The Washington times., 1916-03-02

the author o. this rider would hive
suswostina, as he did, in his letter 70 a
promlnont labor leader. that tho prin-
cipai opposition 10 his rider comes from
selfish local Interests In Washington,
That mesns that the 1opSHosIsiSn Ss I1sr,
ehantn Of the. city Of Washington who
do business IN one form or another
with the 1000 Government clerks In the
District Of Columbia;
ton to the rider as comes from tho
hvsIneSs men Of Washington In simply
an oppression Of enlightened self-pro-
,sExcuse for resentment because Of the
opposition OF the business men OF
Washington can only be found IN the
fact that In the States from which the
members Of Congress come the Federal
and State government employees consti-
almost negligible. portion OF the COM
munity, whereas In Washington tO.UUOI
Government clerks. with their families
and those dependent upon them, make
Sn the major s sSg.se Of revenue for the
Washington and the District OF Co
lumbia.
Even in large cities. like New York.
Chicago. and philadelphia. the Federal
arc limited to United States marshais
and their deputies. collectors OF internal
revenue and their deputies, collectors OF
customs and their deputies. and United
States district attorneys with their lin
tied office force OF employees.
In any one OF those largo cities the
agg', gate number Of Federal employees
10 30 small AZ would make the business
community appear ridiculous II II should
ask for or object to legislation which
uU0 oal
OF those employees in the matter OF OBJ
serving the business hours Of the COM
munity, either for their own convenience
or N justice to the persons conducting
"As matter OF fact however, no
such Inconvenience IL experienced By
Federal employees IN the cities or in the
Stater outside Of the District OF CO.
lupibia.
There Is no law upon the statute
books which requires United States
marshals. district attorneys. and coll
lectors to work their clerks eight hours.
and there is no hard and fast consecu-
tive desk work required Of the em-
nciently perform the duties at hand at
such times and In such q way as the
head of the particular office directs.
whether II be two hours or twelve
hours required In the performance OF
those duties.
''In the Federal offices and bureaus
outside OF the District Of Columbia the
hours OF work are fixed by regulation
from the head of tho department In
Washington. or by local custom In the
respective communities OF by the head
Of the Office in the several cities or
States throughout the country. and In
every such instance Saturday half holi-
days and many local holidays are OBJ
Your committee further suggests the
nnIAlTnnaQ nFnn0Ra6 laRinlatiOn
In view of the fact that the Govern
ment clerks In the District Of Column
bia are practically helpless, that IL.
they have no vote and they have no
representative in congress. and more
have no opportunity for effective pro-
test such as is always open to the men,
bers or labor organizations who are not
employed by the Federal Government
and who caH. at all times, refuse to
work. unless stated conditions are COM
piled with,
with the Government clerks, IL any
number Of them were to agree among
themselves to resign. as the author OF
this rider kindly suggests. and II those
irom SUCH psets Of OF snSe Ders as aaS TO
block the wheels OF the Governments
machinery, or impair the orderly con-
duct Of Its business, thcy cuold be tried
Tor conspiracy against the Government
I'm fact. quite recently a number of
letter carriers In the state of West vir-
ginla, dissatisfied with some action OF
their superior Officers. resigned IN a
body, and It was held that they were
guilty of conspiracy in having conspired
70 upset, " not stop. the conduct Of the
Governrhent's business. and a fine was
court. -, go
And. finally. your COMMITTEES calls
attention to the fact that during the
Administration Immediately preceding
tho present one. the very question OF
the practicability ofjreducing the num-
Der OF clerks was raised and the Presi-
dent appointed a committee of experts.
men or wide experiences both in govern
mental and In outside business affairs
and that committee went through every
Government department. in Washington
which has never been made in this
District. their work consuming nearly
three years OF labor. as a result OF
which they made many recommenda-
ttons as TO changes in method, in or
ganization, and In detail but made no
suggestion whatever that there were
more Government employees ut work
than there were required for the per-
formance Of the duties Incident to the
public service here.
And. further in this connection, your
committee regards II as most Significant
that there has not been found a divi-
sion chief, section chief, deputy bu-
reau chief, bureau chief. or head Of a
department in Washington who recon-
mends the reduction of the clerical
force or the Increase of one hour OF
labor upon the clerks In their respective
1--WE regard the rider, therefore, as an
immature; impraeticabie' and unjust
proposal"
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