Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-11-12
Machinery
Strapped.


These discarded machines were men and
women. some Of them long past the age
of scriptural limitation, some younger.
but worn by illness. Some of them had
been in the service for many. many years,
growing expert with use, more valuable
with experience. But they were no long
er quite up TO the mark and inasmuch
as Congress had. in its desire to save a
few thousand federal dollars. lowered the
total appropriations for clerical hire. and
II was necessary to reduce the forces in
the various departments. these elder
workers were chosen for the sacrifice.
The fact that many of tlem were be-
ing virtually driven forth into poverty.
having had no chance to save q little
'rainyday" fund from their meager in
comes during the years of rising cost of
living and stationary pay SCALE. had no
effect upon the Official mind. Somebody
must go. and the weaker ones were mark
ed off regardless of their financial con-
dition, or the prospect that some of them
faced Of becoming dependent for the
remainder OF their lives upon the charity
of relatives or even of institutions or
strangers. They were simply incon-
sderately. uncompromisingly ''scrapped.'
That is the American way OF running
the government, a way that causes many
people at times to think
American the United States is
Method as heartless, as con-
scienceless as a tradi-
tional corporation. and much less bus-
nesslike in the treatment of its en-
ployes. 1t is certainly not the European
way, not the way 1t is followed, at least in
England. where government is q product
of a longer process of evolution and
where system has been finally worked
out in which the human factors are
treated with consideration In the scrap
close OF the fiscal year some men were
cast aside who had been in the govern
ment service for thirty, forty and even
fifty years. Most Of Them started in at
low salaries, $500. $1,000 and 81 200 a
year. They had worked their way up in
most cases until they reached the limit
OF the civil service pay scale, 81 800 a
year. Holding on through successive ad-
ministrations. improving each year in eff
hciency through the acquiring of ex-
perience and specializing in their work,
they became the mainstay Of their bureaus
and divisions, the elder clerks In point
of years of service. who were constantly
consulted upon questions Of precedent and
they began to lose their physical strength.
They We're no longer as spry or active as
formerly and they took longer to do the
same amount Of work Their eyes were
less bright and their memories failed now
and then. Their calls for sick leave grew
more frequent. They were slipping back
physically and mentally. but. neverthe-
less, they were valuable clerks. They
were storehouses Of unrecorded facts. ex-
cellent guides for younger men. faithful,
trustworthy and above all proud Of their
connection with the United States govern
ment. They had adopted the public serv-
| ice as q career and they now look back
upon their years Of service with the same
feeling that the business man contem-
plates his prosperity and success.
Uncle Sam has never provided any
method for retiring his elder workers in
the public service. He
No Civil takes care Of the officers In
p..;. the army and navy and OF
A'iO4'' his judges, but he has al
| ways been deferred by q singular idea
that civil pensions are un-Americap
from putting into effect any Of the often
proposed plans for keeping the depart
mental service efficient without being In
humane. Consequently, as these elder
| clerks slipped backward from year to
year they lost their chance Of promotion
and were even from time to time de-
| NOTED. Some Of them. recognizing that
they were no longer quite up to the mark
and feeling that they would have bet
ter chance to retain their positions.
sought to avoid the humiliation OF re-
rolls at lower pay. Gradually these
elder workers have been sliding down the
pay scale until many Of them have re-
| turned to the starting point Of their Of
| fetal careers.
This again is quite different from the
| English method, a method based upon
much longer experience in govern
mental management and calculated to
produce the best results for the public
service.
| In the absence Of any pension or re-
| tirement system for the American public
service clerks this process. just described
Of letting the elder clerks slide backward
down the pay scale: has come to be re-
garded as a charitable device. Those
| who uphold it as against the establish
| ment of a pension and retirement system
declare that 1t gives the workers a COM
pensation even In excess Of their value
| AS matter Of fact 1t is the most un-
business-like and cruel means Of avoid
| ing the absolutely brutal custer Of the
elder clerks who have outlived their USE
fulness. 1t keeps the pay rolls clogged
| with the names of many who should no
longer be retained. 1t prevents q fair
process Of promotion within the service.
1t is based upon favoritism and senti-
ment rather than upon principle and law.
it Is not every elder clerk who is thus
considerably permitted to slide down hill
gradually. Many of them are simply
| showed OF the edge.
*
| 1t is of the most vital Importance to
| the public service. as heads of the execu-
tive departments have
Retirement pointed out. that the
scrapping process should
NeCesSdIy. be abandoned, or. at least,
modified, so that Uncle Sam will not be
called upon from time to time to clear
out the old machines by simply throwing
them on the refuse pile 1t Is to this end
that various plans have lately been
pressed upon the attention Of Congress
for the establishment Of some form OF
civil service retirement. the one most
favored, as being the most likely Of adop-
ton, involving the maintenance OF re-
firing funds by compulsory contributions
from all the clerks. with an initial as
sistance by the United states TO get the
system into working order
A recent study of civil service condi-