The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-06-28
MANY NEGROES IN GOVERNMENT WORK And They Are Rapidly Crew.
 ing In Number THE FIRST APPOINT MENT Was Colored Girl In Bureau of Engrav- ing Under President Harrison
 17 Years Ago-Now
 There Are 200.
From the Washington Post.

From the Washington Post.
 The first colored girl to be employed in the government bureau of engraving and printing was appointed under President Harrison about F years ago. Today more than 200 colored girls are employed in that bureau.
 The number of negroes holding govern ment jobs in Washington in 1892 was 2397 In 1907 there were 27S5 of them That is an increase of just about 161a per cent. In the same period the increase in the nu 7ber of white employees in Washington was only aDout g per cent.
 The number of negroes taking the civil service examinations Is constantly in- creasing. Comparatively well educated negroes are willing, indeed, glad, to take minor clerkships under the government, places which do not appeal to white men of ability for the simple reason that the white man can do better.
 The consequence is that the most cap
 ble of the negroes compete with whites of at best only mediocre ability. Natur- ally the colored man often comes out ahead in the examinations, and when that happens there is nothing to prevent his getting the appointment. In Washington one government employe in every nine is colored And the proportion is constantly growing larger
 The negroes have orc very sufficient answer to any grumbing comments OH their success in securing appointments. They say, eve don't owe anybody any thanks. We take the same examinations that the white folks do. If they don't want us to get the jobs, let them put better showing in the examination"
 All of which is perfectly true. The trouble lies in the condition already pointed out-that the best brains of the colored people are contented with what the best brains of the whites don't want As more and more negroes are educated the number that will turn to government employment as the one field where they are on an absolute industrial equality with white workers is bound to go on increas sing.
 Most of the negro employees at the cap ital fill minor places. They are laborers or messengers, watchmen, elevator men, and so on. Seventy-five per cent of them receive less than 800 each a year.
 292 Get Good Salaries.
 But there are 292 of them in the Dis trict receiving more than $10O0 year, and some of them get good deal more than that Ralph w. Taylor, auditor for the navy, at a salary of S40OO, is col o-ed man. So are William T. Vernon, reg ister of the treasury, at $400O; Cyrus r. Adams, assistant register, at $250O, and John c. Dancy, recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia, at $4000 year.
 This office of recorder of deeds has been regarded for years as perquisite, to be presented to negro politician, but it is no longer the fat plum 1t once was In 1892, when the recorder was paid In fees. he scooped in annual emoluments to the tune of $1S,0o0. At the same time he had on his roll 19 colored clerks getting in fees from $40 to $10O a month The nlaces have been made salaried ones since then.
 Among government employees outside the District of Columbia, the proportion of negroes is not so pronounced. Yet there are 5567 of them on Uncle Sam pay rolls Eighteen of them receive an nual salaries of s2500 or over. Twelve hundred of them are getting salaries or more than s1000 a year.
 Outside the District the increase In col ored employees Is chiefly in the postoff1ce department Throughout the south more negroes are taking the examinations for clerks and carriers And, of course, the administration has been generous when It came to appointments in the unclassified service
 Officials do not have much to say In regard to the increasing number of col ored employees in the departments. In one way there is nothing to be said. The negroes take the examinations in open competition and win. There's all there is to it. Nobody is supposed to know, when the examination paper of John Smith comes to hand. whether said John Smith is black or white The papers are marked, the averages listed, and the noti- fcations sent out to those who head the list.
 typical case came under the writer s notice not long ago. An elevator boy was earning s00 a month in an apartment house. He was an intelligent negro about 2l years of age No white man of that age, no matter what his education or ability, would have been contented for week with so poorly paid job
 But the negro took it because he hadn't much choice anyway and because he