The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-07-20
The Time is Not Far Distant
When Women Clerks Will
Disappear From the Depart
ments in Washington.
THEY BEGAN WORK
DURING CIVIL WAR
Women Clerks Insist Upon Having
Their Own Way and Are
Hard to Manage.
(By e. c. snyder.)

Washington, D. c., July 2O.-The
day of the woman in the government,
service bids fair to pass. The women
clerks themselves do not realize the
fact as yet, but the men do and are
already predicting the arrival of the
time when they will be absolutely
alone in the government departments.
In three of the executive depart
ments of the government here, women
are being gotten rid of. In the depart
ment of commerce and labor there
are no women clerks. In several Of
the bureaus of this department, which
are located outside of the main build
ing, some women clerks are employed.
but In the main Office there are no
females.
Women are slowly disappearing
from the postoffice department, and
the number in the war department is
steadily decreasing. The day when
there are no women in any branch of
the department of commerce and labor
and the postoffice department is
measureably near.
George Bruce Cortelyou, the first
secretary of commerce and labor, and
now the postmaster general, Is said
} to be responsible for the Inauguration
of the movement to get rid of the
women clerks. When he was at the
head of the department of commerce
nd In h0 hn e.
all places to be filled, as far as pos
sible, and while he could not discharge
women solely because they were
women, he found it quite possible to
reduce the number by appointing none
to places. When he left the depart
ment he had got the number greatly
reduced, and Secretary Metcalf has
followed IN the footsteps of his prede-
cessor, SO that the women in the de-
partment are comparatively few. Mr..
Cortelyou carried the same principles
to the postoffice department, and the
number of women in that department,
and the number of women in the post
Office department is said to be decreas-
ing right along, and has been ever
since the regime of the present post
master general began.
Inc reason given for the preference
of male clerks is that they are more
tractable and less troublesome gen.
orally than are the women. A chief
OF division in one of the departments
agrees that in many instances the
women do better work and more work
than the men.
But she is harder to CONTROL" he
said. "She has her own way of doing
things and she won't take orders as
readily as men will do. One woman
( in room, particularly if she be an
elderly one, will make dozen clerks
uncomfortable. have yet to find one
of them who wants the window up IL
majority of the clerks want it that
way, and if majority want the WIN
dows closed, she elects to have them
up. OF course, the window stays as
she wants it, but the men are in a
bad humor all day."
Women began working in the de-
partments here during the war be-
tween the states. The number In
creased yearly for many years, and 1t
was believed their work was satis-
factory. In fact, there is no serious
complaint against the work or the
manner in which it is done.
But unless mighty good sign fails
women will eventually disappear from
the departments altogether,