The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1899-05-20
TINE LOCKS TELL A STRAIGHT TALE

vested r1g1t For such as these the time
clock was specially made. They cannot
wheedle or coodle It; It makes an unmis.
taxable report, and their habitual tardd-
ness must either be corrected or stand
against them. A conclusive record Is thus
made Of one leading feature Of ineff1ci-
ency, and that record Joined to others
will In time put them in shape for q
separation from the service, in strict 40.
ccrdance with law.
1T Is this last named class, the twenty
per cent of derelicts, who assume to speak
for the whole, and too often give color to
the whole body Of departmental employees.
It is they who bring unmerited reproach
upon the civil service system, of which
they are almost as noxious an excrescence
as the malady known in the treasury al
Delandisn, which badges the worthy and
shields the worthless, and exploits it's
humbugS on a weary world. If they knew
how tfreso1ne their assumptions of per.
sonal Importance and political Influence
are to the people of this great country,
<ho are molding its destinies, they would
sing In a minor key:
"We have had the time clocks in opera
ZION long enough now to have the record
OF these black sheep, and the record will
remain. Other black sheep will come in,
however, in course of time. and the prin.
cipal of the time clocks will never go
backward. Any one of a dozen simple
automatic devices almost equally effective
can be easily substituted, and in the
meantime incurable wards can be estab-.
lished where the degenerates can be
gathered together and a special watch
kept over them, for their own and their
country's good.
I'm the meantime, the best class Of
clerks have made record on the Bundy
clocks which stands to their credit. I
have never asserted that employees would
be given credit for overtime made. We
do not encourage or even knowingly per-
NIT overtime to be made in this bureau,
save In exceptional cases of urgency. But
with or without time clocks, model clerks
have for years been in the habit of reach
ing the Office ten or fifteen minutes ahead
of time. in order that preliminary adjust
ments may be finished, and they may be
seated at their desks ready for work at
o'clock. They have also been in the
habit of working, fully up to o'clock.
and enough minutes longer to properly
finish the item of work just then in hand.
The time clock records now show that
those people have been ringing in at
S:45 or $3.50 a. M, and ringing out at
$40 or 4:15 p. M, habitually, while the
derelicts, who have been ringing in from
1850 to .9:1O, and ringing out at 4:01 have
man1feStly taken some little time from
that due the government, for their own
purposes. An average of ten minutes for
each person in this office equals a full
Udy lOF Twelve CLERKS. IL is perfectly
legitimate and is, in fact, the duty of the
auditor to take such records into con-
for promotion. He has done so, and
will continue to do so. In this way the
faithful clerk gets indirect but very SUBJ
stantial credit, such as was impossible
under the old system. Naturally, these
people advocate the clock and deplore
any suggestions as to it's discontinuance.
Not one person of this class has COM
planned to me-, though they know that
their views and criticisms on all matters
are cordially welcomed
1.-THE law-making power is supreme in
this country If congress shall see fit to
! enact the prohibition now pending, this
/ Office will cheerfully submit. but we have
mo apologies to make for the Inauguration
| (Of time clocks. Abundant means will be
| found to utilize the years record already
made The bureau will be able to readily
substitute some device equally effective
| but perhaps less offensive to the sensitive,
! tender spirits Of departmental shirks and
agitators. whose mouth-vapor rises like q
| perfumed incense and whose noisy
clamor, irresistible and irrepressible. per-
Wades even to the outskirts and silences
the boiler factories. And the good work
OF separating the workers from the shirk9
! and drones will go steadily on, as justly
as our falltble judgment will permit. Tho
later class may record in the public
prints their lofty objections to being re-
duced to the same plane as factory
hands, hut unprejudiced observers viii
think that to get on that plane would be,
Tor such people, a great, big promotion"