The Washington critic., 1890-02-13
SHYLOCKS AND CLERKS.
TEMPTATIONS WHICH 'BESET THE
GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL.

Methods of the Ten n-Percenters-Inter-
est and Compound Interest Acou-
muIaies Until the Employees Are
Hopelessly i'm Debt.
The average department clerk when
he first receives his appointment is
usually in state Of mental equidis-
tance between lagos "Put money in
thy purse" and the remark of that willy
old courticr, Polonius, who impressed
upon Laertes Neither borrower nor u
lender be-" But he does not remain in
that condition long He casts the ad
vice of the philosophical Dane to the
four winds Of heaven and follows lagos
Injunction TO the letter.
In nine cases out of ten the aforesaid
clerk is not possessed of friends who
are blessed with a surplus of shining
silver. and he has no visible property
save that which composes his ward
robe. With no real estate to mortgage
and no glittering gems or precious
metals to deposit as collateral the man
and for the matter of that, the woman
cither-who Is in need of funds has
recourse to broker. The Washing
ton broker who belongs to the clerk
lending class Is a fearful and wonder.
full combination. Shylock couldn't hold
a candle TO him in point of grasping.
ness; he not only demands his pound
of flesh, but he drains all the financial
blood out of his victims and in a short
time owns them bodies and souls.
There has been a continual warfare
against this class Of sharks for the past
twenty five years, but the city is still
infested with them, and 1t is not exag-
geration to say that at least fourth
Of the department clerks, who have
held Office for five years or more, are In
their power Some years ago 1t was
customary for the disbursing officers of
the various departments to accept, upon
pay day, orders made out by clerks
during the month, very much as army
and navy officers now give their pay
accounts, and, unfortunately, sometimes
duplicate them. This practice was dis
continued, however, because 1t was
learned that the clerks were being
gouged out of their earnings by the
usurers who revelled in their blood
money.
Many instances occurred, especially
in the Treasury Department, where q
clerk would give all order on his salary
for $75 on the Goth of the month. pay
able on the 1st ultimo, which he would
sell to "broker'' for $50l This state
of affairs brought the order system to a
close and the semi monthly payments
were begun.
But the ''ten- percenters' still con-
tinued to thrive, and thrive they do to
this day. Their m0duS operandt puts
them outside of the pale of the law
against usury in the District, and is as
follows: An impecunious clerk needs
money and he needs it badly. He con.
fides his necessities to some friend who
knows broker and then all is plain
sailing. The clerk makes out his
note, payable in thirty days, say
for 500, bearing interest at Z
per cent. per annum. The broker
! gives the clerk 800 and takes the paper.
| OF course, at the end Of the month,
when the note is due, in ninety nine
cases out of one hundred, the borrower
is as hard up as ever. He accordingly
makes out another note of the same
sort, rakes together $1,000, and visits
the broker again. This goes on month
after month, until the principal is paid
over and over again and still remains as
large and threatening as ever.
O;da IN ~ tbnv ora connellad IN CHARGE
oxorh;tant o,u, itr & roios on ancannt of the nnm.
Ler of % had Clients G % thew have who neve,
nov no, ~ tho;r r notes ~ They S know This is moi NJ
tro 10y 'f CO., l. ;s % wall 'rscorn;zed rule i,
all al ID 5epartments ana ~ 30 that a clerk who does
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