Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-18
THE WOMEN employees
GOVERNMENT NOT BEHIND GEN
ERAL PUBLIC IN HAVING THEM.
What the Figures Show as to Their
Appointment in the Various
Departments.

ST noticed an excerpt in The Star a few
days since from a Boston paper with refer
ence to the employment of women in the
departments in Washington which Is 80
misleading, unintentionally SO, no doubt,
that 1t should not be passed uncontradicted.
as false impression of the actual condi-
lions prevailing in the capital in this re-
gard may obtain" said a well-known
Washington statistician to Star reporter
this morning.
"Among other things the article in ques-
ton had this to say:
The government Is far behind the gen.
eral public in giving clerical employment to
women. OF the thousands of appointments
bestowed in Washington but few Of them
are given to women. The chances of ap-
pointment OF women In the classified serv-
ice are poor. A few are appointed in the
general departmental and government serv-
Ice, in the Indian service and in the bureau
of printing and engraving. A small num-
also appointed each year, but on the whole
women are not successful seekers after
government favors 1t Is not easy to ac-
count for this, except that women, not
politics as men and are not naturally SO
servile. They are more apt to speak their
minds and 'give things away
Figures From Official Sources.
I'm the first place. admission into the
classified service in the departments in
Washington is obtained only by passing an
examination, and upon certification to the
heads of the respective executive depart
ments who may call upon the civil service
commission for additional clerks
Under an act Of Congress, however, GER
tain sums OF money are annually appropri-
ated for the employment of temporary
Two n rrty hot
are called in Washington 'thirty-day ap-
pointhents.' These temporary appoint
ments are for the period stated, but the
same person may be, and often is con-
t1nued on the temporary roll by being re-
appointed In different departments and in
different bureaus each succeeding thirty
days. In this manner appointments on this
roll are continued for several months, and
have known Of instances where they have
continued for many months.
The point about these temporary ap-
po1ntments. however, in reference to the
question under discussion, is that 20, and
venture to say If figures were obtainable
with reference to the division Of the sexes
and they are not obtainable as a matter Of
public record that they would show that
the percentage of appointments of females
is nearer 50, II not 80 per cent of the entire
whole.
I'm fact, in several divisions in one or
two departments where | acquainted,
know of scores of women appointments on
this roll, and only a handful of men. These
facts are official, and they go to show that
wemen fare much better than men in these
appointments. for, If such were not the
case. the reverse would be true, and, in
stead of minor officials commenting on the
number of women they received In these
appoin tnfents as assisting clerks, they would
remark upon the number of men. 1t is a
matter Of universal comment in the depart
ments, the few number of men who receive
these temporary appointments.
Other Official Facts and Figures.
GAS regards the increase in the percentage
Of appointments in the executive depart
ments of women men during the past
thirty years with reference to the whole
The Star long ago published a compilation
showing that the percentage of increase in
favor of the female clerk was slow but
sure, and that if the same ratio of increase
of percentage were continued during the
next third of century, as it has during
the past third of a century, the female
clerk would ultimately displace the male
clerk in the clerical forces in Washington
ANY who disputes this fact, or who
wishes to make a new comDiation may do
SO with the following figures:
1.-THE first woman clerk was appointed by
Mr.. Spinner in the Treasury Depar tment
just after the war, in 1864 | think. About
half a dozen ladies were then appointed.
ION the LIST Of July, 1901, the clerical
force In the executive departments in
Washington was approximately force of
p ,6O5 employees of both sexes Out of this
number there were 1886 females. The
time, at this ratio of increase of the re-
spective sexes. when the gentler sex Is to
overtake and pass the men is merely
matter of arithmetic to those who wish to
ascertain this interesting date.
"Inasmuch as of the entire force of gov
ernn ga empioyes in Washington over one
four III ssad nearly one-thrd is composed Of
women, and certainly so per cent of the
new temporary clerks are of the sex, it
would seem that the advocates of women
employees In the government have no just