Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-10-03
PAYMENTS WEEKLY.
Secretary Foster VIII Aid the Clerks in rs
Gaping From the shyiocks.

Secretary Foster VIII Aid the Clerks in rs
Gaping From the shyiocks.
The order just issued by Secretary Foster pro-
viding for the payment Of theemployes of the
department every week instead of twice a
month, as has been the custom. is intended to
protect them against 10 per cent month shaw
sra Many Of the employees of the government
here are in debt to greater or less extent to
these blood suckers, who are willing to run
the risk Of advancing thon small sums of
money without security at interest Of 10 per
cent month There are very few clerks who
can go to any straight business man or firm and
borrow $50 or s1o0 withou. security, though
there is q reasonable certainty that not ono out
OF 500 would fail to meet the obligation.
Therefore, lending money to clerks who
are temporarily embarrassed has grown
TO be very profitable business with certain
brokers who are not afraid to take the risk. The
prohts on the loans are 50 great that an occa-
sional loss makes no impression on the bust
ness. Where the broker loses hundred dollars
ON ono clerk he makes thousand on the rest.
IL a clerk never pays back the money borrowed
the interest he pays on it usually amounts TO
two or three times the principal before he
works himself up to the point OF repudiatlng
the debt The result il that the clerks pay
dearly for any extravaganza which has placed
ers. Once in a while clerk. get
ting deeper and deeper into the tolls,
gives up to despair and kills himself or
runs away. to start life over again In some
strange place. but such cases are rare. The
usual thing, that which hundreds of them are
doing now is to work on month after month,
pinching and economizing that they may
scrape together enough money to keep the in
terest paid and if possible lessen the principal
a little. A debt of q hundred dollars incau-
A.. %o&,1 l.oNt
will soon be paid off hangs over a clerk for
years, the contribution Of $40 a month to the
broker, without ever lessening the debt, be-
coming part Of his regular expenditures.
STRANDED IN THREE DAYS.
There are very few clerks who have any part
of their salary left three days after pay day,
and il they have any pressing need for money
before the next pay day comes they may be
driven to borrow. This IL not so much because
OF extravaganza as on account Of their having
many people depending upon them, and they
have to pay big rents and dress better than
they would have to if they were working for
the same wages in some business concern.
IL used to be the custom to pay clerks but
once month. Then there long stretch
OF bustedness between pay days and the broker
age business began. 1t was started first by en-
ployes who were better off than their fellows
lending money at high interest to the others.
Perhaps the high interest first put on to
protect the possessor OF the money from con-
slant opportunities for loans, but it paid SO
well that it soon became matter of business
more profitable than drawing a government
salary
For a long time 1t was regarded as legitimate
for clerk to squeeze big interest out of his
less fortunate brothers, and men who failed to
pay up promptly were notified by their chiefs
that longer delay would result in their disnis-
sal 1t got SO that the two most pressing finan-
cial obligations of the clerks were to the usurer
and to the collector of campaign funds. A fail
urein either obligation was followed by dismiss
sal, while the butcher, the baker and the candle
maker stood poor show, and the wife had
be such an abuse that finally an
order went out against usurers and clerks
found fleeing their fellows were dismissed and
the payments Of the clerks were made more fire.
quent-twice a month. Meanwhile the men
who had been lending the money had made
enough to be independent, and having to re-
sign they continued their business from the
outside, still being protected in their collec-
tons by the rule Of the department dismissing
for debt 1t is only within recent years that
the propriety of dismissing clerk for not
being prompt in his payments to usurers has
been questioned and men who had paid in in
terest three times over the sum borrowed were
dismissed for ceasing the regular monthly con-
tributiona-
WAR ON THE CsUnEns.
OF recent years, however, there has been q
war on the usurers. and while a washwoman
might be able to collect her bill from delinquent
clerk through his chief, the usurer has been
generally given to understand that the depart
ment could not help him in his business Re-
Gently when a usurer complained to the Secre-
tsry of War that clerk would not repay bor-
rowed money, and it was discovered that the
clerk had already paid $500 interest on 300
and still owed $50, the Secretary recommended
the clerk to pay the $50 at his convenience, but
to pay no more interest.
10 still further relieve the clerks there has
been a custom in vogue for some time of per-
hitting them to draw money between pay days
occasionally upon the Recommendation of the
chief Of the division. Mr.. Fosters new order
will do away with this and will permit all en-
ployes to draw their money every week.
Whether they will be any richer because Of this
order is question, but they may like it better