The Elbert County tribune., 1914-06-05
UNCLE SANS PAY DAY.
HOW THE NATIONS WORKERS
RECEIVE THEIR WAGES.
An Elaborate System 10 Used In Dis
bursting the Money, and II Al
ways Consists Of Brand
New Bills.

Uncle Sam has 36.28s employees on
his payroll in the District Of Colum-
bia. He pays them on the 10th and
the last day of every month. his an
nual payroll totaling s41.13s.s23.
Government pay days In Washing
ton and important dates. both to the
employees and to the merchants and
others among whom the pay is dis
tributed.
Uncle Sans paytnaster in each de-
partment known as the disbursing
clerk or ofi1cer. This person is al
ways popular. When the disbursing
clerk begins preparations to pay on"
the first thing he does Ia to draw a
check for the amount needed and take
1T to the treasury department to have
1t cashed. The check is honored be-
cause 1t has been previously arranged
for by what is termed an accountable
warrant drawn and signed by the head
of the department. Such warrants are
issued as they are needed by the sec
retary or head of each department.
II the department is large. and most
OF Uncle Sans departments In the
district are. the disbursing clerk is
usually accompanied by an assistant
on his trip for the pay money. Both
are equipped with stout bags to carry
the money and are always well armed
When the disbursing clerk has pro-
cured the money the next thing is to
get In readiness for pay day. This is
the biggest end of the work, but
little machine Is now used In most all
the departments to tighten the task.
In the getting-ready process the first
thing the disbursing clerk does Is to
count the money very carefully. This
particular counting. by the way, Is
only one OF the great number of count
ings to which the money used In pay
ing OF Uncle Sans district employees
| is subjected. 1t is estimated, includ-
ing the counts from the time the
money issues from the Bureau of En-
| craving and Printing to the time It's
circulation broadens into the vast pay
day channel. that 1t is gone over on
an average of 100 times.
The machine prepares the enve-
lopes. and after the disbursing clerk
has counted the money he and his as
sistants place the required amount
| In each envelope. No machine has
yet been perfected that will put money
in the envelopes. Arrangement for
paying on usually requires from three
to four days, but the actual work of
handing out the salaries does not take
much time.
In most of the departments the old
~ hux In
line and sign ledger has been
abandoned. In some departments 1t Is
still the rule. but 1t is understood that
1t is not looked upon with favor, ex-
cept in cases where there are a great
many employees receiving small sal
| aries. and forming d line and signing
for the pay envelope expedite matters.
The approved method OF paying on
now is to deputize as many assistant
clerks as may be necessary to take
the packages of pay envelopes and dis
tribute them. This, 1t has been found.
is more to the liking of the employees.
and, too. 1t avoids the confusion and
the general suspension OF work that
| are unavoidable when line is formed.
and each must wait his turn and
then affix his name to the payroll
| ledger
| The bulk Of money used by Uncle
Sam in paying of In the District is
usually fresh and crisp from the Bu-
reau of Engraving and Printing. Of
tentimes every bill in the payroll OF
every department has never known a
fold to crease and is as fiat and as free
from wrinkles as it was the moment
1t came from the press. AS rule the
dIsbursing clerks of each department
endeavor to pay off with brand-new
bills. but when enough newly-made
| money is not at hand. or when 1t Is
not convenient to pay wholly In new
| bills. other money is used. Badly
soiled bills are never given out