The Washington herald., 1920-01-02

of dollars are returned annually to
banks.
The same holds true in the bond
division. where 100000 pieces are
handled by 80 counters with an an
nual turnover of S5.O00.OOo.0O0.
Taking into consideration the nature
OF their work. no greater experts are
in the employ OF the government
Then. besides. 1t is a dirty job. and
the laundry machines are no longer
working. These went out of business
when the grade of paper was chanGed
Filth is on the paper. and disease
germs Turk under every finger print
Women Have Dependents.
Ninety per cent of the women work.
ing in these divisions have dependents
Of one kind or another, yet they are
never permitted to go beyond the a.
200 salary limit. Scores have been
working for years for much less than
that. The average probably Is not as
much as 5000. Congress in the mean
( time hesitates to raise the minimum
to $3.50. including the bonus.
The counting division serves as a
fair example of government service,
so far as the rank and file Is con-
SCIItu 1HtTt are Ol COuTSt.
who are not even so well paid as
these-thousands. in fact. Right in
that same redemption division are
laborers who get only $50 a month.
How do they live? They only barely
exist. Said one of the better paid
employees:
"A man came to me some time ago
and said he needed half a ton of
coal, but had no money. / let him
have II. Will he pay it back? II
he can. he will, but the chances
are that he will need another half
ton of coal in January or February -
These same laborers handle mil
lions. carting money from one place
! to another. 1t is not on record that
any one of them has been false to his
/ trust. They are honest on $500 a
year.
AS a contrast It might be men
toned that there are "laborers" in
the Treasury Department at s1.4oc a
year, 500 more than the top salary
in the counting division. Then also
there are messengers getting 1900
with messenger boys drawing 500 and
$3.50 a year. There are also char
women paid 500 a month. but these
as a rule work only part of the day
Telephone switchboard operators,
assistant messengers, elevator con-
ductors. firemen, watchmen and
| chauffeurs are some of those who
draw $40 a year. or s. a day Clock
repairers and winders are. however,
rated at $500. Female laborers.
| aside from charwomen. are down for
1850 year. or s1.23 a day. There
are others of this class who get as
high as $500.
Uncle Sam n ShyIock.
The figures are from Uncle
Sans own ledgers. They show
him as a master to be niggardly
in his dealings with his serv-
ants, penurious in his bargain
ing. and a tightwad generally in
everything that pertains to the
human side of the big establish
ment. From what members of
the Redistribution Commission
have heard during the last few
weeks he must be the original
Shylock. for he permits chari-
ties. churches and lodges to feed
his starving and bury his poor.
AS already brought out, he is
no better now to his help" than
when eggs were a cent apiece
and beefsteak 10 cents a pound.
In the matter of compensation
he has gone for sixty-five years,
or in reality almost a century,
without feeling any qualms Of
conscience, an industrial Bour-
bon among the most progressive
millions on the face of the earth.
His experts have shown an in
crease in living amounting to 100
per cent in a few years, while the
deadline on salaries was in some
cases fixed in 1923.