cheat financial
statement for 1937 showed today.
Expenses for the year amounted to
$1,652,597.48, leaving a net income
from collections of $32,299.81 above
expenses. Repayment of $36,000 in
loans from various Chest agencies
boosted the net gains to $68,299.81,
which was applied to reduce the
deficit.
Most! of the Chest expenditures
were payments to the various agencies,
which amounted to $1,460,860.37. Col
lection campaign and administrative
expenses 'were $147,383.55.
The report showed the Chest paid
$281,594.07 to nine local hospitals
during the year for service given to
patients who were not able to pay for
their own hospital care and were ap
proved as eligible for Chest aid by
the Central Admitting Bureau for
Hospitals. The funds provided for
92.525 days care received by 7,722
persons in the hospital wards, and for
$260,690 clinic visits by 35,903 persons.
BAND CONCERT
,By the United States Soldiers’ Home
Band Orchestra in Stanley Hall this
evening at 5:30 o’clock. John S. M.
Zimmermann, bandmaster; Anton
Pointner, assistant.
Program.
March. “Kwang Hsue"_Lincke
Overture, ’’Masanielle”_;.Auber
Entr’acte:
(a) “Midnight Reflections,”
(Modernistic) _Signorelli
(b) “Southology” .Sanders
Scenes from the opera "Romeo and
Juliet”.Gounod
Popular numbers:
“The Shiek of Araby”—-Snyder
"The Song of Persia”-Whiting
Waltae suite. "Les Patineurs,”
(The Skaters) . ..Waldteufel
Finale, "Coon’s Birthday"-Lincke
"The Star Spangled Banner."
JURY TRIALS UIT
FOR MENTAL CASES
U. S. Health Service Surgeon
Urges Plan to Speed
Early Treatment.
Charging that early treatment of
the mentally ill in the District is
hindered by obligatory trial by jury,
and citing 'poor conditions" in Gal
linger and St, Elizabeth's Hospitals,
Dr. Grover Kempf. senior surgeon of
the United States Public Health Serv
ice, yesterday urged new methods in
dealing with mental cases, and im
proved facilities for their handling.
Dr. Kempf said Gallinger Hospital
. admits about 3.400 cases annually for
| mental observation. Of these, about I
! 30 to 40 per cent are alcoholics, he
| said, in giving a report on the Mental
! Hygiene Survey, which was made as
! part of the Public Health Survey in
! the District, at a luncheon yesterday
at the Y. W. C. A.
I Opposes Laymen as Judges.
The obligatory trial by jury to de
termine the mental condition of a
patient applying for admission to an
institution in the District, is the
greatest bar to early treatment of the
I mentally ill. Dr. Kempf declared. A
j qualified medical authority should be
designated to determine the sanity of
a patient, he said, and not a jury of
laymen. Dr. Kempf declared the vol
untary admission of the mentally ill
to St. Elizabeth's Hospital would
facilitate early treatment of such
cases.
Among the needed improvements
for handling such cases. Dr. Kempf
listed the abolition of the obligatory
trial by jury; the discharge or release
i on leave of patients from St. Eliza
beth's at the judgment of the hospital
authorities, which he mentioned as a
necessary part of the treatment of the
mentally ill; the establishment of
farm colonies for chronic alcoholic
patients, and the improvement of
wards in Gallinger Hospital and the
increase in facilities for handling the
cases. He also urged the extension of
psychiatric services in the institutions,
particularly at the Reformatory and
at each health center.
Conditions in the District would be
horrible without Gallinger Hospital,
I everl with all its drawbacks, Dr.
; Kampf said.
Charges Lack of Services.
Citing the lack of sufficient psychi
atric and psychological services at
District institutions and receiving or
ganizations, Dr. Kejnpf said Juvenile
Court had 3.000 mental cases in 1937,
and that there were 15,000 cases of
intoxication. Records show, he de
clared, that most of these latter cases
are old offenders.
The lunacy bill now before Con
gress is a definite step forward to
improve the facilities for early treat
ment of mental cases. Dr. Kempf said.
Dr. George C. Ruhland, District
health officer, spoke briefly on the
facilities at Gallinger Hospital. Dr.
Loren Johnston presided at the
meeting.
SENATE VOTES INQUIRY
INTO CIVIL SERVICE UNIT
Ellender Bill Allows $2,500 to
Probe Promotions and
Disciplinary Action.
The Senate approved by unanimous
consent yesterday a bill introduced by
Senator Ellender, Democrat, of Louisi
ana, allowing $2,500 for investigation
of the Civil Service Commission.
The investigation contemplates going
into the civil service practices in
transfers, promotions and meting out
disciplinary action. It is being made
as a result of complaints of alleged
personnel discrimination in depart
ments.
Senator Ellender is out of the city
at present, but his office said he ex
pects to open the inquiry about the
middle of this month.
WOMAN DISAPPEARS
Clarence Mills, 4436 Alabama ave
nue S.E., today asked police to aid in
a search for his 23-year-old daughter
Anna, who disappeared this morning
after starting out for the Government
Printing Office, where she is employed.
Mr. Mills said Anna has been de
spondent since the death of her mother
a year ago.
114.50 AND $17 PAY
SCALES SET FOIL
LAUNDRYWORKERS
Wage Board Decision Is
Effective on Employers
Next July 1.
HIGHER RATE APPLIES
TO OFFICE EMPLOYES
Overtime Wages Established at
35 and 40 Cents an Hour
by Ruling.
An increase in pay for a consider
able number of the tfomen employes
of laundries, dry cleaning and dyeing
plants is expected to result from basic
wage scales fixed for them by the
District Minimum Wage Board.
By unanimous agreement, the board
ruled last night that the wages of
plant workers shall be no less than
$14.50 a week and that the scale for
office workers and other clerks shall
be no less than $17 a ween. The
scales will become mandatory July 1.
Laundry officials today said it is too
early to say what effect the wage in
crease would have on laundry prices.
Spokesmen for companies operating
about 50 laundries pointed out that
they have several months in which to
make the necessary adjustments before
the wage increase becomes mandatory.
They indicated, in one instance, how
ever, that the Wage Board action had
not been unexpected.
According to a survey of about 1,700
laundry workers, made a year ago by
the Women's Bureau of the Labor
Department, the average wage paid
then was $10.90 a week
The scales adopted by the board
were recommended by the Laundry
Dry Cleaning Conference, headed by
Clarence Phelps Dodge, former presi
dent of the Community Chest, which
reached a decision after five hours of
debate late yesterday.
44-Hour Week.
The $14.50 weekly minimum rate,
which will be applied to about 4,500
women plant workers, is for a stand
ard work week of 44 hours. It also
is to cover the services of women
who work from 17 to 44 hours a week
If employes work longer than 44
hours they are to be paid 35 cents
an hour for the extra hours. Under
the law. women are not permitted
to be worked longer than 48 hours a
week. However, because it found
there are recurring peak loads for
laundries, the board ruled that the
44-hour standard week may be aver
aged over two consecutive weeks. In
other words, over a period of two con
secutive weeks, the 35 cent an hour
rate would apply only to hours of
work above a total of 88 hours.
For plant employes Aho work less
[ than 17 hours a week, the board pre
scribed a rate of 40 cents an hour.
The board granted the office workers
and clerks a basic rate $2 SO a ween
higher than for plant workers on the
ground that since these employes must
meet customers their budget require
ments for clothing end sundries would
be greater. The $17 weekly rate
applies to those employed from 40 to
48 hours a week. Part-time workers
are to be p-id no less than 40 cents
an hour.
Learner Scale Established.
For the office worker or clerk class
the board set $14 50 for learners, lim
iting the learners' period to 60 days,
after which they are to be paid the
$17 rate. All learners must obtain
licenses from the Minimum Wage
Board.
The original District Minimum
; Wage Board, about 16 years ago. set
a flat rate of $15 a week as the basic
j pay for laundry w orkers.
; The present board now has estab
lished minimums for three classes of
women workers. Previously, it had set
a minimum of $17 a week for retail
trade clerks and scales ranging from
® 13-25 to $17 a week for the several
! classes of workers in hotels, restau
! rants and boarding houses.
Mrs. William Kittle, chairman of
the Minimum Wage Board, said it
should be remembered that large quan
tities of laundry now are sent out of
Washington, to cities and towns in
Maryland. Virginia, New Jersey and
Pennsy 1\ ania, and that "discovery"
of this fact at a later date should not
be blamed on the wage scale.
Employers on the conference had
voiced fears that the establishment of
a "high" minimum rate might cause
a great increa.se in the competition of
out-of-town firms. However, mem
bers of the conference were agreed
the District firms could meet the
wage scales adopted.
----------
D. C. LIQUOR LAW
CHANGE PROTESTED
Commissioners Oppose Plan to
Limit Discretion of A. B. C.
Board.
Opposition to the bill fathered by
Chairman Palmisano of the House
District. Committee to change one of
the requisites for the granting of
liquor licenses in the District has
been registered by the Commission
ers in a letter sent to the Budget
Bureau.
The law no\rf prescribes that before
the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board
may grant a permit it shall satisfy
Itself, among other points, that the
place for which the permit is ap
plied is an appropriate one, consid
ering the character of the premises
and the "wishes of the persons re
siding or owning property in the
neighborhood of the premises."
The Palmisano proposal would sub
stitute a requirement that the appli
cation agreed with the wishes of
persons living or owning property
within a radius of 600 feet of the
place for which the permit was
sought.
The Commissioners have asked the
Budget Bureau for permission to ad
, vise Congress that they believe the
proposed 600-foot radius plan would
not work well. They hold that this
is so because a 600-foot radius would
be too large for densely populated
sections and too small in sections
developed primarily with dwellings.
-- •- i ■
D. C. Group at Convention.
Among Washingtonians attending
the 18th annual convention of the
Eastern Osteopathic Association in»
New York this week end are Dr. Lulu
Irene Waters, 1707 Columbia road
N.W., and Dr. Merton A. English, 1120
Vermont avenue N.W.