Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-01-02
ARE HARD WORKERS
Busy Statesmen Who Never Take
a Christmas Vacation.
Members of Appropriations, Ways
and Means and Com
mittees of House and Sem
ate Get No Rest.
Especial Washington letter.
.THE lives of government clerks

must be very monotonous,
said Congressman William AL
den Smith, of Grand Rapids, Mich, as
we were riding from the capitol on an
electric car.
al have often watched them going
to and coming from their offices. Now
it is four O'Clock in the afternoon, and
they are coming out of the departments
in great droves. You notice that neal
ly all of them rush for the street ears.
That is partly because they are tired,
and partly because so many of them
live away out in the suburbs. They
walk in the mornings, and ride in the
evenings.
Every morning, from eight o'clock
until almost nine, the thousands may
be seen walking towards the depart
ments, all of them carrying little pack
ages containing their lunches. Some
of them walk as much as two or three
miles on fair days on their way to
their work, and it probably does them
good. But, after being shut up in the
departments, where many rooms are
lily ventilated, or not ventilated at all,
they are as tired out by four o'clock
as the giant %tillers of the soil are when
they have worked from sun-up to sum
down.
"There is something procrastinating
or somnolent in the atmosphere of
this city," continued Mr.. Smith. "At
my home l am always in my office at
eight o'clock each morning. Here it
is a task and a struggle for me to get
to the capitol by ten o'clock. 1t is the
same with my family, too. We do not
get up so early as we do at home, and
we do not go to bed so early as we
should. / have brought servants with
me this year, and am trying to keep
house instead of being an uncomforta-
BILE boarder. But / find that the serv-
ants have breathed the somnolent air
of Washington, and they do not get
up and go about their work as they
did at home Maybe they see the indo-
lence of other servants in the neigh
borhood, and are putting on the airs
of this community. T hope that a sea-
son here will not spoil them for their
duties at home when we go back at
the close of this session of congress.
""The government clerks, I under
stand. only work half-days during the
Christmas holidays. The six half-days
of vacation are not taken from their
annual leaves of 80 days. They are
very fortunate folks in the matter OF
days of rest. No other class of work
ing people have 80 vacation days with
pay given to them every year. And ii
is good pay, too"
The congressman did not mention the
fact that men in his class also easily
acquire the resting habit in this city
No sooner do the congressman gather
here than they begin to talk about the
Christmas vacation. They are annual
ly in session about two weeks in De
cemher, doing nothing but prelimi
nary legislative work, when they ad
iourn for two weeks or longer in or
der that they may 60 to their homes
for Christmas and New Years dinners
with their families. They also receive
good pay during their restful periods
Uncle Jimmy" Edwards, whom ev
erybody here knows, says: 81 have sa
at the door of the democratic side O
the senate for almost 25 years whel
I the congress has been in session, ant
\ there has never been a year when
Christmas vacation of less than tw,
Z weeks has been taken, except about 1
years ago. There was a short sessio:
of congress. President Clevelan'
threatened an extra session unless Ger
tain legislation was accomplished, S
that on that occasion the Christina
vacation was only five days. But tina
was an exception to the rule. L Xix
the rule, however, because when tn