The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-01-22
END TO ANTI-CIVIL SERVICE
WOULD BE THE RESULT IF EN-
PLoYEs GAVE VALUE RE-
CEIVED FOR SALARY,
Measure Meeting Heavy Opposition
From Some Labor Organ
iZatiOns.
WASHINGTON BUREAU PAUL GLOBE,
C0RC0RAH Bull DING.

Special to the Globe.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 21.-Civil Ser
vice Commissioner Harlow, when tes-
Trying before the senate investigat-
ing committee. made a suggestion
which would do more in a practical
way for the cause of reform than al
most anything that has been proposed
since the enactment of the original
law. He recommended that the gov
eminent day be heightened. AS it is
now, the great army OF Washington
clerks go on duty at O'Clock have :.
half-hour out at noon, and get through
at 4. They have months vacation,
months SICK leave, and, in the past,
system OF Exceptional sick leave" has
prevailed. No other class who work
for a living have so many holidays
and special privileges in the way of
tlfhe OH as they. People in Wash
lhston are able to live very near the
government departments, and do not
nave to spend one or two hours a dav
IN getting to and from their work. as
do the employees of the business houses
or Boston and New York and Chicago
In these circumstances a nine-to-four
day is absurdly short. AS long as
the government service is Justly DOM
mated In popular parlance "a soft
snap, VIII there be a strong popular
opposition to a life tenure for those
VINO are once fortunate enough to get
into it. If the average government
clerk today worked as hard for his
money as the person similarly en-
pIoyed in the outside world. q good
part CT the opposition to the reformed
civil service system would vanish at
once.
The economic argument in favor of
longer day is strong. Mr.. Harlow
feckons that if the clerical force were
required to work seven hours a dav
instead or SIX and a half, as at pres
sent, the annual saving to the govern
ment would be nearly a million dol
lars. 1t IS perhaps true that IN some
occItpdtlor or life man cannot work
TO MS best advantage for more than
six or seven hours a day, but M ono
who ever walked through the deparr-
ments in Washington would suspect
that the clerical force of the govern
ment came under this head. New
buildings are continually erected or
rented In Washington to accommodate
the increasing volume of work. and It
has apparently not occurred to con-
gress that the old buildings and ap
pliances would turn out 20 per cent
more work by simply extending the
business day to reasonab BILE limits. 1t
is to be hoped that Commissioner
Harlow's suggestion will be taken up,
as means of dispelling some, at least.
OF the opposition to present condf-
tons.
The question is frequently asked.
when the need of devising some way
of relieving the departments of their
superannuated employees is raised:
Why not establish civil pension list?
The objection to that system. among
persons familiar with Washington af-
fairs. is implied in the preceding para
graph. Why give a pension to retir-
ing employees, who, during their work
ing years, have been vastly overpaid?
Commissioner Harlow stated i'll his
testimony that those government func-
tlonarles who are engaged in routine
work. receive from 25 to SO per cent
more salary than employees of private
establishments performing similar
work. In some cases. he declared. the
difference was even greater It SHOULD
be added, however. in justice to the
government employees in the higher
grades, that they are equally wretch
discrimination, due to the potency OF
influence" instead of actual merit
Special to the Globe.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 21.-The pros
poets of anti-scalping legislation are
now-ir that condition where it is quite
unsafe to make predictions. There is
a notion abroad that pooling. anti
scalping, and other amendments of the
q q Ia wi no fal
in one general bill. ard that, until such
a measure is framed, it is unwise to as
sent to any piecemeal measure of re-
fern. The railroads and the general
public are looked upon as the two par
ties whose respective rights are involv-
ed. The railroads want pooling legaliZ-
ed and scalpiDg prohibited. In exchange
for these concessions. which are OBJ
viouSly in the line not only of sound