The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1908-04-15
THE ADVANCED AGE PERIODS
The Figures Show That the Govern
ment Employs In the Civil Service
4564 Persons From 65 10 90 Years
or Age and 1877 ut Least 30 Years.
tF48s --~--1-@r aHs gg

The employees in the executive civil
service arc the subjects Of statistical
inquiry which has just been com
pleted by the Bureau Of the Census.
The results Of this inquiry are pub.
lishcd In Census Bulletin "a, which
was prepared by Lewis Merriam, act.
ing chief Of the division Of revision
and results.
On July |, 1907, according TO this
bnllctin, the total number Of eut-
ployces In the executive civil service,
exclusive OF persons ID the consular
and diplomatic service, was 2S6,o02:
and Of this number 20. .i03--practically
one-tenth were employed at the nat
\ ional capital
In the detailed statistical tables il
was considered impracticablc to IN
clude MI these employees, In few
cases because the returns were too
incomplete, but more often because
certain classes arc so peculiar In re-
spect 10 the way they are appointed,
or the basis on which they are paid,
that their inclusion would have I'm.
paired the value OF the statistics for
the remaining classes. The most i'm.
poriant classes omitted for this latter
reason include 62,663 postmasters, l8,.
$40 mechanics and iaborers in navy
yards and naval stations 1880 clerks
in post Offices not having free de-
livery. and l,03l occasional employees
of the Weather Bureau Data for
4,ss4 employees OF the fsthmian
Canal Commission employed on the
Isthmus were too incomplete to be
included. As the net results Of all
omissions. the total number Of per-
sons treated by the Bureau Of the
Census rs employees in tthe cxecu
tive civil service is 1854
OF these 1854 persons, 2s,35i
are employed in the District Of Co
lumbia, while l60,s23 are employed
elsewhere, Although the total mum.
bcr OF employees in the District Is
thus less than one sixth Of the total
number elsewhere, the number OF
women in the District exceeds the
number elsewhere by So5 OF the
employees in the District 1858 arc
women. or almost ; to 10, while OF
the employees elsewhere but o463
women, or | in Is, This difference
is mainly to be attributed to the fact
that in the District a far larger pro-
Portion Of the positions are suitable
for women than is the case elsewhere
OF the total number OF Govern.
ment employees, ls6,02l, or $50 per
cent, are native whites: 1885. or 10
per cent, foreign born whites; and
li,32S, or 6l per cent, eolored OF
the colored, 1852 are negroes, l,725
Indians, l,047 Filipinos, l42 Chinese,
and 62 Japanese, In the District
\of Columbia, 2.7SS Of the employees
are negroes, That is to say, at the
naional capital Government en-
ployee in 9 is negro,
One Of the most interesting ques-
tons considered in the bulletin is that
Of the age Of the employees. One.
half Of them are under 36,5 years Of
age In the District the median age
is slightly Higher, being 1888 years,
while elsewhere 1t is but 362.
The advanced age periods are, how
ever, more interesting than the med
ians. The figures show that the Gov
ernment employs in the civil service
4,3N persons from 65 to 90 years OF
age; l,s57 from 20 to "a years; 46s
from rs to 7o years; and 1877 at least
80 years Of age. These figures give
a total Of 6,523 employees in the ex-
ecutiye civil service who are 65 years
or over, OF this number, 1852 are
employed in the District of Columbia
and 4,67l elsewhere. Although less
numerous in the District than else
where employees OF advanced age
form a much larger proportion Of the
force in the District than they do Of !
the force elsewhere, In the District
practically ] Government employee
in IA Is at least 65 years Of age, while
elsewhere tthe corresponding figures
are but about ] In 81.
In an effort to determine whether |
these figures represent any special
tendency for Government employees
to remain in service after persons in
other walks of life would have retired
the Census bulletin compares the ages
of the Government employees with
the ages Of all breadwinners I
a,