The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-10-23
LONDON'S OFFICE WORKERS
Habits, Foibles, Service and Salary of
Men Of This Class in the Great City.
Requirements Of Employers Are Very High,
While the Pay Given for Services Is in
Most Cases RidiculOusly Inadequate.


language. 1t is impossible to get them to
talk Uuited States. or even good English.
The class of genteel persons whom we call
clerks, they persist in spite of all protests.
in dubDing shop assistants" and the
former name they apply Unfortunately
to those engaged at desk and Office
work. This. too. is only the begin
ming of their perversity. Not only, accord
ing to American standards, Is this name
wholly misapplied, but il is further
foreignIzed by being grossly mispro-
nounced. As q matter of fact. they havn't
any clerks over here &C all; those who
might become such if fair chance were
allowed them are recognized only as clarks.
the poor. inoffensive "en having been merci-
lessly pounced upon by John Bull. who 10
always looking around for something or
other to conquer. and converted. without
rhyme or reason. INTO broad and harsh
sounding "a" But the men themselves
are here, though disguised under an mex
cusable name. and in London the
Clark family is very numerous.
Those who ought to know tell rs that
there are quite too many of them. They
have multiplied at a marvellous rate since
tho recent extension of common-scnooI
privileges. Almost every good has its at
tendant evil. and the great business firms
of London are agreed that one of the evils
of the late educational revival in this
realm is that it has flooded the big towns
with young fellows ambitious to WELD q
pen and keep books who would be happier.
and better off In all ways. keeping pigs and
following the plow.-
London clerks, besides being q very
numerous class. are also. for the most part.
avery intelligent and gentlemanly set Of
fellows Their dress and manners are part
of their capital. Hence they generally
get themselves up In u silk tile. and. OF
course, wear other things in keeping. The
two most Obvious facts to the casual OBJ
server who sees them on their way to bust.
ness and back. are. that they are good
sionally they are plloted through the
streets by cigar, but the rule is to find
them guided to the Office and elsewhere by
the strong leading Of q good old English
pipe: SO far they are quite demo.
other toilers in this metropolis. But In
other respects they are a sort of sristoc-
racy. Which reminds us that in England
every fellow Is an aristocrat of some sort
They are not all aristocrats of the first
water, but they all have water of this kind
on the brain In some measure. We heard
Mrs BesaDt maintain. IN q lecture to work
inRmen the other night. that the GLASS feel
ing was IS strong in the lower as in the
more inclined TO air 1t over
workmen than workmen of various
grades were to air II over one another. She
was speaking to Englishmen In regard to
English foibles and falllngs, and the ap-
plause which greeted this home-thruet
could only be regarded the English
mans good-natured way of pleading guilty.
They all do 1t. and of course the London
clerks do it. They are decidedly clannish.
to say the least, and the rest of London's
wage-earners upon whom these knights of
the inkstand and quill universally look
down, are given to the use of a harsber
phrase and do not hesitate to characterlze
them as snobbish.
LoNDON's CLERKS.
We have felt a deep interest in these
London clerks. Without closing our eyes
to their little fralltles we have recognized
in them noble type of the race they be.
long to. and we are prepared ct any time to
vote that amongst all the various classes
of her Majesty's subjects these gentlemen,
taken altogether. are second to none in
either intelligence or average integrity.
They are not running after ''fads' in
politics; they are as quiet and orderly
as any government could wish. Their
duties are performed with exactness,
and, as things 60 here, with dispatch.
They preside over stupendous accounts.
aud handle immense sums of money, and
OeIalcaIlOn6 are very rare 1nueeu. LII Is only
occasionally that wine and women get
away with any of them; which is saying a
great deal considering that London offers
TO welI-dress1d masculinity such enormous
temptations. And now. if to all these
things. we could only add with truth that
this worthy class. and that those
who use them in carrying on
the mammoth financial operations of the
biggest city in the world. are paying them
(.s- l..-w- Oh, a.
liable fact instantly. and dismiss these
swells of city dom. without further notice,
to the undisturbed enjoyment of their
ledgers and cash drawers, their ample in
comes and inevitable pipes But upon
terestlng facts at hand, and in covering the
whole ground Of how labor is paid in Eng
land. 1t is necessary to give them in this
letter.
Information has been sought in all quar-
ters which looked promising. but that
which we deem most reliable and trust
worthy was elected at an interview with
the manager of Londons chief employ
ment bureau. This concern Is under Chris
tian management, and In the legitimate
work of q purveyor between the business
offices of London and those seeking work
therein, 1t boasts of avlrtual monopoly. The
manager OF an institution like this. We felt.
would be sure TO be well Informed OH
this subject. and we fiattered ourselves shat
We had two guarantees of truthtulness on
his part. His eagerness TO serve clients
wonld prevent him from quoting salaries
at a lower figure than was usually paid,
and. on the other hand, he would be re-
strained. we thought from transGressinq
In the opposite direction by the fact OF his
Christian reputation being at stake.
This gentleman thought that anywhere in
England If a young fellow of from twenty
10 twenty-five years of age was getting $50
O years (s25O) in good office. he was fairly
we'll oil, and that rather than run his
chances elsewhere lie should stay, and
work MP gradually to something better in
the same firm. Instead of this, however,
q great many in such situations became
dissatisfied, and hence IL was that in Lon
don and elsewhere so many were floating
helplessiy about In search OF employmSt.
SALARIES AT BEGINNING.
This was somewhat startling, to be shot
at Us as an introduction, and il whetted
our appetite for further particulars. At
what salary. we inquired, did young fel.
lows start in al such workf the reply being
that it used to be five shiliings. for boy
jGst out of school. but that in late years
such a boy. in a large Office. would begin at
ten shillings o week. and would rise from
that by slight increase at the end OF
each year. Here We touched bottom-now
by big jump We bound 10 the top. A cap
able clerk after many years of service
might possibly get, our inlormer said. go
pounds q year, but 10 reach that he would
have to master the entire business. and be
well ND In banking. foreign exchanges,
market rotations. and. IN fact every thing
connected with the ork of big city Office.
Was tbeie anything beyond that! Yes. for
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