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rate of growth substantially great, er that that of the total working population in the period.
Payrolls Sot Now High
The total government civilian payroll last October was up to a new record high of more than $1| billions a month, equivalent to an annual rate of over f 18i billions, as compared with $699 millions a month or an annual rate of lea than f 7 billions in the same 1940 month. Thus the increase in the dollar payroll figure has been 174 per cent between both periods.
The latest payroll cost figure was about $300 millions a month above the comparable figure in the middle of 1946 even though total government civilian employment then was several hundred thousand higher than last October because of the sixe of the Federal civilian establishment built up during the war. —x
In the light of current conditions and the emergency facing the nation, the significant factor in the public employment situation . is that payroll costs have risen at a much faster rate than has the increase in the number of government civilian jobs. For the last decade as a whole, this rate of dollar payroll increase in the aggregate has been more than four 1 times as great as the pet rise in • the overall number of government civilian employes. The cojit of living, of course, has shown a marked rise over the decade, and higher salaries for public employees have been both understandahle and necessary under' the circumstances.
The Need for Economy - ,
But government activities havq expanded with thd growth of population and new services have been added as well. Whatever tho „ justification for such developments in normal times, one of the hard realities of today’s crisis is the recognized need for cutting all non-military expenditures to the bone at every level of government in view of the great size and cost of the rearmament program. Such action is the more necessary because of the tax load already borne by the public and business and the certainty of even higher taxes to come.Under
the circumstances, it is an inescapable responsibility of Federal, state and local authorities to keep the public civilian payroll down in the search for economy in all non-military activities. The responsibility is greatest in the Federal sphere, both because of the need for providing leadership to the nation'
Pitts Park
THEATRE
Front Royal, Virginia
53.2%