Evening star., 1900-12-22
CURTAILMENT OF PRIVILEGES.
A Government Clerk Contrasts TIL,
Present With the Past.

Like the leaves in the fall the depart
ment clerks privileges are surely but slow
ly being clipped from the governmental
tree, said a veteran clerk, ruefully, to a
Star reporter.
From the time when the memory Of
man runneth not to the contrary. the exec
utive departments have been closed at noon
Oh the day preceding Thanksgiving and
Christmas That this privilege was con-
sidered of some moment may be determined
by the fact that the question of curtailing
1t was discussed at cabinet meeting before
the decision to do away with 1t was finally
reached.
so, on the day preceding Thanksgiving
when the clerks learned that never again
would they enjoy their time-honored free
dom, there was musical chorus from 90
600 throats which was not at all mirtlf u
Many of the older clerks indulged in re1ni-
niscent tales of the good old days when the
government presented its employees with
jackknives on Christmas which is a literal
fact
THE cabinet decided that It was unbusi-
nesslike to grant a half holiday before a
holiday. and that settles the question for
all time to come. But ii is interesting tha t
within very few years the bands around
clerks leave and privileges have been very
severely drawn, with prospects of their be-
ing frightened still more.
There a time when the office hours
were from to 3. At the last session of
Congress some persons who were fearful
that the clerks did not work long enough
agitated. to some extent, heightened hours
This movement, however was very prompt
ly squelched, the officials themselves op-
posing II.
'But 1t is on the question Of leave that
the movement to which | refer has been
most evident and the change has been very
great. Up TO three years ago a clerk was
entitled by law to leave of absence on ac-
count Of annual leave and sick leave not to
Iy,;,N Nntr Il Wit ~
amended to sixty days.
Several of the members of the cabinet
have construed this provision of the statute
somewhat strictly against the clerk It Is
only recently that the word 'remitted' has
been introduced into the vocabulary of the
government clerk as applied to leave. Some
OF the officials seem disinclined to appear
to be willing to allow their clerks more
than thirty days on account of both annual
and sick leave, and when clerk has had
sick leave and applies for annual leave or
vacation he must have the sick leave
'remitted' before he can get 1t. In other
words, If he does not secure this rebate he
cannot go. 1t Is only recently that these
two leave accounts have been practically
consolidated as formerly they were sep
arate. and II a clerk had used twenty days
Of his sick leave II cut no figure with his
thirty days OF annual leave.
"The government gains hundreds of days
of labor out of It's clerks by this new rule
If the chief chooses he may deny to remit
the sick leave. and his refusal curtails that
particular clerks absence just that much
Again. clerks who are In departments
where the rules stretched in their en-
forcement will often abandon portions of
their annual leave and go without that
much vacation and work at their desks
rather than ask for the letter of remission
"If there are 100 clerks in each of the
eight departments who are thus shut out
..ther voluntarily or involuntarily, of ten
days leave each year. the government
would gain 5000 combined days in their
labor annually. 1 should say that this es-
innate would be too conservative. l per-
sonally know of three clerks who do not
take annual leave. and of many who are
shy from five to fifteen days each year.
1.-The question which is agitating the
minds of the clerks now is: What's
next?"