Little Falls transcript., 1886-07-02

as q rule, have no one but theInselvess
to care for, and j iff you ask them vhys
they are d otls married. they NIL tell
you that their saIalr.y, q not large
enough to supp port wives. Nearly ail
Sot tho sing women III the depart entss
have Others depe ending upon them
Many OF them send their sisters or
bro l' tlers to school, and many Of them
/ are sWid oWs, who in this way support
and educate their .fanlilies
some of the old lady clerks are
fine-lo kim, and some Of them had not
ed careers In society before going into
the departments. One know who
had Jefferson for an ancestor, and
other, perhaps the most beautiful.
OF the white haired ladie Of the treas
ury, was the wife 81 an Ohio governor
who was great friend Of Presid
Lincoln. Another Ohio governor has
q daughter in the departments, and
one of the fine old ladies ofthe pension
office, now a great grandma ther, ls q
Kansas woman, who was the hrst
woman clerk ever elected by q leggisla.s
tive body in this country. These old
lady clerks dress well, and among
them are some of the most agreeable
takers in Washington. Their hearts
are young, though their hair is white,
and they are almost as fascinating
now as when the bloom was on their
cheeks and they were the bellies Of
their native states. 5:. 5s25 55.s Il
The women do the bulk OF tho dead
letter office business. In 1884 there
We're twenty-seven male clerks in the
dead-letter office and seventy.eight fe-
male clerks. The annual payroll OF
the male clerks was $37,4OO, an aver
age of $4.41 per day. The annual pay
ROLL Of the seventy-eight female clerks
was $73, ,49O, or an average Of $3.3l
per day. The men did practically the
same work as the women, but they re-
ceived 81 more a day for it, and had
t he mems work been done by women
the government would have saved
$9.3l1. Had the men done all the
work at the obove rate the payroll
would have had to be Increased $24.-
l55. 1t would seem that an equal
ization board ought to be appointed,
and that Uncle Sam at least should
give his nieces the same pay as his
nephews when they do the samo work.
Is the civil service OF the govern
ment a good place for women? "
it seems to me that it is. The hours
OF labor are short, the work is not
such that it overtaxes the system and
the labor is honorable. The salaries
are better than women can make in
almost any other occupation, and the
ASSOCIATIONS are what the women
choose to make them. There used to
be an idea that women in the depart
ments we're as a rule questionable
characters; that they were. indebted
to politicians for their appointment,
and that the appointments were often
given in the way Of a bargain for ques-
tionable relations with such congress-
men. There may have been instances
OF this character, but they are by no
means common, and ninety-nine hun
dredths Of the women in the depart
ments to-day are as pure as any in the
country. No woman who wishes to
be honest need fear that she will be in
suited while working for the govern
ment.
The government clerks stand we'll in
Washington city. They are far above
the average OF the intelligence of men
doing the same character of work
which they do throughout the country.
Washington is a pleasant place in
which to live. It is expensive or cheap,
as one wishes to make it, and it is to
be in the future the great educational,
social and literary center of ''>e coun-
try.