The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1889-03-09
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CLERKS IN STORES.
somo of the Causes That Opci ate to Keep
Salaries nOwn.

somo of the Causes That Opcia ate to KeeI
Salaries Down.
"There are few lines OF occupation
in which there is such an inequality o
actual worth among men and womer
drawing approximately the same pay
as clerking," said city merchant o.
long experience. "Some people are
born clerks while others are chiefly
serviceable for keeping the dust off the
stock. Personality, address, the faculty
OF inspiring confidence, the ability to
explain differences and superiorities
and a dozen other qualities enter into
the question of competency, and though
most places of business are daily over.
run with crowd of anxious situation
seekers the supply of thoroughly capa.
BILE clerks is not over-large. To sell to
q public that wants to buy and knows
what it wants is one thing. to sell to an
uncertain, wavering or merely curious
public is quite another 1t is ability to
deal with the latter that proves clerks
usefulness to his employer. Two clerks
working side by side on the same line
OF goods will show differences in theii
aggregate sales wholly out of keeping
with tho difference between their re-
spective salaries. Clerlsing is essential
ly trade and the best clerks are skilled
laborers.
ut is this assumption that anybody
can stand behind counter and wait
upon customers and the consequent in
lux of those little qualified for the
work that is one of the greatest draw
backs to clerking as an avocation. Ii
is this, not less than the Capitalization
Of population, that makes supply and
demand so radically abnormal. 1t is
true that only a period of actual trial
will determine the fitness or unfitness
of an individual for the work. The
trouble is, however, that men and
women do not fall out of the ranks
when it is reasonably proved that they
have not sufficient aptitude. and new
generations keep filing applications for
trial. 1t is practically the old story OF
skilled labor competing with unskillcd.
ITO a casual observer it may seem
strange that such multitude of men
and women enter n calling like clerk
ing where there is comparatively little
prospect for advancement and stay year
after year at u salary little more than
necessary for actual needs. Scores of
men are to-day clerking in Chicago for
less wages than shovelers on the street
earn. Doubtless many Of them are not
worth more than they get, and, in the
majority of cases, it would be infinitely
better for their financial interests if
they would strike out for something
new. For clerks as IL body | can see
little that could be held out as induce
ment, save only the possibility of gain
ing IA meager living. In some lines Of
business, doubtless, desirableness OF
employment draws the multitude of re-
cruits. In other stores the work is
hard and scarcely desirable, and | am
inclined TO think that the determining
factor that induces men and women to
become clerks and stay clerks is peo-
ple's unwillingness to assume risks.
Talk with hundreds of employees in diff
ferent kinds of stores and you will find
that though they fully realize the
future of their calling and face it with
reluctance. they prefer to remain clerks
ut small or moderate pay rather than
assume personal risks that may entail
large profits or no profits at all.
"Much is said of the relative worth
Of 10 ,1n M
opinion, based on half lifetime of ex-
perience with employees, is that tho
value of help to a store-keeper does not
come to question of sex at all, but to
the qualifications of individuals-tact,
study, persuasion, accomplishments, /
have known new recruits to be more
valuable on few weeks experience
than old hands who had been years in
the business. Irrespective of age, sex
or nationality, the measure with which
clerk studies his particular depart
ment, identities himself with his en-
ployer's interests and caters to the
whims of customers is the measure of
actual worth. Sex cuts little figure.
The percentage of excellent employees
of one sex, | think, would pretty well
equal that of the other. l am speaking,
of course, of the help of establishments
where both sexes are usually employed.
There is a natural fitness of one sex or
the other for particular classes of busi-
ness, but that scarcely comes into con-
sideration in estimating comparative
worth.
"As rule there are few clerks who
do not become more or less careless
and indifferent. A store-keeper could
scarcely do business unless he laid
down pretty stringent rules. so many
hours, so much pay, seems to be a sort
of motto for the majority of employees.
To minimize work and be attentive tc
the clock toward quitting time are pre-
vailing faults, and reprimand and re-
proof are almost Indispensable. Chi
cago News.
GREAT FOSSIL MAMMALS.