Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1869-04-30


DEM Piatt, 10 b or his Washington
vindicates the Femaleelerks ID the
Treasury DepaTtment from the charges
made againat Them in he "Hanns Ty-
letter 10 TIE NeWNHOrk fndepead-
eNt, which he says, WAS written by a
person Of the male ssxs
The female clerks OF Washington are
old women and young EOmen-WidoWs
Of soldiers and daughters of soldiers,
and widows and orphans be5aase they
had in common quality, their pow
erty- To attack such a class in rs
way Is something more than eruPl-i:|
is Indecent. There is no one Of Is pos
sessed Of q sister or daughter who may
not apprehend In these unsettled times
to have the loved one reduced to want,
driven to labor and liable to such At
tacks as these.
i have been at some pains investiEa-
ting this sabiecf, and without hesitation
brand the charge as false. n in sup
port of this I appeal to every unpreju-
diced man who has had an opportunity
Of looking into the affair As a class
the female clerks are more industrious
and capable than their companions of
| the male sex; and 50 far as morals are
concerned, there is no comparison. Z
have no wish to stack the clerks of
| washington. heaven knows their lot
Is q bard one, but it dees strike me as
hard and unfair that while the men are
| only asked to do their work, every Wo-
man who ia forced to labor holds her
hard-earned wages on the idle gossip OF
q vicious tongue. IfanyoDe Is badRDd
bold enough to question her chastity
be it well or i'll founded, she loses the
right to labor
And what makes the case the more
| pitiable, is that poorly as the male clerks
are paid, these PINE work for half
the wages, and find il impossible to
make more than just enOughfo live on
They make their clothes and board, and
no more. Many have been thrown out
of employment within the last two
weeks, and are now without a cent in
the world And they are not only to be
beggared,S bnt disgraced by such vile
slanders-and this shot ont by q miscre-
ant under an assumed name.
I passed through the Treasury yester-
day with a member of Congress, and
while talking on this subject he said
suddenly, LET us look in and judge for
ourselves" We entered the first room
we happened to be passing at the tue
WeGpoke. We found lour female clerks
busy writing at their several desks
Accustomed TO interruptions from mes
sengers and heads Of bureaus, they
scarcely looked up, but continued their
work. LEARNED, after coming out,theig
names and history.
OaAG AAANAlD-aACA anO 0EAECaA0 a0tAAAAE
woman was b widow ofan officer kill
ed in the late war. She has two chill
dren dependent on the slender pay she
receives froulhe Department.
Another was a widow, relict of a 10y
al man at the South, who lost all in the
late war.
A third appeared before ue in the per
son of an exceedingly lovely girl of On
ly twenty, dressed with decided tas =
and she, on her miserable pay, not ON !
supports herself, but keeps a young SIS
ter at school.
The remaining Inmate OF the 70 n
was a maiden lady of unquestions bl
age, on whose kind, sensible, but 81. il
features an idiot alone would cast
doubt.
We visited several other rooms vi
a alike result. That there are idle. woTth
l less female clerks, I do not pretend c
deny, but they are fewer in prOpOTtiol
? than the same class of the other sex =
On account Ofthese few, to condemn tn
many, and shut the means of pFOcuTiD
. bread to all, makes an infamous an
s~enseless result. Much Of this slanGe
originated with the late Detective Rs
ker, who, while in the employ of c=l
the printer Clarke, fabricated and put
liShed to the world q fearful mess {
scandal and falsehood.
1t is to be regretted hat all of the IS
partments are not in the hands OF e
, male clerks. The work is filter fo
them than men. know of no prOcrs
so effectual to extract the manhood fr0E
= one as to be buried in b depths {
these public buildings, dependent up ,
the miserable pay and uncertain teHuT
{ of these places. One q see the heAlt
and strength 20 out little by little, an
the incumbent row old with no prov
sion for his family or self, and the ha.t
I cruel fact pressing upOn him that hi
, life is q failure, discounted in adVai:C
of deaths wreck and a shame.