The Washington herald., 1913-12-26

ly defined-and regulated. There are
many cities in the country and we are
telling of them in this book, who draw
deep breaths upon eXclusivenesS. But N
none of these save Washington do the
folk who do obtain fiaunt themselves in
the faces of those who do not The fine
old houses of Beacon street, in Boston,
and of the Battery at Charleston may
draw. themselves apart, but they do il
silently and unostentatiously. In the
very nature of things in Washington
much modesty is quite out of the ques-
ton"
In these words. Edward HungerfOrd.
pays his respects TO Washington society
in his book, Personality of American
Cities" He adds that in the national
Capital there is a strange mixture OF
real democracy and false aristocracy as
well as real.
The fact that almost every person in
the town works, more or less directly,
for Uncle Sam makes for the democ-
racy,'' says Mr.. Hungerford. And
that self-same fact seems TO fairly es-
tablish the arist6cracy-you can frankly
call much of it snobbishness-of the
place. To understand the why's and
wherefores of this paradox one would
need, himself, to be an employe of the
government. of large or small degree.
They are many and they are compli-
Gated. But an illustration or two will
suffice to show what we mean:
Chief Takes Precedence.
"A rule, which no one nowadays seems
very desirous of fathering but neverthe-
less rule Of long standing. states that
when a department chief enters an eIe-
vator in any of the department buildings
it must carry him without other stops
to his floor. The other passengers in the
car must wait the time and the will of
the chief, no matter how urgent may
he their errands or how short the time
at their command. A gradual increase
Of this silly rule has made it include
many assistants, subchiefs and assis-
tants to subchiefs. Only the elevator
man knows the rank at which a govern
ment employe becomes entitled to this
peculiar privilege. But ne does know, and
woe be to that little stenographer who
enters the Department of x at just
three minutes of nine in the morning
with the expectation of being at her
desk with that promptness which the
Federal government demands of the folk
in its service. The second assistant to a
second assistant of a subchief of a sub
division may have entered. The little
stenographer's desk IS upon the third
floor; the gentleman whose official title
spelled out reaches almost across a sheet
of note paper is upon the seventh. There
are folk within the crowded elevator car
for the fourth and fifth and sixth floors
as well. But they have neither title nor
rank and the car shoots to the seventh
floor for the benefit of the Mr.. Assistant
Somebody. II there is another Assistant
Somebody there to ride down to the
ground fioor-and there frequently is
you can lima gine the CONSERVATION of the
clerks And yet it is part of the system
under which they have to work when
they work for that most democratic of
.mployers-Uncle Sam.
THE Secretary of an important depart
ment who entered the Cabinet with the
present administration stayed very late
elevator man awaiting him when he
stepped out into the hallway of the de-
serted building. It was only a short
retary-it was Mr.. Bryan-asl1ed the man
why he had not gone home.
My orders are to stay here, sir, until
the Secretary has gone home for the
night" was the reply
1t is hardly necessary to say that right
there was one order in the State Depart
ment that was Immediately revoked"
The average worker in the depart
ments has little or no chance of reaching
the positions that mean rank or title, ac-
cordirg to Mr., Hungerford. Concerning
tlis he declares:
Uncle Sam may take the office folk of
his Capital and give them the assurance
Of livelihood through long years, but
that is all. He gives them no chance to