The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1886-07-16

| women entered tho service as copyists an,
counters at salary Of S720 per year. The,
were not eligible to clerkships At this SAM
time the men appointed to clerkships received
$l,2Oo year, and later, when the salary Of
such women was raised to $780, men doing tn,
same work wero paid as high rs 81, 200 and
u, 600 per aunum. In 1870 women wero made
eligible to clcrkships, and since then they ha v,
/ been promoted until now two receive 81. 800 a
year. But the high-prioed women clerks are
very few, and men who do as good work re.
oeive as rule better pay, and moro certain OF
holding their positions.
The young men in the departments, rs a rule.
have no ono but themselves to caro- for, aud
If you ask them why they are not married
they will tell you that their salary is not large
enough for them to support wives. Nearly oil
OF the single women in the departments have
others depending upon them. Many Of them
send their sisters or brothers to school, and
many Of them are widows, who in this way
support aud educate their families
Some of the old lady clerks are very fine
looking, and some of them had noted career,
in society before going into tho departments
One know who had Jefferson for an ancestor
and another, perhaps the most beautiful Of the
white-haired ladies Of the treasury, was the
wife of an Ohio Governor has daughter in
the departments, and one of the fine old ladies
OF the pension Office, now great grandmother.
is Kansas woman who was the first woman
clerk ever elected by q legislative body in this
country. These old Lady clerks dress we'll,
and among them are some of the most agree
able takers in Washington. Their hearts are
young though their hair is white, and they are
almost as fascinating now as when tho bloom
was on their cheeks and they were tho bellies Of
their native State.
The women do the bulk of the dead letter
Office business. In 1884 there we're TWENTY
seven male clerks in tho dead letter Office and
seventy-eight female clerks. The annual paw
roll Of the male clerks was S37, 400, an average
Of 81 Al per day. The annual payroll of the
seventy-eight female clerks was S73, ,42O, or an
average Of 50 81 per day. The men did prac-
tically the came work as the women, but they
received 81 more day for it, and had the
mems work been done by women the Govern
ment would have saved $9.3l1. Had the men
done oil the work at the above rate tho pay
roll would have had to be increased S24,155.
1t would seem that an equalization board ought
to be appointed, and that Uncle Sam, at least,
should give his niecss the same pay as his
nephews when they do the same work.
Is the civil service Of the Government O good
place sor women =
Il seems 10 me that it is. The hours of
labor are short, the work is not such that il
ovsrtaxes the system, and the labor is honor
able. The salaries are better than women can
make in almost any other occupation, anil the
associations are what the women choose to
make them. There used to be an idea that
women in the departments were rs rule
questionable characters that they were in
debted to politicians for their appointment.
and that the appointments were often given in
the way of bargain for questionable relations
with such Congressman. There may havo
been instances Of this character, but they are
by no means common, and ninety-nine hun =
dredths Of the women in the department. to-
day are as pure as any in the country. No
woman who wishes to be honest need fear
that she will be insulted while working for
the Government.
The Government clerks stand we'll in Wash
ington 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 q pleasant plac 9
in which to live. 1t is expensive or cheap, as
Que wishes to make it, and it is to be in the
future the great educational, social and literary
centre Of the country.-Ex.