The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-19 00:00:00

MINISTERIAL BANQUETS.

4. That in consequence of the difference in the extent of
their leave of absence, each of the temporary clerks gives
three weeks more of labour every year than the regular
clerks, besides the extra time he may give every day. When,
in addition to this, it is taken into consideration that many of
the gentlemen employed as temporary clerks were appointed
before the existence of the office of the civil commissioners,
and that now, being disqualified by age from competing at
the periodical examination, they are left without a chance of
being placed upon the establishment, it will be admitted
that there is much in their position that calls for ameliora-
tion, while none of the features in it are so painful as their
being liable to be dismissed at any period. It may be said
that having accepted the appointment with these conditions
attached to it, and being at liberty to throw it up whenever
they please, they have nothing to coinplain oi ; but let it
be remembered that many of these men have spent four,
five, and even seven years of their life and their best
labour in the avocation, and, since they are continued in
their places, it is evident that they have done so to the
satisfaction of their employers. Now, is 'it an eco-
nomy worthy of the Government of a great country like
ours to retain a class of men in their service under what
may surely be denominated a pretence, in order to keep
them within conditions which could not otherwise be
offered ? Four years have now elapsed since the conclu-
sion of the war for whose special exigencies they were ori-
ginally engaged, and their number instead of decreasing is
apparently increasing. Does not this show that th.: War.
office is in need of permanent assistance ? Why, then, call
the men who give this, " temporary clerks," and thus
maintain in the service of the state a class of servants con
fessedly underpaid, though admitted to be zealous and duly
qualified for the labour imposed upon them ? for the fact of
the regular clerks receiving higher salaries every year,
being allowed longer leave of absence, and not being sub-
jected to dismissal except for misconduct, is tantamount to
a confession that the other men, who do the same, if not
more work, and are equally zealous and efficient, are very
considerably underpaid.
That cases of actual hardship do occur under the system
may be illustrated by the following two. The one is that of
a gentleman who having served four years as a temporary
clerk was seized last summer with a severe attack of rheu-
matic fever, which confined him to his bed, and incapaci-
tated him for work for a period extending beyond tho few
weeks' leave of absence to which he was entitled ; in consi-
deration thereof a further short term was granted him, but
his pay was stopped. Having a wife and children to sup-
port, this was a deprivation which he could not endure, and
consequently while obliged to support himself on crutches, he
dragged himself painfully into his seat in the office
every day, and endeavoured to perform his duty as
well as possible under the circumstances. His col-
leagues deeply compassionated his sufferings ; a me of
them would willingly have foregone part of their leave it
it might have added to his; but official routine leaves no
opening for the exercise of generous sympathy, and the
poor man, whose illness had been brought on in the per-
formance of his duties, was dismissed with a small gratuity,
granted at his own earnest solicitation, and thrown bread-
less and helpless on the world with a wife and children.
Another clerk, who had been likewise ill from fever, ex-
ceeded his leave of absence, and wrote to his immediate
principal to ask for an extension of the leave—which peti-
tion, being strongly backed by the latter, was granted by li
the chief clerk—not, however, in the most gracious manner,
for he observed that, according to the rule, the sick clerk
ought to be dismissed, and his pay was forthwith stopped.
It is in the hope of attracting the notice of the public and
of Parliament to a state of things so anomalous and so de-
rogatory to the character of the public service that this
statement has been prepared. If the the War-office re-
quires permanent assistance let the establishment be in-
creased, and all the clerks receive the same pay and the
same advantages in return for the same work and the same
seal, and let not ono class of them, because called on by an
erroneous appellation, be made to do more duty for less
regularly
o f in
holdo from
theirth the privilege
at of
capricet the
Go-
vernment, with nonother advantage to the latter that can
in-
creasing s
in and
g pay, b e excluded
and
to hold
be seen than that of furnishing a convenient opening for
patronage, as one temporary clerk may be dismissed and
another engaged without any one having the right to com-
plain or to ask a question.