Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-08
The Pampered Pets of Uncle Sam.

Out in Ohio. in the town of Lebanon, is
published a weekly paper which boasts of
a regular Washington correspondent" In
a recent issue Of this paper, which is styled
the Western Star. was printed letter
from its representative at the capital on
the subject of the efforts which have been
made to secure the enactment of some form
of civil retirement law. 1t is a most re-
markable composition, rejecting great credit
upon its author as person of powers Of
imagination seldom equaled by the sensa-
tional novelists. According to him the gov
eminent clerk in Washington is a person
OF great affiuence. a yeritab.e Croesus.
lounging in luxury and at the pinnacle OF
prosperity. Yet these over-paid and under
worked hirelings of Uncle Sam, not content
with their lot. are scheming to secure law
which will enable them to loaf at princely
stipends during their later years when they
are tired doing the little that Is required Of
them. The situation is positively shameful.
viewed from this angle Uncle Sam is in
danger of being mulcted even worse than at
present. 1t is high time to warn the people
of this contemplated raid upon the Treasury.
The Washington correspondent Of the West
ern Star believes that when the taxpayers
OF the country have been informed. through
the medium of his disclosures, of the plot
to pension these clerks after twenty years
of service. with fat pay for doing nothing
at all. they win raise terrible howl about
it." OF course that settles 1t. The scheme
Is dead from the present moment
Possibly the government clerks will be in
terested to read the following extract from
the letter in question. which indicates the
utter absurdity Of the proposal to pension
them:
The government clerks claim that they
cannot lay up enough out Of their salaries
to keep them in their old age. but when it
is known that the majority of them live In
costly and richly furnished houses, ride to
and from work in handsome automobiles
and carriages their appeals for this special
and nefarious legislation will fall fat
Everybody in Washington knows that this
is an absolutely correct picture of the con-
dition of the majority of the department
workers. 1t is common knowledge that
they are pampered sons and daughters of
wealth. The streets OF Washington are SO
cOngested before 9 am. and after 4:3O D. m
with their motor cars and carriages that
the plain pedestrian. who does not work for
Uncle Sam, has no chance whatever for his
life if he ventures beyond the curb The
dazzling brilliance of their domestic estab-
lishments blinds the eyes of the non-goy-
ernmental citizen. The wild extravaganza
Of the tweive-hundred- dollar plutocrat Of
the departments is the talk of the town.
His children wear only the finest clothes
attend the best private schools. Newport
and Bar Harbor are scarcely good enough
for the summer outings of his family. The
Potomac is dotted with the private yachts
Of the clerks. Oh, yes, Washington is the
scene of luxurious living on the part Of the
clerks on a scale to cause every other COM
munity in the United States to grow faint
with envy:
Well, now that the cat is out of the bag,
what is to be done about it? Perhaps the
enterprising Western Star will print a few
photographs showing the clerks in their
acts of riotous living. riding in their auto
mobiles and carriages and otherwise squan-
dering the lavish sums that Uncle Sam
forces them to accept fortnightly. 1t might
as well make a clean sweep Of the job and
end the business forever.