The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1908-02-20
AN UBIQUITOUS BILL.

The irrepressible Chairman Tawney'
of the House Committee on Appropria-
Itions, is up again with another bill lev
eled directly at the veterans who are
in the public employ. 1t will be re-
membered that Mr.. Tawney introduced
a bill of this kind In the last Congress,
but the storm that was raised caused
the elimination of the Objectionable fea-
ture from the bill. He has now REIN
troduced it. A paragraph in the ap-
preparation bill prohibits the payment
of any of the money appropriated on
the civil list for the payment of an.
persons "who may have become in
lcapacitated for the performance of the
)service for which such person has been
employed" This makes it mandatory
upon the heads of Departments to dis
charge or at least reduce any clerk
which it may be charged is physically
or mentally incompetent.
The trouble is that a host of young
men are being brought into the Civil
Service who have little conception Of
the spirit or practice of the Civil Ser
vice, and the ink on their appointments
is hardly dry before they begin to as
Isert their belief that the business of
the Government is being mismanaged in
a frightfully old fogyish and uneco-
nomic way. The only remedy is to get
rid of the clerks and other officials
above them, and give them a chance
to show their superior knowledge and
executive ability.
| 1t is ingrained selfishness on the part
of this younger element that is at the
bottom of such measures as these.
Everyone who is at all familiar with
public business knows that it is SO
complicated and delicate that it re-
quires many years of actual working
experience to understand and get the
! best results from it There are men
past 20 in every branch of the Govern
ment service who know more about
public business and can dispatch more
| of it than any half dozen young clerks
| fresh from the Civil Service Commits
sion. They actually know things, and
have precedents and routine so thoroly
| in their minds that they do not have to
waste any time studying up a question,
| but can dispose of it at once, while a
younger clerk has to spend hours if not
days in trying to get the hang of it
Every head of Department of the
public service in Washington will at
once testify that he has around him old
clerks who are as alert as anybody, and
1,o in Cd of dol
knowledge, gained by long experience,
and who are absolutely invaluable to
the public service.
| Even if this were not so, it would be
highly unjust and the worst of public
policy to summarily dismiss old clerks
who have rendered long and faithful
service in this summarily cruel man
ner. The Government wants, and must
have, honest, faithful service in its Bu-
reauS precisely as it must have the
same in its Army and Navy. The only
way to secure this is by the assurance
| that clerks who conduct themselves
properly shall not be turned out in
their old age to starve. 1t is far cheap
| er for the Government to maintain
these old clerks on the rolls or pension
them literally in proportion to their
service than to adopt this harsh policy
of injustice. The Government is hav-
| ing trouble enough as it is in keeping
| really competent men in its service
against the inducements that corpora
tons and other great businesses are
Offering Every civilized Nation in the
world sees this clearly, and that it is
true economy to give its Civil Service
employees not only a reasonable certain
ty of retaining their employment, but
to provide for them in their old age.
| This is what we were promised when
the civil war law was inaugurated, and
it is promise that must be made good.
/ AS it SO happens, the majority of the
older clerks are men who served their
country faithfully in the Army and
Navy during the war, and therefore this
bill is directed more at them than
| against any other class. It is they who
will suffer far the most if the bill is al
lowed to pass. This was so manifest
that at the last session Gen Keller and
other friends of the veterans in the
House of Representatives took instant
and energetic action to eliminate the
cruel feature from the bill.
Until the Government provides some
way for the retirement of clerks who
have become incapacitated thru age it
will be rank cruelty to allow such
bill to become law.
4
| wIRZ MONUMENT.
We gladly make space for the fol-