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Show We Cannot Afford Niggardly Salaries Utah is scheduled to have s new state health commissioner. He is Dr. John W. Spies of Dover, DeL, who has s long background in- public health work. Employment of si qualified health commissioner has been made possible by s special arrangement for the payment pay-ment of a salary of $9000 s year. Utah , law places st present a $5000 limit on the salary which may be paid. Experience Experi-ence has proved that thia is not sufficient suffi-cient to attract and hold s capable, qualified quali-fied public health physician. The United States public health service, in an effort to solve the' public health problem In Utah, baa offered to supplement the statutory $5000 salary with a $4000 s year grant The grant will be continued ' until the next legislature has as opportunity oppor-tunity to change the law to increase the state salary. ; The problem of inadequate salaries in state employment ia by no means eon-fined eon-fined to the post of health commissioner, nor to the department of health. There have been 30 resignations In the health department since July 1. Not all of them have been due. to inadequate pay standards, but that has been s major factor. We have lost competent employes em-ployes in other state departments and have been unable in some departments to get the kind of skilled help we neea. It seems time for s careful evaluation of state salary schedules' to determine where pay scales sre Inadequate snd make plans for correcting the situation at the next session of the legislature. Wages of stenographers, clerks snd such rank-and-file help are believed well in line with pay schedules in private employment. em-ployment. But the pay schedules for specialized personnel are commonly well below the private employment level. Something ought to be done about that in the public interest. Public business busi-ness in thia state is mighty big business. It involves the expenditure of many millions mil-lions of dollars s year. It Involves the . welfare of nearly 700.000 Utahns. It is s penny wise and pound foolish policy to jeopardize the welfare of our people, snd to invite inefficient and wasteful expenditure of public money, for the sake of a few thousand dollars saved through payment of niggardly ealaries. We can't afford that kind of economy. |