The times., 1897-04-21
Elastic Rules Governing the
Shah's Happy Employees.
ONE ROUND OF HOLIDAYS
Nothing Mech For Government
Clerks to DO but Draw Salary.
Two Hours for Lunch and Every
body's Birthday Celebrated-No
LSuminatson For Fitness.

matte representative 10 the United States
TO fill Jhe VOID CIeated by the thrilling
flight Of HadH HaSsan Ghooly Khan be-
fore the terrifying onslaught of the Amer
lean reporter, has caused the Civil Service
Commission TO stir up some information
about the civil service regulations OF that
government away over in the land of sun
rise and which is known mainly because
of what it was, rather than because Of
what it is.
Up at the War Department when one ma
tiun makes face a any ether nation the
machinery of the department is set in mo
ton to find out just how many soldiers
that country has, the pattern OF its guns,
the color OF its uniforms and the number
OF buttons on its soldiers pants But down
at the Civil Service Commission whena ma
tiun begins TO get into type the civil ser
vice sages hunt down the nature of ITS
civil service, Just how many hours the
clerks work, what they get and how they
get it
Secretary Doyle told a reporter COR The
Times yesterday that the system of service
in the departments of the Persian mon rchy
has changed very little in centuries, There
are no fixed rules to regulate IL, no ap-
proved methods, no set laws, nothing but
a system that has grown out Of the general
need for some kind of supervision and
control in the affairs OF government. The
departments there have distinctive names
such as the departments OF foreign affairs,
public works, Justice, instruction, telc-
graphs, mlnes press, trade, war, finance,
aud pensions: but, said MIR. Doyle, 1.-THE
operation of scarcely one of these is con
fined to matters which should pertain
to its particular sphere, and it is said
that some Of these departments exist only
In name" p"
Ministers are chosen to fill the public
offices, not because of ability, not be
cause of any record they have made, but
simply because they happen to be per-
sonal friends OF the prime minister, who
is chosen because he happens 10 be The
favorfte OF the shah. Some men, though.
TO the credit Of Persia, be il said, ale
appointed on hereditary principles when
the descendant seems equal TO the task
of CARRYING out tie ends of the ancestor
This principle sometimes works well W here
only administrative skill is required. in
that the son becomes early initiated into
the routine of his department and COM
mands certain measure OF respect be
cause Of the fact that he is the son Of
his father. Personal respect and authority
is a greater factor in Eastern, than in
Western governments.
No special qualifications and no eNam'na-
tien is required for entrance into the Per
sian departments, but the applicant is eX-
pected to be able to read and to write a
fairly good hand and to phrase his ideas
Ia 4he Oriental style. Sometimes in the
If hesg Is
expected to know a thing or two about
arithmetic But there are no prescribed
intellectual tests for fitness as exist in
every western nation. Persian clerks are
expected TO work abouteight hours per day,
including two hours rest in the middle Of
the day for lunch, nap and hookah.
The eight-hour rule though, is a custom
more honored in the breach than in the
observance. Clerks are very seldom called
10 account in Persia for soldering or
smoking cigarettes in the corridors. The
Civil Service Commission has been un-
able to find that a Persian clerk is pro
hibited from holding social int -Jurse
with a newspaper reporter
The. Persian clerk has plenty Of holidays,
There is the \ ; din oo-voOz, or New Year,
which begins on the 21st OF March andlaStS
great annual Mohammedan feast, which
iasts for thirty days. The birthday holi
DAYS would fill column set in agate with
out leads or paragraphs. The shah has a
big birthday celebration; Mohammed has
one, Allah has one, Mohammed' Son-in-law
has one, the shah's pet wife has one, and so
on. No reduction o ( payis made because Of
these holidays.
RI ,or,t tx-orl in
Persia is that the great officials transact
large percentage of the public business
at theiI homes. In case OF sickness, no
matter for what period, full pay is al
lowed A message by servant or friend
from the sick person is all the evidence
required TO procure exemption from duty.
No physicians certificate is required. The
American department clerk would call this
q snap"
Government employees DO not work on
Fridays in Persia, for Friday is re
HgiUus day OF rest among the Mohamne-
dams Then, no work is done on Mon
GAYS. but The Civil Service Commission has
not been able TO locate the reason for
th'S
The method of paying salaries IS pc
culiar Under the feudal plan, the reve-
nueS OF one Or more villages are SET apart
to pay the salary of the official, and the
feudal system exists in Persia in very
ancient form. The payment OF salaries
does not begin till two months after the
beginning of the fiscal year, because it
requires two months for the Persian treas
urer to get things Strengthened ont and
ready for ayment.
There are no women in office, because
the employment of MehamInedan women
in any capacity that would bring them into
public contact with the male SEX outside
the members of their own families, is
strictly forbidden both by law and pre-
cept.
The lowest payfor aclerIor native writer
il about ST a month, and this can be in
creased at the pleasure of the chief. Some
of the heads of bureaus receive as much as
50. 900 or $4,000 per year, not to speak
of their pcrquisites. which are said to cX-
ceed the salaries.
The notion Of a gift, however small t
may he to mark the complexion of The mos.
ordinary business transaction, whether
public or private, is apparently Il fixed
notion among all the PersianS
WOMEN'S FOREIGN MISSION.