The Sunday globe., 1901-05-19
A new SCHEME.
To Get Rid of Old Soldier Clerks and
Men in Middle Life.

Mr.. Henry Castle, Auditor for the Post
office Department, thinks that clerk in
his Office over IS years Of age, can not
earn more than S720 per annum. lie fa-
vOrs reduction of salaries of all such
clerks and employees over 60 years Of
age, not on account of inefllciency, but
because of the age limit ho has fixed.
He has devised very ingenious scheme
to get rid Of some of the most faithful
employees in the Sixth Auditors Office,
Men who have servsd faithfully for
years without the slightest cause for
complaint on accoHnt of inefliciency,
have been marked by this autocrat for
dismissal on account of the age limit
as fixed by Mr. Castle and the chiefs Of
his division.
From the personal appearance of the
auditor and several chiefs of divisions
in his department, notably Mr.. Johnston,
one would think that inasmuch as they
eaob and seyerally have reached the age
limit, they would manifest some SYM
pathy tor people OF their age, especially
when they admit that clerks of that age
are qualified and efficient in all other
particulars.
The real meat of the scheme, however,
lies in the fact of the determined purpose
of Mr.. Castle and other heads of depart
ments to get rid of the old veteran SOL
dier, who is too numerous, from their
point OF view, in the service OF the Gov
ernment they helped to save.
A common expression one hears in CO.
ing through the department when this
subject is touched upon and when there
is no suspicion that their words win be
repeated is: 3D. the old soldiers and
old clerks. We must have new blood at
any cost, and get rid of these old veteran
soaks."
Mr.. Castle is admonished that there are
people living in very thin glass houses;
that The Sunday Globe knows who some
of the female inmates are who sometimes
reside i'm tn ese glass houses, and that If
this order is not modified, i'm so far as the
old veteran soldiers are concerned who
have the misfortune to be minor clerks
in his and in other offices under similar
heads OF departments, we will be under
the painful necessity of shieing brick
through the glass houses aforesaid, aud,
in all probability, hitting a few widows,
which we would very much regret, as,
like Sam Weller, we have "nothin' agin
vidders.p
The special scheme for the wedding out
of the middle aged clerks, instituted by
Castle and Johnson, is an ingenious
piece of deviltry.
The old clerks are put on new work
suddenly, without experiences or warn
ing, and a percentage is Immediately
declared that they must come up to or be
declared inefficient This percentage
will, OF necessity, catch almost anybody
inefficient until the intriCacies of the par
ticular kind of work is mastered. But
Castle and Johnson do not propose to
give the clerks chance to be accustomed
to the new work. The percentage racket
Immediately begins on their assignment
to it and tab is kept on them from the
very start. In this way it is hoped to
overcome any appeal to the Swivel Serv-
ice Commission and to fire" the clerks
without leaving th, head of the Depart
ment open to critish.
There was a chap la med Deland who
was an employee ofthe eleventh census
and who is now on tle Treasury Depart
ment payroll. Hisspecial ability lies
in devising schemes b" perfect the pub
lie service and MAKE the clerks more
efficient;" meaning thereby, to invent
new schemes that will entrap old and
tried clerks and get th,m out of the pub
lie service.
His latest suggestion is being put in
force in the postofiice, and consists in
raising the task of the money order de-
partment clerks from nine to twelve
pounds. There are so many money or
ders TO the pound, and heretofore nine
pounds was. reckoned a days work.
Since the new order has gone into effect
woman who succeeded i'm doing the in
creased task collapsed. The real intent
of the order is seen i'm Castles refusal to
let any clerk work over time to complete
this increased task. He wants their
scalps. Many of them have ready been
reduced In salary aud chief Johnson un-
blushingly admits that the schemes they
are operating are experimental and II
they kill clerk or two he can't help it.
Castle should be compelled 10 resign his
position as utterly incompetent He was
a failure in private enterprise, and he is
worse as public official. The same can
be said of ex-Democrat Johnson.