Evening star., 1925-03-11

that unless the drive now being made
to secure eligibles with the four-year
apprentice requirements is successful
by the first of March, 1925, the COM
mission will announce an examination
to NIL these places with a require
ment calling for two years experience
in printing office, including one
year of experience in operating a ma
chine. Copies of the blank form and
the letters of the commission are at
tached hereto and marked exhibit B
and c, respectively.
Wide Distribution Given.
Being requested by the Civil Serv-
ice Commission to cooperate with it
in securing an eligible printer reg
ister, the undersigned furnished it
with list of names of over 500 typo
graphical union secretaries in as
many towns and cities, to whom the
blanks were said to have been mailed.
in addition to their being posted in
custom houses, and so forth, through
out the country, and this intensive
campaign for printers is going on
even now.
In addition to this we caused to be
published in the February issue of
the Typographical Journal, a printers
trade magazine, an editorial calling
attention to the presumed need for
printers in the Government Printing
Office, a copy of this editorial is at
tached hereto and marked exhibit d.
Notwithstanding all this activity.
to obtain printers the public printer
has stated through the press within
the past few days that every body
in the office, including himself, had
known for months that a discharge
was inevitable after the adjournment
of Congress, but that they just hated
to think about 1t.
Hit Manner of Discharge.
LAS to the manner of DISCHARGE. we
Charge
First that efficiency was almost
totally ignored. The public printer
himself recently established system
of ratings under which linotype and
monotype operators were to be ad-
judged competent, and under which
80 per cent was the maximum which
could be attained. One of the dis
charged monotype operators had a
rating of SO per cent, while two others
had ratings of SO per cent, all three
being at the head Of the list.
Others had ratings better than 90
per cent.
Second, that ex-soldiers of both
the Spanish and World Wars, some
with very high ratings as to their
competency and who had been en-
ployed for several years Gone of them
for 81 years), were discharged in vio-
lation of the civil service regulation
which provides that a veteran of a
war shall not be denoted or dis
charged when such demotions or dis
charges are to be made as long as
his rating is good"
O
discharged had service records rang
ing from to 80 years, many of whom
had excellent records for efficiency
and general department, but who had
several years yet to go before reach
ing the retirement age, many being
forever deprived of an annuity status
of considerable proportions, unless
they should again enter the service.
which is hardly robable, in view
of the fact that the public printer
stated in his notice of dismissal that
he regretted that he could offer no
encouragement for unemployment.
Charge Recent. Appointments.
Fourth, that new appointments
were made right up to the time of
the discharge, several having been
made within the week of the same
and one even since the discharge took
place.
Fifth. That because of the unfair,
unjust and illegal manner of the dis
charge a feeling akin to panic has
been produced upon the remaining
printers in the Government Printing
Office, who have good records of long
service and who cannot overcome a
feeling of insecurity in the light of
the public printers lack of considera-
ton for the plain rights of those who
were similarly situated. This feel
ing has naturally caused general de-
moralization and the morale of the
office is consequently at the lowest ebb
in it's history.
LAS one example of an utter lack
of consideration for those who had
a reduced pensionable status, an en-
ploye was dropped who only had sew