prepare appropriate regulations and apply proper regulatory measures for new hazards as they arise. This involves engineering details in hydraulics, mechanics, and the theories and practices of combustion control.

In Chicago and Seattle the chief fire prevention officer is paid at the same rate as the deputy chief; Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, and Boston pay him higher rates than battalion chiefs in those cities.

ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF MACHINERY

This officer is chief assistant to the superintendent of machinery in the care and maintenance of apparatus, tools, and mechanical equipment, and the duties of the latter officer give a fair idea of the responsibilities of his aide.

DEPUTY FIRE MARSHAL

This officer is the chief assistant to the fire-prevention official and his duties require high qualifications and long experience in fireprevention work.

CAPTAIN

Captains are the chief officer of fire-fighting companies, are in physical charge of one platoon thereof, and bear general administrative responsibilities for the entire unit, which is generally comprised of from 16 to 20 men. They are responsible not only for administrative control of the unit, but also for fire-fighting duties in their company districts.

Of the 25 largest cities in the United States, 15 pay their captains more than the rate now paid in the District of Columbia, namely, $2,500 per annum.

LIEUTENANTS

Lieutenants command one platoon of a fire-fighting company and have duties similar to the captain so far as fire-fighting work is concerned, but somewhat less in responsibilities with regard to administrative duties.

Of the 25 largest cities in the United States, 10 pay lieutenants higher rates than those now paid in the District of Columbia, namely, $2,350 per annum.

SERGEANTS

The sergeants in the fire department act as relief company commanders and take the place of captains and lieutenants who may be absent by reason of sick or annual leave, etc. These junior officers are detailed frequently from one unit to another to assume command, and are therefore required to have a working knowledge of several company districts. Their administrative responsibilities are not so great as those of captains and lieutenants, yet on the fire ground, when in temporary command of a company platoon, their duties are similar to those of the higher officers in whose place they are serving.

INSPECTORS

These employees serve under the supervision of the fire marshal and perform specialized field work incident to fire protection and hazard control. This requires the exercising of independent judgment and initiative.

MARINE ENGINEERS, ASSISTANT MARINE ENGINEERS, PILOTS, AND MARINE FIREMEN

In order to qualify for marine positions above the rank of marine fireman in the department, applicants must not only submit to the department's exacting physical and mental examinations, but must also be qualified under the marine laws of the United States. Their duties require a high degree of dependability and experience.

PRIVATES

These men comprise the great bulk of the department's personnel. They are the men who perform the actual physical work of laying hose lines, directing water streams, raising ladders, and all of the other incidental duties attendant upon the arduous duties of the department.

The committee has statistics before it which show that 33 cities in the United States, having a population of 100,000 or more, pay privates in the fire department rates of pay higher than those now paid in the District of Columbia. Nine of these cities pay privates in excess of the amount recommended in the bill under consideration.

In dealing with the question of adequate compensation for the rank and file of the Metropolitan police department, District of Columbia, there are certain obvious facts which should be adopted as guiding principles, among which are the following:

(1) Members of the force are prohibited by law from being or becoming members of any organization or of an organization affiliated with another organization, which holds, claims, or uses the strike to enforce its demands. (See par. 9, act of Congress approved December, 1919.) It is, of course, incompatible with the public interest that the right to strike should be granted to police bodies, nor should they be allowed to affiliate with labor unions of any character whatsoever. The policeman, like the soldier, occupies a unique position in the community. He represents the State in its power to compel obedience and is responsible solely to the legal representatives of the community. It is inconceivable that control should ever be permitted to drift into the hands of others than such legal representatives. This being accepted as a fundamental, it natu ally follows that such legal representatives are peculiarly bound not only to deal sympathetically and generously with grievances, and if such grievances be those of inadequate salary, improper housing conditions, hours of labor, or ineffective methods, it should indeed be the continual study and observation of those in authority to forestall such grievances before they gain a foothold.

(2) It should be borne in mind that the District of Columbia is rapidly assuming its proper position as one of the great capital cities of the world.

(3) The problems confronting the police administration are daily be coming more numerous, more complex, and more difficult of solution.

(4) If an effective and worth-while organization is to be built up and maintained, the first consideration should be provisions for adequate compensation, and in considering this question it is believed that the maximum salary paid privates in the District of Columbia should be at least equal to the maximum salary paid in any other municipality, and that the salaries of officers in the higher administrative grades should be such as to provide a sure and effective incentive to the rank and file to strive, through study, close attention to duty, loyalty to the service, and effective performance of their manifold and complex duties, to fit themselves for the higher administrative grades.

(5) That by no process of reasoning, however, fantastic, can the same standards be properly applied in fixing salaries of police officers as are usually applied in fixing salaries of other Government employees, because of the wide difference in the duties and responsibilities, risks, and exposures.

(6) It should be borne in mind that the police department has not benefited by the classification act or by the Welch bill.

(7) It should be clearly apparent to all persons who profess the slightest familiarity with governmental functions that the duties of no department head or subhead can be classified as comparable in their broad scope, in their relation to, and contact with the general public, and in the general high pressure and nervous strain of the work, with the duties of those in high authority in a municipal police department.

(8) Due consideration should be given the obvious fact that under existing law many department heads and subheads of minor importance, whose positions carry little or no responsibility, are receiving salaries far in excess of the salaries paid police officials.

(9) In fixing salary grades the authorities should ever have in mind the dignity, importance, and responsibility of the positions for which salaries are to be provided.

(10) In attempting to fix the rates of compensation paid to retired members of the force, it should be borne in mind that the Congress of the United States has duly recognized the fact that police work is a special class of service to which the same standards can not be applied as are applied in fixing the rate of retirement compensation paid the civilian employee.

(11) As concerns the supervising officers, particular attention is invited to the high salaries paid to heads and subheads of various departments of the municipal government whose duties and responsibilities are in no way comparable with those of the head of the police department, his immediate assistants, and inspectors.

(12) Submitted herewith is a brief outline of the duties and responsibilities of officers and members of the police force.

The Metropolitan police district of the District of Columbia comprises approximately 70 square miles of territory, with a population, estimated by the Census Bureau, of 540,000 inhabitants.

MAJOR AND SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE

The major and superintendent of police is the responsible executive and administrative head of a force totalling 1,394, 81 of whom are what is termed "civilian" employees.

The District of Columbia is the permanent site of the Federal Government.

It houses the President of the United States, the chief executive officers of the Government, the great departments and commissions, and has within its bounds the highest representatives of all the other nations, and for a considerable portion of the year houses the great National Legislature.

The duties of the superintendent of police are probably more difficult and more complex than those of officers of comparable rank or position in any other city in the United States, and he necessarily therefore, bears a heavier responsibility than is borne by the head of any other municipal department.

He must have the executive and administrative ability so essential in the head of this great department, and, in order to attract men to the service who will strive to fit themselves for the higher positions of command, including that of superintendent of police, the salary of that office should be an ever-present incentive.

ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENTS

One assistant superintendent is assigned to the supervision and command of the detective bureau, and is charged with the grave responsibility of directing the efforts of the members of that bureau in the important work of the prevention and detection of crime.

There comes to the detective bureau in the course of a year between 12,000 and 15,000 cases for investigation and such police action as may be possible.

The assistant superintendent in command of this bureau is required to conduct voluminous correspondence with peace officers in various parts of the country, as well as with prosecuting officers and heads of police departments in foreign countries.

He must possess a familiarity with the statute law and with criminal practice and procedure.

Like the major and superintendent of police, he has no regular hours of work, being subject to call at all hours of the day and night and is required on numerous occasions to continue on active duty for 24 consecutive hours.

Being the senior assistant superintendent of police, he is required to act as superintendent in the absence of that official, and must, therefore, necessarily possess complete knowledge of the administrative details of the department, and his duties are indeed comparable to those of the superintendent of police.

One assistant superintendent is assigned to the supervision and command of the traffic bureau and has under his supervision and command a total of 122 men.

His duties are also comparable to those of the superintendent of police.

The traffic bureau contacts directly with the public to a greater extent probably than any other department or bureau of the munic

ipal government, and a large clerical force is maintained to care for and file the numerous essential records.

The assistant superintendent in command of the traffic bureau is not only the adviser of the superintendent of police in all matters pertaining to the always important question of traffic but acts in a similar capacity to the director of traffic.

He is also subject to call at all hours of the day and night, and must be and is qualified to act as superintendent of police in the absence of that official.

INSPECTORS

There are four officers of this rank connected with the force-one of whom is assigned to the supervision of motor vehicles and other property-three are assigned as district inspectors, two inspectors being on duty in a supervising capacity during the day and one at night.

These inspectors ordinarily supervise a police district comprising a number of police stations and are directly responsible to the superintendent of police for the maintenance of proper discipline, the enforcement of the law, and for conditions generally in their respective districts.

To them are referred important matters for investigation and report and their duties are largely administrative, and they must possess an unusual degree of intelligence, a wide knowledge of the laws and regulations, as well as power and ability to direct the efforts of large bodies of men.

CAPTAINS, LIEUTENANTS, AND SERGEANTS

One captain, one lieutenant, and such number of sergeants as may Le necessary are assigned directly to each precinct for duty in said precinct.

The duties of the officers of the rank named in this paragraph are too obvious to warrant description.

Suffice it to say that the precinct captains have at their command from 50 to 100 or more men; that he is directly in charge of police matters in a large territory and responsible to the supervising inspector of the District and through him to the superintendent of police for the proper performance of his duty.

Under the provisions of the Metropolitan Police Manual, the captain and lieutenants are considered on duty at all times, but the actual hours of duty for a precinct commander are from 8 o'clock a. m. to 7 o'clock p. m., and those of his second in command from 7 o'clock p. m. until 8 o'clock a. m.

These officers are, however, subject to call at any time, and precinct commanders are necessarily required to return to their precinct on many occasions at late hours of the night in cases of large fires or other unusual emergencies, as well as upon the commission of any serious crime in their precinct.

As concerns sergeants, attention is invited to the fact that this is the first step in promotion which leads to the higher and more important grades.

The sergeants are the more immediate supervising officers, it being their duty to maintain a constant patrol of their respective precincts