The Washington times., 1906-03-26
WORN OUT CLERKS
ARE SLAPPED HARD
Accused of Scheming to
Live Off Competent.
FORM OFFICE ARISTOCRACI
Correspondent Says They Foist Fami-
lies on Uncle Sam and Wish
Un-American Pensions.
To the Editor o; The Washington Times:

To the Editor OF The Washington Times
over the much-discussed question Of
the retirement OF senile clerks with
pay in the classified service OF the
United States. will you kindly publish
these remarks from a '1ooker-on in
Venice"
The matter appears to SAVIOR of pa
ternalSm and un-Americanism. No
argument. however poaArful. no sophis-
trv. however subtle, can disguise that
fact in The minds OF disinterested per
sons Theories may be advanced beau
tlfuI In conception, Vet impracticable:
schemes may be devised. sweet as the
sirens song. yet unSeductive; but Con-
Eress. nevertheless. will not be fright
ened. nor cajoled. nor aIlured away
from the logic of the situation, and of
sound business sense.
In the District of Columbia is a band
Uf brothers. styled the Retirement AS
sociation. composed in the main of
clerks whose light of life is flickering
from sixty-five years and upward, and
Who have outlived nearly all Of their
Cficial usefulness md who wish To re-
tire from the service.
They want Congress To pass meas
Ure providing for their retirement with
=
INK All assessment ot per cent on the
monthly salaries of all the clerks in
the classified service thus creating
fund out Of which they may be paid.
With A bold stroke OF diplomacy, they
asser, that their alan would not cost
the Government one sou. one penny.
That is true
Tax Young for Old.
But against that proposition thou
sauds OF clerks in the twenties, thirties.
fcrties. and fifties enter a vigorous pro-
test loud and long The proposition.
n enacted into Law. would be monster
or injustice and inequity; it would be
an outrage upon human and constitu-
tional rights.
Nice scheme, Tax the younger and
Efficient clerks. now undeTpaid. for the
retirement OF superannuated incom-
potency. that il may be kept in idleness-
Such rapacity is monumental But Con-
Rress will not be hoodwinked by the as
sociation aforesaid.
An attempt is being made by the sd-
cocates Of the Retirement Association 10
prejudice the minds Of our venerable
Senators and Representatives aganS
the compulsory retire ment at seventy
Years
Tawney measure by IL sidiously refer
ring 10 their age. But the comparison
Is not apt-the case is no. analogous. The
Representative goes back TO his con>
stituency every two years for re-elec'
ton; the Senator goes back to his STATE
every six years for reelection, and II
either has been Temiss, or derehct, ne
is not returned 10 Congress.
Af d
ucation. different calibre. and superior
worth. They have been great in many
NAYS: they have been invested with hlgh
power and extensive authority for years
in their respective States; they nave
worn the judicial ermine; they nave
commanded regiments; they have. by
their genius. amassed fortunes; they
have a if BY magic created towns IN
vast wildernesses. and they have bullt
railroads, linking continents. ana steam
shin lines. traverSing the aqueous globe
Are these giants to be played upon
Sharply by the sponsors OF the Ike
tirement Association, and the eleNes
OF the departmental trenches?
How about the superdnnuated clerks
aforesaida What have they done2
Many of them nave held office in the
civil service since the surrender at Ap-
oomattoX, drawing large salaries. and
rendering a modicum Of work of a rou-
tine nature. In sporadic cases, they have
been called upon to display executive
ability. but only in minor matters.
Some Already Pensioners.
Many of them have for years drawn
large war pensions. in addition to their
salaries. IL is now forty years since
Appomattox; their sons and grandsons
have gone into the service, TO say Moth
ing OF their sisters. their cousins and
their auntsS
Indeed. in the District OF Columbia
We have today an aristocTacy Of office
holders in the CLASSIFIED service and they
are as firmly fixed in office as ny IN
glue pot
4 very small fraction of them may yet
contribute funds 10 their respective po-
litical parties cit is said that many or
them contribute to both parties. a
fraction smaller than that may occa-
siOnally go home TO vote IN vast
number of cases, say 90 per cent they
have lost their identity in their voting
districts. and have been forgotten.
II is time the wedge were entered
step in the right direction for the i'm
pToVement of the civil servIce-narsh
though II may seem on first glance; vet
Il must be remembered that these clerks