The suburban citizen., 1901-03-30
A CLASS BY THEMSELVES.
Employees OF the Government Who Have
Grown Old in the Service.

-
Employees OF the Government who Have
Grown Old in the Service.
whenever l read in the Star Of the
unknown dead of this city think Of
the unknown dead in the executive
departments" said chief clerk.
"At first blush 1t may appear para
doxical that a man or a woman may
be alive in the departments, reporting
for duty when not sick, drawing pay
and breathing and eating, and at the
same time be n corpse But Of the
type of clerks of which I speak, they
are to all intents and purposes, from
an official standpoint, dead.
"These clerks are forgotten. They
are buried. They are like two or three
cards in a deck; when the pack is
shufied, they shuttle along with the
rest. They are to be found by the doz-
ems in the different departments, men
and women alike. How they got in,
no one but themselves know. Most
Of them are old clerks. They stay be-
cause they constitute one Of the com
ponents of system. Once in the SER
vice they have remained IN the main
tenance of the system But for the
beneficial protection of the civil serv-
ice they would be hunted out, named
and numbered and tagged like victims
selected for the block and summarily
decapitated.
"The influences which secured theif
appointment have long since passed to
the other side or been snuffed out of
political favor or power. They were
put at desks and they remain obscure
and overlooked. Even their chiefs may
not know how they got there. He
found them in his division when he
took up the reins, and he retains them
as fixtures, not unlike the desks and
chandeliers.
"They constitute a curious set these
dead-alive clerks, Some may still
have what they consider influence
or a backing of some sort upon which
to rely in case of need and trouble,
but most Of them have nothing tangi-
bic upon which to base this assump-
ton. They are drifters. They float
because others float with them and
carry them along on the surface of
the official stream.
"They work, of course. Everybody
nowadays in the departments works.
They may be good workers Every
clerk thinks he or she works harder
than his or her fellow clerk But their
quantity and quality Of work is not
the reason for their official existence,
as is the case in outside departments.
Anybody else could do their work Just
as well, and in all probability better.
Some have been in service for
twenty and thirty years, others not so
long. They constitute a class distinct
to themselves. They wouldn't admit
this, however, IL they were conscious
OF it, But If an official had the pow
er to go through his department and
collect them in group, their classi-
hcation would be easy. They have
outlived their influence, and in many
cases their usefulness. But they hang
on. Only death itself will remove
them, for they never resign. There is
no special reason why they should
resign, under the existing rules The
world owes them a living as well as
their more favored neighbors.
Most Of them are unobtrusive.
Some are cranks. Old age and long
tenure in office tend to the making of
cranks Of some Of u.s. In their unOb-
trusiveness lies their main hold If
they were to become too assertive,
the inquiry might be raised as to why
they are there at all, or the question
If their salary would not be earned to
better advantage by clerks in the low
er grades who want promotions and
have the ability to secure such II the
necessary reduction can be made. SO
they saw wood, or rather scrlbble anu
say nothing,"-Washington Star.