The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1922-04-19
Copyright. Western Newspaper Union
XVI.
WHAT OF THESE OLD MEN?
By EDWARD G. LOWRY

WHAT OF THESE OLD MEN?
Congress enacted Il law in 1890 re-
curing all heads of departments and
Independent establishments in the
federal service to report each year to
the secretary of the treasury the num-
Der of employees under them who were
below a fair standard of efficiency.
Every year this is lone and the letters
To the secretary of the treasury from
the various departments and bureaus
are printed in the book of estimates of
appropriations compiled for use by
congress in making up the annual
supply bills. Congress never pays the
slightest heed to these reports. They
are made up year after year, but the
inefficient are never fired.
For example, last year the chief
clerk of the treasury reported 10 en-
ployees of the Treasury department as
below a fair standard of efficiency. But
nothing will be done about 1t. The
Interior department reported 1870 in
efficients. and will probably 60 on res
porting them till they die of old age.
There are employees of the govern
ment in Washington who are totally
blind and who are led from their
homes to theip Offices each day and
back home again in the afternoon.
| knew in 1920 n gentleman of
ninety-two years who had been in the
government service for seventy-two
years. He was being paid at that time
5000 a year. His maximum pay dur
ing his long service was $500 a year.
James X. Polk was President when
this old gentleman came into the serv-
1923. His father was a captain of
the regular army in the war of 1872.
After that service he led an active life
in other occupations until 1913, when
he died, leaving a dependent family of
nine persons, three of them boys. 1t.
fell to the lot of one of them to be the
chief support of the family.
1t came to pass, then, that at the age
of twenty he received through the
influence of navy friends of his father
Il small clerkship at the naval observ-
atory, then under the superintendent
of that accomplished officer, Matthew
Fontaine Maury, whom he served as
amanuensis for ten years, accounting
it "A great privilege and pleasure to
have heard Maury's voice debating the
words of sense and wisdom which
make up the sailing directions, the
wind and current charts and other
publications issued from the observ-
atory for the benefit of the world.
From a copyist at first, November 8,
1913, at 50 a day, the young man was
advanced as follows:
July 1, 1858, clerk at $1,000 a
year; July l, 1854, clerk at $1,000 a
year; July 1. 1870, principal clerk at
81, 800 a year; December 6, 1911, clerk
at s. ,4O0 a year; May 1, 1918, stenog-
rapher and typewriter at 5000 a year..
1t will be seen that he was denoted
in December, 1911, and again in May,
1913, to lower positions, involving less
work and responsibility. These demo-
tons were at his own request. In
October, 1917, he received from the
assistant secretary of the navy, Mr..
Roosevelt, the following letter:
Il have to inform you that you have
been granted leave without pay for
six months beginning october 10, 1917.
AS you have been in the employ
of the government now nearly sixty
nine years, and during all that time
your record has been excellent, | re-
greet that there is no way in which the
department could continue you on the
rolls with compensation.
Il desire at this time to express
The appreciation of the department for
your long and satisfactory service. and
the hope that you will be so benefited
by this leave that you can return and
resume your duties at its expiration
l talked with one of the cabinet
officers about the old and feeble en-
ployees.
He said: 81 don't know what con-
gress intends to do about them. but |
know what | intend to do with those
in my department. | intend to leave
them alone. They can stay here as
long as they like, until some provision
is made for them. When i was new
in the department l dismissed two of
these old people and denoted another.
on the ground that they were super
animated and inefficient and were a
hindrance to the work.
"All three of them wrote me sad
letters and promptly committed sui
eide. That vas enough and more
than enough for me. Never again
will | disturb one of them. l do not
choose to have it on my conscience
that | pronounced sentence of death
on an old man or an old woman in
the service of the government. They
can all stay on here as long as they
like. | found them here and some of
them will be here when | leave. If
congress chooses TO provide for them
that is its obligation. But | will never
sentence another one of them to self
destruction. no matter what the cost
to the taxpayer and the government"
Uncle Eben.