The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1902-09-03
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.
what Would Result if All should Go on
Strilxe

strike.
while Washington has had several
strikes recently among its wage earn
ers of more or less seriousness, these
were mere pigmies compared with the
giant strike of all the government en-
ployees In the executive departments
of Washington for n raise of salary
which could be inaugurated If the
price of beef and other foods continue
TO rise said an old government clerk
who has weathered many political
storms and department tempests.
But this is no joke. The clerks of
the government have the government
at their mercy rather than the govern
ment having the clerks at its mercy,
as is popularity supposed, If they only
realized IT. and acted concertly and as
a unit. OF course, the idea of a strike
on the part of the employees of the gov
ernment in Washington Is entirely
new. and would be of radical effective
ness II carried into operation. 1t
would not be impossible of realization
If every one of the $4,000 employees
formed a union and obeyed it's man
dates. The President would not only
have Congress upon his hands, but an
army of disgruntled employees and
lot of vacant public buildings. He
would certainly be up against hard
proposition.
"The high price of meat and food is
felt by government employees as keen
ly as by any other class of wage earn
ers. yet they seem to have been over
looked in the general discussion at
tending the impending meat famine.
Thousands and thousands of them re-
ceive from Si0 to $50 a month maxi
mum pay, and this is about tie aver
age monthly pay of the average
wage Garner. A strike on the part
of every government employe in Wash
ington would be n catastrophe to the
country and government alike. Tenn
porary employees could not be put in
their places, as neither the President
nor Congress can override the law
Their >places could not be filed, as
would be commonly supposed, by
host of outsiders unless the entire civil
service commission were abolished
and the entire civil service act re-
pealed. Chaos would reign. The va
cancies would have to be filled through
the civil service, upon the dismissal of
the regular clerks, except Congress
wiped IL out of existence, as would he
probable in the event of the contin-
gency ] suggest.
There will, however, never be a
strike of government employees in
Washington for many reasons, and on
ly the major ones | will consider. One
is that of any body of workers none
can be found where harmony of
thought and unison of action are utter
imposibilities. | have never seen in
ten years service any three clerks who
could agree upon any one point, II one
of the three happened to be woman
employe. | have seen men agree
among themselves, and women hold to-
gether for time at least, but never a
concerted agreement on the part of
both sexes. Why? Mainly because the
women wanted to dominate their
views. and as the men would not@sub-
NIT, disagreement resulted. Women
as matter of fact are poor organizers,
but consider themselves past masters
at the art. The relief associations of
the different departments are we'll pa
tronized by women employees, but they
are managed by men, or they would
have disrupted long ago.
so, II all the men to a man agreed
to strike. all of the women to woman
would disagree, and vice versa. Thus,
the safety Of the government, as 1t
were, is in the taper-fingered hands of
our fair friends toiling within the walls
of our public buildings. Were all of
the employees men, and they unanim-
ously agreed to strike for higher
wages, force action on the part of
Congress. they could tie up the gov
ernment in twenty-four hours as a
baby is tied up in Its crib. Another
leaf in the wreath which bedecks the
brows of our fair co-workers; they are
saving the government"