Omaha daily bee., 1910-08-18
Washing ton Life
Some Interesting Phases
ana 0onditions Observed
- the Wataoa's Capitol

Now and then a government clerk dies in
a secondary position and little note is taken
of his death beyond the bare statement that
he served virtually lifetime in a certain
| capacity In a way this may he a reflection
on his usefulness. There are notable ex-
ceptions, however. the most recent being
Thomas p. Cleaves, deceased. for thirty
years clerk OF the senate commttee on APP
propriations. "He began work as clerk of
the committee in 1872 relates the New
York World. when Senator Morrill, Of Yer
mont was its chairman. and continued al
most to the end OF Senator Aldrich's chosen
time for retirement He saw new senators
come and veteran senator's 60 and alike
he outstayed them. They had the honors
and the victories and the fame, but he was
indispensable. The sense of knowledge and
authority over his superiors which such
man possessed, aloof from political changes,
was perhaps his best reward. He was
neither an accident nor a great statesman,
but plain necessity.
I'm the various departments of the gov
eminent such men are not infrequent. They
are unknown TO the public, their services
attract no attention outside their sphere but
they are the infallible parts OF the ma
! chinery when administrations change. It is
often harder to fill their places than to stop
a gap in the cabinet"
A special dispatch from Washington
makes this announcement: Commissioner
OF Internal Revenue Cabell has decided that
in spite OF the exemption of mutual loan
and building companies from the corpora
ton tax when they engaged in business of
lending money for their profit they will
have to pay the assessment just like other
institutions Otherwise, said Mr.. Cabell, in
explaining his decision, an unfairness would
be done to regular banking institutions
forced to pay the tax and compete at the
i same time with the building and loan COM
panies not paying 1t.
Following this decision. the building and
loan associations of Washington, which in
clude two Incorporated concerns, eighteen
unnoorporated, and eight having a nominal
existence and practically inactive, have re-
} ceived notice from the collector of internal
revenue of this decision, and that they must
pay the 1 per cent assessment OF the cor
poration tax law. AS a result, the Off
Gals OF the organization are greatly
stirred"
BY the middle Of October the people of
the United States will know their own
number, as revealed by the thirteenth CEN
sus. Up to date the, names in more than
5000 of the 10000 districts have been
counted 1t is known that the census Of
ficials generally fall in with the popular
idea, that there are about s0,0O0,OO0 people in
the United States. Between the census OF
} 1890 and that of 1900 there was an increase
of about 100000, and only a slightly
larger increase would now be necessary to
h. 20 ba 0On rlx
This result is arrived at by purely arith-
metical calculation, and not by any com
pilation of the figures recently taken.
, About 800 nimble-fsngered young men and
women are engaged night and day in de
termining the figures which, when the fina
computation is made, will show the tota
,, population.
There is reverse to the picture" OBJ
serves the National Magazine; that life IL
the capital win always possess an attrac
ton which cannot be defined, and thai
routine work is not SO wearing as the uncer
tain rush OF ordinary business. Wealthy
people from all parts Of the country es
tablish homes at Washington to enjoy thu
social season. and their daughters are al
! eager to go, but the young men remain a
. the old home attending to business, an(
. IbuCn yOunB HhSIl SOtuOiu IOuHu III w dSn
: ington. The government service constant.
: enlists women from all over the countr.
who are usually women OF extraordinary
ability and highly educated. Many OF then
: are related to residents of Washington ant
readily find work in the government ser
. vice without having to go afIeld for 1t
Naturally the matrimonial decadence which
Washingtonians lament ensues There ar,
: now 100000 people in the capital of mar
: riageable age, but or these 5000 men ar
. officially declared bachelors, and 5000
= women are unmarried with the chances
strong against them Ten years ago Their,
were many fresh, pretty girls at the desk
in Washington; now there are NOR,
mature faces steadily performing the sam,
= daily tasks. Three out OF every ten govern
: ment employees in Washington are women
=. a percentage far exceeding any govern
y ment force anywhere else in the world
. The unwritten law Of the departments de
mands that the woman who marries lose
her position, and 1t has been said that
woman worker disIikes to give up a Ger
tainty for an uncertainty. Daughters o
congressman and senator's may be include,
in this list for the glamor OF Washington
y society enchants them and they love L
. come here"
From having the worst reformator!
prison system in the country the Distric
OF Columbia now proposes TO have the best
l. The commissioners have chosen w. H
> Whitaker, formerly superintendent OF tn
Indiana reformatory. to take charge OF tn
: work of establishing an entirely new prisol
7 and reformatory system for the district
. The commissioners have bought some 100
y acres OF land twenty-four miles south o
Washington on the Virginia side OF tn
;, Potomac and bordering the Potomac rive
and the Occouan river. 1t is the wish o