Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-01-12

Exasperating Incivility I'm the French Post
ofice-The Traditions Must BE Respected.
A Pathway Not Strewn with Roses.
Srnallness of Remuneration.
The postoffice clerks in Paris have actually
threatened to strike. Their agitation has
yubsided. but their threat remains on record
ind il is one that contains much matter for
reflection The times must be rather queer
when state servants freely talk Of turning
out as though they were masons or carpen-
ters, the value of whose work rises and falls
with the fluctuations of demand and supply.
It would be an excellent thing for France II
eli or nearly all of her public servants were
to turn cut, for then there would be some
chance of revolutionizing the system OF
bureaucracy, which is the curse Of the coun-
try. But so long as those who hold places
under government keep firm grip of them,
the French nation will have its blood sucked
by a swarm of useless functionaries The
postoffice clerks are badly paid, but then
there are a great many more than are needed,
and the public is made to suffer in the trans
action of It's daily business by this super
auity.
RUINS THE TEMPER.
sweet temper as a French postofIice If you
have not to faire IA queue in order to get q
stamp you will have TO wait before a hole
Ike that of a fowls house while the clerk on
the other side is leisurely, and with an ex-
preston Of indifference that is enough to ex-
asperate a wandering angel, adding up
columns of figures or making entries in a
book You may be in deadly fear OF losing
the post with some important letter, but this
is Of no consequence to him. Behind his
wooden partition he feels as secure in his in
civility as any brigand noble of the Thir-
teenth century behind the ten foot wall Of
his dungeon tower. Knowing the futilIty Of
trying to hurry him, you at length rush of
to the nearest tobacco shop and buy stamp
there. This is just what he wanted you TO
do He would like you to bay all your
stamps at the bureau de tebac, so that his
work may be lessened. If you wish to send
away a money order your temper is still
more sorely tried, for when at length your
turn comes to look through the fowls hole
You must watch the clerk filling up as many
blank spaces as If he were drawing up a
policy of insurance. This is not his fault
All the unnecessary scribbling is the result
o. the natural genius for organization, in
respect of which every Frenchman is SO
justly proud.
Strangers to these ways often express in
energetic language their surprise at the in
genuity thus shown in wasting time. If. how
ever, the work of the postofffce were smpli-
fed. reduction of the staff would be IN
avoidable. Now all such reductions are quite
opposed TO the traditions of French govern
ments. The approved system is TO cram "a
many persons as possible into the public
Offices and TO pay very small salaries But
small as the salaries are, candidates for
posts and friends of candidates are for
ever swarming like mosquitoes about depu-
ties and ministers with the hope OF securing
the desired influence. When there are nc
vacancies, Offices are not unfrequentIy made
from purely political motives. Republican
legislatures have promised again and again
70 reform and simplify the system of admin
isrration in the interest Of the taxpayer; bu:
the fact remains that the number of public
functionaries is very much greater now than
it was under the empire
THoRNY PATHWAY
To return to the postoffice clerk. Al
though his ungracious manners have placed
LIN outside the pale of public sympathy, it
must be admitted that his path in life is not
strewn with roses. After receiving his NOM
ination be has often 10 wait three or four
years before be obtains employment He
commences his career with a salary Of 500
francs a year-about half as much as he
could earn if he were willing to carry out
meat for butcher. Then he has to deposit
500 francs as caution money" for which,
however, he is allowed 3 per cent. interest.
Five per cent. of his salary is retained, and
goes towards his retiring pension. He has
little more than sixty francs a month clear,
on which it is quite impossible to live in
Paris, and to pay for clothes and lodging
As his salary is increased very slowly, he Is
d long time partly dependent upon parents
or friends.
The smallness OF his remuneration is not
the only grievance Of the postofiice clerk; be
has another and this is certainly just reason
for agitating. His advancement depends /
much less upon his industry and ability than
upon the influence which he is able to bring
TO bear upon deputies and senators. The .
word is given 20 move Up a certain one. and .
he is moved up. Those who have no infiuen-
tial friends remain in the same place for
years, while their juniors are being system
aticaly set above them. The clerks have
protested loudly against this Injustice, but
their chance of obtaining redress is very
slender. Favoritism is SO ingrained with the .
whole official system OF France that the post
Office clerks must be sanEQine indeed if they
suppose that their cutlery VIII produce any
radical change. Even the revolutionists only
touch the surface of things in France When
tho country settles down after one of those
periodical earthquakes official life goes on in
much the same fashion as it did before
Paris Cor. Boston Transcript
Zig Cities OF Ja2an.