Osage Valley banner. (Tuscumbia, Miller County, Mo.) 1879-1881, 1881-04-07

the opportunity is valued. The appoint.
ments maze (ns we have said) by com.
petitive examination among the nomi.
mated candidates ARE only confirmed
alter six months satisfactory proha.
ton. The ladies iirst appointed en-.
tered on this footing, and had to learn
their duties from experienced officers OF
the staff, who had thus The opportunity
OF testing their abilities. twas solely on
the ground Of merit, rs testified by
these gentlemen, that the branch
was organized, in 1876. into two class,
as, with tsiao or thren pii8eipal clerks.
and n lady superintendent, who holds
the position OF staG officer. Since
then. also, ali promotions have been
made by merit Those best qualified
to Judge pronounce the experiment to
have been u decided success; success,
in fact beyond the most sanguine
ant'cipations. The public has been
we'll served by ladies, 10 whom the
work has furnished an honorable inde-
pendence at least in part, a qualifca.
tion which we will presently explain.
The evidence of snccess rests on no
mere rumor or opinion, nor even on the
testimony which has been emphatiealy
given in the stmaster-Generals re,
ports. Had the ladies proved unequal
TO their duties, or had the experiment
worked badly in other ways, the female
staff would before now have been
broken up or left TO await gradual ex-
tinction. Nothing but well-proved,
practical success could explain or Justify
the steady annual increase of the staif
from the original little band of thirty TO
the present number of one hundred and
thirty.
But the result of the experiment cam
not be fairly Judged till it is tried by
another test--the nature OF the work
performed. Perhaps it is merely me-
chanical, such rs could be equally we'll
done by "writersn or /" boy-clerls,' =
and the Indies are in the tnenviable po-
sition of being supplied with work
rather for their necessities than for any
worthy services they can render The
fact is directly opposite, and furnishes
another argument against the mental
inieriority OF women. The work which
they perform IN the Savings Bank De-
partment is of the same character as
that Of the male staff; aud they have
performed Il in such manner that du-
ties Of greater importance have been
from time 80 tinio intsr sa-i .0thems
II would be out Of placN here, even If
We had the necessary information, to
attempt TO describe these duties: but
We believe we are quite safe in this
broad comparison: That the work per-
formed by the principal clerks and by
the first and second classes OF the ladies'
nah Ia uf ,,1 -, .hap
and quantity, in promptness and accu-
racyot performance Ito that Of the tirst,
second and third classes OF the male
staff respectively.
While Sir John Tilley, with the
cordial cooperation os Lord John Man
ners, was introducing the system OF
lady-clerkships in the post-oiiice, he
was informed by MIR. Harbern, late OF
the Prudential Lifc,Insurance Office,
that he had introduced into that Office
n similar system, after a visit he paid to
the Treasury in Washington ia 1870,
where be saw ladies officiating rs
clerks. These ladies were the willows
and daughters Ofollieers who had died
in the service of their country, or who
had filled high offices In the Civil Ser
vice. They were received by the Pres
ident at the White House, and were
welcomed in the best society. The
American Republic and the Republic
of Switzerland have thus provided EN-.
ployment for ladies' in the manner
essayed by monarchical England; and
from consideration Of the facts bearing
on the employment of women BY Gov
ernment in yagious countries, it would
appear that success has attended
efforts of the kind in nearly every in.
stance. ~ Chicago 4yibWRe.