Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-15
OBLIGATIONS OF employees
ONE FoRFEITS RIGHTS WHEN
ENGAGED IN FEDERAL SERVICE.
The Position of an Employe Different
From That of a Person in the
Private Walks of Life.

"The curious ideas that some persons
have regarding the government service and
the obligations 1t entails upon those who
may choose to enter it," remarked an Of
fetal, was well illustrated in the instance
occurring the other day when letter car
:ier sought to he relieved from the wear
ing Of a neCktie upon the ground that the
wearing of necktie interfered with the
tcncts of the religious order of which he
was a member.
To the casual thinker at first blush this
sounds deservedIy amusing. but upon sec
ond thought. and especially from the stand
point Of a government official who Is held
responsible for the proper performance OF
the governments business, 1t is far from
being funny officially. The rules and regu-
lations Of the department require that.
while in the summer time a carrier may
dispense with his coat, he must, In this
event. wear a neat belt, a turn-down col
lar and dark cravat. This particular
carrier accepted the belt and collar, but
baked at the neCktle. and cited in his let
ter to the department something about the
liberties of the Constitution. his religious
belief. personal privileges. etc.
in these instances members Of religious,
fraterual. benevolent. political and other
orders. organizations and societies could
save themselves much peace Of mind by
simply remembering, when they are hrst
sworn into the service of the government,
that they are taken into the service sub
ioCt to the conditions of their employment
therein, and unless they are will ng to
abide thereby from the outset to the end OF
their official careers. they should not IN
the first instance subscribe 10 the oath.
Affects All Government Employees.
This general principle affects all gov
eminent employees. from the President and
h., -Ga h,1r, Lost
server on the rolls of the government.
Were such not the case in a country like
our own. with 4 mixed population and one
embracing all sorts of creeds, sects and
differences of belief and custom, chaos
would soon reign and employees and officials
would consider themselves responsible
only to themselves and not 10 the rolls
upon which their names are Inscribed.
Entrance into the government service in
any of its branches being purely volun-
tary, except in extraordinary stress of war,
when CONSUMPTION into the military arms
may be enforced. government employees IN
all stations and ranks of official and clerl-
cal life should remember that if they find
the rules laid down for their employment
by the government TO be irksome for any
reason whatsoever, ii Is up to them, in
dividually and collectively, to retire into
private life and not expect the government
TO amend its rules laws to suit their
collective or individual ideas and beliefs
Mistaken Idea of a Few.
at is upon the opposite and mistaken
hypothesis that this letter carrier pro-
ceeded. Were he correct in principle a
carrier in another city could properly pro-
test that the department erred In pre-
scribing the wearing of a dark necktie
upon the ground that the fraternal order to
which he belonged had decreed that Its
members could wear only neckties of a pale
blue or in fact, advance any other rea-
sons seemingly as logical to his Individual
mind as in the instance OF the first car
rier
1T Is this class of persons, fortunately
comparatively small, which do not under
standingly comprehend the true principles
of constitutional liberty, but erringly sup
pose that such means license to commit
and to follow out any individual indiosyn-
Grassy or accepted belief to the exclusion
of all other beliefs, customs or laws.
And 1t Is also this class which falls TO
differentiate between what may be done
in this country when a man is In private
life and when he serves either the state
OF the nation; what goes in one doesn't go
in the other whether it Is the wearing OF
a necktie when you are a letter carrier,
or white gloves in the summer time when
you are a policeman"