The Washington herald., 1920-01-11
Little Gray-Haired Woman
Who Smiles, Performs
Miracles For War Work
ers, Jobless and Indebted
in D.. c. Who Can't See
Their Way Out.

Within the last two months IL
has been successfully demonstrated
that a bureau of the United states
Government can satisfactorily con-
duct an employment agency Tor the
benefit of persons who have served
1t faithfully and who owing to a
necessary reduction in personnel
have had to be separated from It..
When the new administration of
the Bureau of War Risk Insurance
last September started plans for
the stabilization of the bureau and
reduction of a surplus number OF
employees, it was decided that there
should also enter into the program
for taking care of the employees
who were from necessity to leave
the Bureau.
In Friendless Surrounding.
This was an entirely new .prac-
tice in government procedure and
in fact was unique from the stand
point of general business practice
between employer and employe. In
some concerns an employe gets a
certain number of days notice. his
pay and goes out into the world to
seek another job. Not many en-
ployers who find it necessary to re-
duce their forces take the trouble.
however. to get new employment
for those they can no longer use.
The memory of the deplorable
confusion and heartaches caused by
the wholesale dismissal of war
workers in the first months sue
ceeding the signing of the armis-
tice on November n, 1918. when
about 10000 clerks were released.
was still fresh in the minds of those
who witnessed, the unhappy spec
tacle of thousands of young women
friendless. far from home and
stranded in a strange city. Owing
to the rapid rise in living expenses.
board bills were in some instances
overdue or only partly paid, and
other indebtedness contracted as a
result of the influenza epidemic.
producing situation that was
without parallel in the history or
Washington.
Golden Rule Guides Plan.
1t is true that the government
was furnishing to those clerks who
wished to go home transportation
up to a certain date: but owing to
the effects of illness and other reas-
ons some were unable to take ad-
vantage OF the oher.
So a practical plan for helping the
employees of the War Risk Bureau
to find new positions inside of the
government departments or out
side If necessary. was formulated
by Director Cholmeley-Jones and
Max r. Wainer. assistant director
in charge of personnel. As there
was no guiding precedent they de-
cided that just good, sound busi-
ness principles and the Golden Rule
should be followed. That their de-
cision was a fortunate one is shown
by the bureaus success in placing
"a large majority of the 2244 en-
ployes separated from the bureau
between November 5 and December
81, 1919.
OflciaI Met Clerks.
Assistant Director wainer was
given the task of perfecting the
employment agency in addition to
sitting down the working force of
the bureau to its present needs.
The assistant director had earlier
been assigned to assist in a larger
reclassification work with the A. E.
F. abroad where two million men
were concerned.
Wainer thinks a square deal and
practical polite business methods in
government work is the best way
to get results. He also is one of
the few men in Official life in WASH
ington who does not always send