Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-07-18
THE ANNUAL LEAVE.
How Government Clerks Take Their
Summer Vacation.
ALL WANT TO GO AT ONCE.
In the Good Old Times when Leaves Were
Cumulative-What the Present Law Allows
The Necessary Red Tape-Uncle sam's EN-
ployes Away From Homo.

TT INVOLVES A GOOD DEAL OF RED
L tape for man who works for Uncle Sam to
get his summers vacation. as a writer for The
STAR found out in an investigation the other
day. 1t appears for one thing that nearly all
the clerks want to 60 away about the same
time.
when are you going on leave?' was asked
dapper young examiner in the patent office.
"Oh, about the middle Of August" was the
reply. Further inquiry elected the fact that
nearly every one else intended going away
about the middle Of August. The reason why
this time is chosen ID. simple enough. The tail
end of the summer begins about then and by
the middle Of September the weather 10 fine
and cool. Therefore if clerk takes the month
that the law allows him from August Is to Sep
TENDER Is he escapes the most disagreeable
part of the summer
"Do they all 20 away at once?" The question
was put to a bureau chief and he answered that
they did not, but that many of them got
away In the latter part Of August that it was
often difficult matter to get the ordinary cur
rent work OF the government done.
HOW HE GETS HIS LEAVE.
when clerk wants to go away for a while he
has to write formal letter to the secretary OF
the department he is in asking for 50 many
days leave Of absence and stating for how long
aperiod he has already been on leave. His
chlef must then approve the application and it
goes to headquarters. where a record is kept of
all leaves that have been granted In the mean
time the clerk goes on his vacation. for il he
waited for his application to come back to him
approved by the secretary he would have
70 walt long time. The man who really grants
the leave is the clerks immediate superior.
once IN the pension office it was made a viola
ton OF rule for clerk to take his vacation
untii ne had received reply to his application
from headquarters. But the enforcement Of
the rule would have required every man to
make application two or three weeks ahead, SO
the OLD custom soon came back again.
CHIEFS SUCCESSFUL SCHEME.
speaking OF leaves Of absence recalls q very
transparent scheme for appearing to be great
reformer that chief of bureau put into effect
some years ago. When he assumed control of
the bureau In the fall Of the year his first order
was that no more leaves should be granted that
year. ms cut Oft good many employees
was near at hand there was not very
much grumbling. When the new wear
arrived the chief again gave orders that
no one should be allowed vacation until Com
gress adjourned; When Congress adjourned
In March he ordered that no one should 90
away till the end Of the fiscal year. which ex-
pires June 30. The reason for all this appeared
when his annual report came out He had
comparative table arranged showing how much
leave OF absence had been granted by his lax
and wicked predecessor and how little had
been allowed by him, and, pointing proudly
to the record, said he had saved the govern
ment Thousands Of dollars worth Of time.
VI course, as soon as his report was out leaves
OF absence went on as usual and il he had men
toned the subject in his next annual report he
would have been obliged to confess that more
leave had been granted than ever before, since
the clerks had all taken thirty days leave in
one fiscal year, whereas, as a general thing,
some take ii before the 30th Of June and some
strange to say, successful, as nobody except the
clerks saw through it.
WHAT TIE LAW ALLOWS.
As everybody knows Uncle Sam is not con-
tent with the ordinary calendar year, which
begins January l, but has new year of his
own, which begins on the LIST Of July, but the
year for leaves of absence is in most of the de-
partments. II not in all, the ordinary calendar
year. The law says that no clerk shall have
more than thirty days leave in year with
pay, except in the case Of sickness, and
in addition to the thirty days ordinary
leave clerk can be absent from his desk sixty
days and receive full pay provided he is sick
during the whole Of that time and is unable to
attend to his duties. To prove that he has
statement, but insist upon physicians certii.
cate.
THE sTAY-Ar-HOMEs.
Not all clerks, however, take the vacation
that the law allows. There is q certain class of
clerks who stay at their desks all the year
around, and if you ask them why they don't
go away they nearly always reply that they
cant be spared" This is merely polite way
of intimating that they haven't any money.
There are exceptional cases, however, where it
is fact that conscientious clerk feels obliged
to remain on duty.
IN THE GOOD OLD TIMES
when the departments closed at 8 O'Clock, it
used to be customary for leaves Of absence to
lap over. That is to say, thirty days we're al
lowed per annum, and If a clerk only took five
days leave in one year he could be absent fifty
five days the next year. 1t was not unusual for
an employe in those days to remain in the serv-
ice for six years without any vacation. and then
to resign with six months leave and full paw
for the whole time. This was pleasant enough
for the clerks, but it was hardly good thing
for the public service.
WHEN HE COMES BACK.
II there is anything on earth poorer than
government clerk when he has returned from
his vacation 1t has not yet been discovered. He
generally saves up for months before he goes
away. He wears old clothes, 80 that he can Nd
pear in new ones when he is out of town. He
lives well. He ''sets 'em up" If he happens
to go to New York on his travels he takes
| a trip to Coney Island and tastes of all its wild
delights. Maybe he dimes at Delmonico's. He
| goes to the theaters recklessly. In short. he
lives like lord and spends every cent he has
except just enough to get him home And
when he does get home he is dead broke and
must wait patiently until 'pay day" comes
around. His homeward journey is generally
Travelled in modest style. He goes away in a
parlor car, but he comes back in the smoker
A CLOSE CALCULATION
| There is good instance in point in certain
government clerk who performed quite feat
of inanceering. He succeeded in getting three
months leave-one month only with pay, how
overland he started out to zee the great and
boundless prairies Of the west He had
saved up pretty fair sum of money.
He went to Montana and to the Yellow
stone Park. He got down to the Union
Pacific railroad and saw that region, and after
ninety days absence he appeared in Washing
| ton, having had a glorious time. with precisely
I cent in pocket. He had borrowed from no
one. He had merely made a close cslcula ton
and the two ends had met, but with rather a
dangerously close connection, it must be ad-
mitted.
THE OFFICIALS LEAVE.
| How much leave Of absence do the chiefs in
the departments get? Well, some Of them fare
better than the clerks and some don't fare 30
WELL The head Of the department. of course,
is q law unto himself He can 90 away whep,