Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-08
ANOTHER HALF HOUR
To Be Added in Government
Departments,
DECISION OF CABINET
CLERKS TO WORK UNTIL 4:3O
O'CLOCK EVERY DAY.
Will Stop at l O'Clock, However, on
Saturdays During Summer Months
Cause for the Change.

"
thereby adding extra half hour TO the
davis labor of many thousands of men and
women
The decision to add this extra time was
reached at the cabinet meeting today after
long and serious consideration by the
President and his advisers. In every de-
partment tomorrow orders will be posted
announcing that the new hours Will be put
into force Monday The only feature OF
interest that will please the clerks anu
other employees is that the orders Will con-
tain the announcement that during ..Ie
summer months-July, August ana sep
tember-the working hours for each depart
ment on Saturday will be from O CLOCK III
the morning to l o'clock in the AFTERNOON.
Nearly all of the departments in the past
have been closing at O'Clock in the al
ternoon on Saturdays during the summer.
To the majority, therefore, the early clos
ing on Saturdays will be welcomed
Gain to the Government.
The decision of the cabinet will result in
an increase of many hours of labor to the
government. The Treasury Department
alone in Washington and throughout the
country has nearly 10000 employees. This
will mean $4,000 more hours of work for
that department each day. serious ques-
ton arises whether it will not result In
reduction of the official force OF the gov
ernment by reason of the time that will
be saved and the extra work that will be
done. Each government empioye Will mere
after put in 1421a more hours WORK each
year for the government than HERETOFORE,
assuming that each clerk takes the thirty
days annual leave to which he is entitled.
There are 313 working days in each year OF
S65 days. Government employees are al
lowed thirty days annual leave from this,
making 2S3 days that they work when there
is no illness. A half hours extra labor
each day would result in 1423a hours gain
for the government each year.
There must be deducted from this. how
ever, the decreased hours on Saturday. By
closing at l o'clock Saturdays instead of 3
o'clock each clerk will have two hours a
week more time to himself than heretofore.
For fourteen weeks in the summer TINS
would be twenty-eight hours, which must
be deducted from the 1922 hours additional,
leaving d net gain for the government OF
1141a hours for each employe each year
Cause of the Change.
The sudden decision to extend the hours
of labor has been brought about by the ap-
propriations committee of the House. This
committee has been engaged in hearings
with representatives of the various depart
ments relative to estimates for employees
for the next fiscal year These hearings
revealed that none of the departments con-
sidered that they could get along with re-
ductions in their forces and all departments
were clamoring for more clerks and in
crease in salaries.
The appropriations committee began to
consider the extra appropriations that would
be necessary to grant the demands and
opinion formed in the committee that the
only way to overcome this was to require
longer hours of executive clerks. Members
of the committee took the question up with
the President and cabinet officers and de-
clared their belief that the law requires
seven hours of labor from all executive
clerks. They stated that for years govern
ment employees have been taking half
- lnxr F<N.-
including this in the seven hours. Accord
ing to the opinions of members of the ap
propriatio committee the law is clear in
requiring seven hours of labor and did rot
intend that the half hour for luncheon
should be taken from the time of the gov
ernment. They declared that the traditional
closing hour of o'clock had been assumed
and that the law had really been violated
for years This view of the case was i'm
pressed upon the President and the cabinet
officers. and they unanimously reached the
same conclusion.
No legal opinion asked from Attor-
ney General Knox prior to the assembling
of the cabinet He was present. however,
and agreed with other cabinet officials. He
may be called upon later for opinion
and to legally defend the action of the
cabinet, as the news of the decision quick
ly went through the departments, and
there was strong talk of raising a big fund
to test the validity OF the decision. This
may be done under some form later on, but
the matter will be allowed to drift for a
While. II is said. Inc decision Is naturally
an unpopular one, and is regarded as pc
culiar in view of the fact that the govern
ment departments have been closing for
many years at o'clock in the afternoon.
Bureaus Not Affected.
The orders relative to the extra hours do
not affect the government printing office,
the navy yards and similar government es-
tablishments. In these places eight hours
work is the rule now and this rule is en-
:
fects executive branches of the government
solely, and is understood to apply in these
departments TO employees outside and inside
this city. In the customs service and pos
tai services in the large cities OF the coun-
try, New York Philadelphia, Boston and
elsewhere, the additional hours VIII be en-
forced.
The decision is expected to give the con-
troller OF the treasury great deal of addi-
tional work, as II will be sure to cause
many claims to be submitted.
Postmaster General Payne.
Postmaster General Payne said this after.
noon that he did not know how many en-
ployes in his department the decision would
affect In the rural free delivery part of
his department the great amount of work
had caused the employees there to work
extra hours for long time. The decision
would not add anything to their labors.
The cabinet deliberated only upon branches
of the government directly indirectly
GRAFTON to the District government, which
is executive in a sense different from that
employed in this matter. The decision how
ever. is regarded almost sure to be ex-
tended TO the District government which
works under the same general law relative
TO seven hours Of service to the govern
ment. The Commissioners will probably
take the matter up and determine what is
10 be done.
Announced by Secretary Root.
Acting upon recent plans of giving to
one cabinet officer the duty af announcing
any matter of public interest the President
and the cabinet decided to give this par
ucular duty to Secretary Root The other
cabinet members, when they strolled out
of the cabinet room, stated that Secretary
Root would make public the facts, and
declined to give any details Mr.. Roo
made the announcement In his easiest, most