The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-06-24
DEPARTMENT CLERKS
HUNDREDS LIVING IN DAILY FEAR
OF LOSING THEIR JOBS.
Class of Government Employees for
Whom There should BE Pity-Some
Phases of Washington Life.
special to the Indianapolis journal.

SpeClal 10 the Indianapolis JOURNAL.
WASHINGTON, June pa majority of
residents Of Washington are at present very
anxious and uneasy. 1t is a condition which
the people Of other cities in this country
will fail to understand and will never be
able TO comprehend. To those who have
lived in Washington and have mingled with
its population, the anxiety that hovers over
the town is easily understood. This is a
town Of department clerks. They form the
skeleton and muscular system of its anat-
omy. and those not in the departments are
dependent upon them indirectly. The whole
social fabric is composed of what are termed
department people, they are the warp
and wool of Washington life, and the other
residents of the town are simply the
broidered trimmings of the garment. Re-
move the great national machinery, the de-
partments, and the town would dwindle to
a mere village of less than 200 inhabitants.
Eventually it would vanish from the map,
and would exist only in history. Conse-
quently, what affects the department clerk
affects "the butcher. the baker, the candle
stick maker and a few thousand other
uncatalogued tradesmen. These all suffer
when the department clerk suffers financial
ly and they are all suffering now.
The cause is not far to seek. An up
has not been heard of in Washington since
the famed days when 'clean sweeps were
in order and waen every incoming admin
istration turned out from the departments
thousands of clerks of opposite faith. The
'clean sweep period was supposed to have
passed away, however, and for years past
the clerks have lived under a false sense
of security Now, however, the word has
gone forth that hundreds are to be dis
missed forthwith; hundreds have been dis
missed already. For years past the clerks
have reveled in false Utopia Of civil serv
ice reform, and began buying real estate
with the impression that they were fixed
in their positions for life and that nothing
less than a visitation of divine wrath could
move them The inevitable unexpected has
happened, however; the clerks are aroused
from their fancied security, and tremble
day and night for themselves and those de-
pendent upon them. Like lightning from
clear sky came the thunderbolt, and thou
sands now SILVER with the fear that the
accompanying storm may cause their de-
struction Dismissals are being made whole
sale in all the departments of the general
government, and In consequence, men who
have been in the service of the governmnt
for ten, twenty, even fifty years past, are
ability to adapt themselves to. their unfa-
miliar environments. Five years of depart
ment life will unfit a man utterly for life
outside of the departments, and thus those
who are thrown out of the departments
after terms OF service longer than this are
at the mercy of the world, which, to them,
is particularly merciless.
A PERSON TO BE PITIED
In his prosperous days the department
clerk is not pleasing parsonage. He gets
much more money than his services are
worth, and comes, after a time, to think
that he is really worth what he is paid.
RE looks down somewhat upon his neigh
Dor who is not fed at the government
trough, and is altogether not at all likely
to excite a feeling of pity. In fact. he is
the cause OF a good deal Of malicious envy
on the part Of those other Washingtonians
who work for smaller salaries and who, 1t
must be confessed banker after the flesh
pots of the departmental Egypt. When the
day of his trouble comes, however, 1T is
hard heart, indeed, that holds no. pity
for him. He is then of all people the most
to be pitied. 1t may be taken for granted
that he has lived right up TO the limit of
his salary, If not far beyond 1t, and in
consequence has nothing but debts to help
him along in the new struggle he must be-
gin. In many cases he has cunle to Wash
ington from some other city, and has only
here such friends he has made while in
the department., and TO whom it would be
absurd to turn for help All his associa-
tions are the associations of the department
clerk. The friends he has the people
who occupy desks near him in the great
national machine shops, or clerks of other
departments he has met while being trans
ferred from one division to another. He
all probability, and with each promotion
has advanced one step in the departmental
social grade. which distinguishes with merci-
less exactness between the 81, 400 clerk and
the $1,000 clerk, and between the $500 clerk
and the 5000 chief of division. He has
fixed himself firmly in his little niche. and
dren have grown up or are growing up
with the children of other department
and beautifully free from the ordinary trou-
bles and worries of life, save from the one
devil who derives his support from the ma
tional government. To such clerk that
described a reduction is nearly as bad as
dismissal. If he is, for instance, a 81, 600
clerk. and is reduced to $1,000 the blow is
fearful cruel His house in all probability
Is being bought by monthly or quarterly
payments that Ii will be impossible to meet
with his reduced salary. His reduced in
come, moreover, will necessitate his NOV
probably lived for many years, and as he
cannot hope to retain the old friendships
and associations he will have to begin all
over again the task of building anew the
fabric of his social environments, task of
SWful magnitude in Washington, where real
friendships and sincere sentiments are as
He begins the treadmill existence over
again, to be promoted after time. perhaps
few steps, only TO be thrown back again
on the incoming of a new administration.
His life becomes tragedy of uncertainty,
filled with vague fears and miserable antici-
pations.
To the man who IS dismissed outright
life becomes almost too heavy to ,be borne.
Emasculated by the easy life of Incidence
be has led, he finds himself untitled for
any part in the game of life as played by
the men he meets on the outside of the de-
partments. Here he finds life a competi-
ton. and even comparative success achieved
only by those hardy and strong. His life
in the deadening air of Uncle Samuers
buildings has lost ambition and purpose, and
he has learned nothing that will command
price in the commercial world He be-
comes a hopeless derelict on the ocean Of
life. tossed hither and thither by its chart
less currents until he disappears from the
sight OF those who have known him. He is
seen occasionally on the back streets, wear
ing shabby clothing, broken shoes. and with
the hopeless. despairing look of the man
who continues TO live in order TO save
funeral expenses. Eventually he commits
suicide in some cases. Poor Cooper Nc
CHM walked out of the National Hotel and
sent a bullet crashing through his brain
Major Ben Worrel walked to the Treasury
Department one night and on it's well-worn
steps bought his release in the same way.
Both found the game OF real life out of
departmental service too swift for them
Others not prominent have done the
QO IN IL Ii