Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-18

b row alongside what she said is not re-
corded and anyway, does not matter. because
Rufus went On laying them there, and the
ashcan is now the ofncial tomb Of the mice.
The Rufuses Of the treasury have been car
med on the ofhcial pay roll for as long as men
can remember and their pay, cents q day,
has been q regular item in the bill for the
state administration duly presented each year
30 Parliament, debated and voted. Rufus comes
Gn the treasury vote. ----~-.. ---~-.---
But cents q day was the pre-war pay, and
the cost of living has risen since the war, and
wages and salaries on all sides have been notched
ND to correspond In the civil service they have
In addition to the basic salary complicated
system Of cost living bonuses, which con-
tract and expand according to the index figure
of the cost Of living ut fixed periods.
Now, the present Rufus the grandest hunt
ing cat in the memory Of the oldest ut the
treasury, has never participated In these bene-
lits. Having no one to press his case, he even
went without q war bonus. Quietly and with
nest he would 60 about his business Of check
ing the growth Of the mouse civilization behind
the wainscots Of the treasury building.
But there came o phase when he got thin.
He had always been aloof and elusive. Now
he became testy. He failed to pause at sound
of friendly voice. He would not come when
called. It took 40 minutes and q complicated
once when his keeper wanted to show him to o
visitor. And, most serious of all, his great cam
paign against the empire Of the mice showed
signs Of slackening up.
People noticed the change. Did 1t herald the
advent Of Spring? Might it be due to some
obscure feline love quarrel? Or was 1t merely
passing digestive disturbance?
None can say. But one day Noel Curtis
Bennett-the treasury official whom Baldwin
lent to the Miners Distress Fund and who took
the Prince of Wales around the coalfieldS-was
astounded to observe, in his peregrinations be-
tvuoov nfFSa and nfH and
room of the Civil Service Sports Council (of
which he is the head a mouse scampering
down the corridor with no Rufus in pursuit. He
spoke of 1t to Warren Fisher, and the subject
of Rufus, his function, his character, his terms
of service and his pay cropped up at one of
the meetings of departmental chiefs. Thereafter
discussion passed through the rambling treasury
Offices and corridors like small breeze through
trees. The consensus of opinion was that
cents day was insufficient to provide hunt
ing cat with the sustenance he ought to have
What Rufus needed was a raise of pay.
presently. therefore, an official minute
went into the lords Of the treasury; for
even in q matter of 2 cents of the nations
money the rigid procedure laid down must be
strictly observed:
ut is desired to bring to the notice OF their
lorcships the position at present existing in re-
gard to the allowance made on behalf Of the
treasury cat.
This allowance is now fixed at the sum Of
pence per day and 1t Is submitted that in
view Of the increased cost of living this al
lowance be raised by at least SO per centum.
Submitted for your lordships's consideration
and approval"
So far. SO good. But in the treasury there
is no sense Of RELATIVELY. million dollars or o
cent. 1t is all one to their lordships. parlia-
mentary guardians Of the public purse Fixed
principles apply as much to the one as to the
other. There Is no such thing as 20 trife."
The same grave judicial consideration is given
% minute suggesting q new expenditure Of