Government Clerkship

Bpmtel i'nrri'spomlcm-c of Thi' luier o, .:ui. Washington, Maroh 22, Daring iae la-t daya of the l'oriy-.-ixtli ooogresa ¦ atll was pasted providing l'or tlie einplovmeni of bixty additional oierka in the offiee oí' thé Burgeon-geneTaL Por tbete positions ihere were 2,600 applicants. The illustrates the manía tli:it poesesees the country for positiooj in Washington. It' all the thousands now preeaiiig their representativus, pesteriog the president, aml making life a weary burdcn to the chiefs of bureaus, only knew the realities of the experience that waits upon their suecess, they would turn their stops ntoaoy other of thi' patba ut' life, The government alert comea luie a mm, and ia quietly transformed oto ¦ machine. He oorarn with that anibition and indepeodenoa i hai ehanoteritea youili, and, m a rak, lias all thee isstiants e out of his Dalure hy the exUtence into which he has foroed bimaelf. Thii is the case il' he c flnes In royoung. Many, bowever, wlio aro flocking to Washington in these ilays tTC old mev, whu ha?e already made life a (aUure, Bsch train brings down a frosh horde, to the lUSM AV O Cl.NdllKSSMKN A.Mi SKNATuRS. Tii, ¦ have "claims" thal tlu y think should be reoogniscd. It msjr be iliut they ipenl tbeir time and money to secure the politimI ailvaiicrini'nt ui' ¦mur OODgressoian, and they otn aever realiza troablaand anxieiy they give bia wbea they appear aod demand a positioo u a reoognition of their tervioos. They do not know thal he bae alreadj :i seore of li tten oo file that lur montos have fkiied 1 1 Keure a place for soine arden! political siiiportei-, or toe sou or nephnw of " him to whoin tln-y owe iheir eleelion." J ie must be glad to Ree tliom. A politiciao is a llave to wliat his oonstitueote, oot he himself, may oonsider (o be his duty. This wili givo an indicadon of' the miery which scores of Denare sufferintf here to day, and ntpltins why Others who (ook the first train cmt of Washington hes congres adjonroed ure opposed to an extra session. It is nut the congress they fear, hut they dread the ordeal to whieh placehunt i uil subject them the minute they show t licir faces at the capital again. It ought to be apparent that all the peo pie out of' place iu the country oannol find one in govt rniuent offices Tiie tact is that the appoinlmeiits lioiug maile now are prao tically none at all. Once in a while one of these human eogs to the great heel givea out, anotber cog is put in, and the machine moves on. bat thisoeearsseidflra. Porone new cog that is adjusted to its place I air nosting away at obscure lodgiltgs, wailing to l)e called for. TUK TltKASIHV DBPAETMKNT emptoys by f'ar tlie greater part of the goverument clerks tliat eke out an exUteooe here, and t tuay be taken as the pattero of' the whole. Iu all itl bureaus, noluding tlie separate establishment of engravin and pnotioff, there are about 3,000 on the rolls. In the trea.sury ilsolf', exclusive of división and laboren, tbere are 2,100. Tbe.se are what are jiroperly knownnsgovermneot eierfcg. These re the men an] vromen whote livts ase one desperate etniggle Tor existence, who are lollowed by a terror of loss of position n all their waking and dreaming honra; who liever have enough to live on a quarler of the ycar bbould they be diseharged ; who invariably discouoteaoh moDth's salary in adv who.-e sons are growing on consunaed witli tliat insatiate thir.st for oflico tbat unfits them lor the business of lite ; whose independence and Mlf-respeet lus jong noce vani.shed throu),'h ooDBtanl triuiniing of Baila to the ever-changinK politieal breeze, atid who are struggling bet ween the Seylla and Charybdis ot party fealty abd civil 91 r?ioe rulus. It is pot a plittaant picture, but it U only t.io inildly diawn. No one knowrt better tlian a drunkard the Iiorrors of hia slavery, yet be irasra bis chaina. No ooe realices with half the positivepeu of tlie goverument olerk tbat all thie is sadly trui'. mi EXAMINAIIOM8. Under the new civil MTTtee rulM, apj.lioaota fot ptaoM are reqnired to pan an examination. In the war debartmeut tbia is practically a dead letter. The candidato is required. usually, to write a letter, and, f li.' h ti be appoioted, it is generally sai.l tliat a person who can write such a letter 8 coiupetent for tbu w.)ik, and be i. mÍvcii a berta. In othiT departmeots it is different and the treasury will do for ezample. First, the applioaot is " reeommended," or has hi.s letter "indorsed," by bis OBagTOMmaa and senator, and frequently by as inatiy oihcrs as potable, includDg ex-menibers, ex-senators, ex governors bankcis, l.usiMtl men, judies, ato., all of wbiub is ,11 tirely úselos il' bc but knew it. Il' tbc appheant is indorsed by the meaaber and senator, or .senator alono, it i as poteol a thougli he had enoogh to filian unabridged diotionary. The application having ree ry rawdo) eonsideration, and U' ibere is a vaeancy m a bureau (which seldoin 00curs), he is next called beforcan cxaminiriL' board of tlirce persons, ooe of wliuiu i the liead of the bureau to which he t 1 be assigned. Ihe cxaiuination will last a part ui two days, and i.s written. Any boy, Iresh irom a good district achool, ou:lit lo pass it. First lie will be asked to write a letter of about a pape of foolscap, give a sketch ol' himwlf. 'l'his i.s to test oompositioo, i" omanship, ortliography, etc. Tlien he will ba L'iviii two long columns of' figures to add, tbllowed by examplesof cotnmon fractions to be converted into dooimals, a problem in pru puit ion, and another in ioti an example. in enuiueration and noUtioo, and his matheiualieal aciiirements are do fürlher taxed. lle will be ¦sked mum (KNKIl.M. (JI'KSTIONS IN TUK (K( MIKAI'll V ot' bis own country, aruong wliich will ondoubtedly be to bouod liis state, irhioh one of the great lakes lies wholly in ihe öoited States, and in whioh ttatei nre St. Umia and C'iticiunati sitnated. He will theo be sounded upou his farxiiliarity witb tbc contitution by the questiori as to the age at wliieh he niigbt be eleated president ol' the United States or be etUMea ¦ senator. Tli'' whole thing is rather ¦ lUree, a l r . by all concerned. It. uiight happen that tbe most efficiënt of clerks could not teil ans thing as to the geography or coostitution of the country, and it seems oul of place to deiuand of a man an cxbibition of knowledge at the start whicli is never to be called upon to use after he becomes the liltle cog to the great wheel of the machine, where all individuality is mmm lost, never to be regained. 11' the applicant ptmtê he becomes a liistlerk at a salary ot $1,2IHJ a year. [t may be said (bat thi.s is tuore than men in tuany walks of life make, and do well. Tbia is truc, but the cost of living and the inflaenees are such that $üt)O is better in ('liicago, and in the country anywhere $.'ii)O will be better, and the recipiënt will have more left at tbe end ol' tbe year. Il a promotion comes, as it may in a short, tune, but more f'requently does not for years, the clerk becomes a secood clas.s clerk, at í l,400; then a third-class, at $1,000, and linallya fourth class clerk at $ 1 , 800. Many , bowever, pass their iives in the dapth of' the treasury building, acd NKVEK IUSE AliDVK THE SKCuNI) CLA8& Thcre are eseeptionsto even (he lifo of a rnment c-lerk. About onc in l20(i ri-c-, 80 I dat td day thcrc are quite a nuniber ut' men witli nalional reputations wlio have lifcii promoted trom the knreM grada of derkships step byatep. Mr. Upton, the assistaul necretary, and mie of' the most ut offioacs in r In - (ic'iKiiiiiM'iit. example ; ihe eouptroUer of tbe eurraney, the t nited States treasurer, tb sixtb Auditor, and maiiy of thechieft of divuion f the bureaus fornjsh othcr notable rases. riii junks enoouraging, hut it only shows how irreprewible genios will triumph over adverse oiroumstanoea Let no ambitioua yuung man build hopos upon it unlil he - íes toe i'ull reo ird. Tbere re in theTrearary to day 484 per mm w!io have beeo there olerka for from one to Bve yeaw, tod 37C who have been there ten ycars and are still clerks. There are 281 persons mm bare beeo there from Bfteeu to tweoty ysara, and are still ooly i-lcrk.-. There are ïiiiie pereons who Slled their destin; as A 000 IN TUK QBBAT Wllll I. ¦ii tweot; and twnnty livi' ycars and nioe more are .-till nut ezbaoated Her i ¦arvioe of betwe.n twenty-five and thirly yean. Thore tra in vhoae livefara n VOTO away IVoin thirty to thirty-live ¦ertiee, Two cogs are yet in piar,! after t'r.nii thirly live to forly jears' grinding and one is ith ihat was adjasted fortyfive yean, ajro, vbile one still tingen after gixty-two ycars. Benjamin Elittenhouso, the oldeal em ploye, hu been al bu bóoks for 62 yean. He is dow only a Koond-eUaa olerk, although he has been ohief oterk in tbe divi-iun. Orrin Wiloox, the obief clerk in the Moood auditor' d office, baa serví yean; .). 1!. Will, a ohief of división in tin' -ixth Auditor a offioe, lia.s hem at his post 20 yean; De Wilton Hainea, aelerk of cla.-s Lbree in the .sixlli audilor's office, ' .-ear-i ; M. A. Turner, a seoond-elaaa elerk in tbe ixih audit ir's offioe hu l;en onduty 31 yean; (. E. '. Sbowatts, a fourth-elass clerk In the Bral audilor's office, can look back ili'l lost; Oeorge Cowii', of lowa, ehief ofdiñsioo in the Fifth audilor's offioe, haa only 20 yean' terviee behind him ; and A. J, Chipman, of Kansas, a fenrthelasa clerk in the fint aoditor'a office, has the same. W. II. Qumiiaon, a ehief ef divwon in the sixih anditor'a .tliiv ; A. I!. Johnson, ohiei clerk of the liyhthooM board, and W. W. W'ilsun, a ehief ot división in the Ireawarer'a offioe, have been on duty for the same pervod. Contrast with (hese the easeofOeorge Vf. Pales, ofMaine, who ia to day a first elerk at (1,200 a year, in the lirst auditor's ofioe, aflür 33 yean' lervioe. A. L Sturtevant. in the Maretary'a offioe; .J. F. Jcines, in the third auditor's offioe, and M. L. Ilifiirins, in the lixth auditor's offioe, lüivr h:nl 90 reara' experteno io the rut, and Prederiok 1. Seybolt, a fonrth class clerk in the ohief auditor' offioe, h ts been QMXDINCI AWAT Kou lililí TV l.nNi; MABB I liaw tlms giren the umn and ad dresses of several uf' the men who know best wliat a governuient clerkship meaiM, so that the thousands of' young men wlu are anxiously lookiiitr lor a plaoe may inquire of tfaem as to the reallfy. Wiite te them instead ut' to your devoted conirress man. ('all on thetu inetead of poot Lam phere, the aooommodating aod badgered appointment clerk of tbs department. l'rolubly tliore is not one af these men bot who oliug like i drowning man to bis position, but like the selfconvieted inobriate, ho knowa his manhood is in slavery. Vcry scldom havfi any extensive disinissals taken place. At the breiking out of war all who did not go over nto the rebelliori, or rere not openly disloyal, remained. Many ui them are lelt yet, and still help on with tbe grist. Johnson broujiht in during liis brief reigp, a great man. r sooal foliovan, and Greneral Granea ad ministration üjiened with the retirenient of tliis set of' worthies. Agsin, in 1876, one ol the resulta of il-MiMnatic econouiy was the düebarge of 000 clerks, wfaoie placea have never been tilled, nor are they likely to be very soon, even if the money is appropriated to pay them, beoause, wliile a discharge may bc made by the wholesale, the work takes sueh sliape that new men are made rooaa for only one at a time. KVK.UVTIIIN(i OOn Bï STATFS. In appoietments, everythinp goes by Matea, A man who has been hen: awhile no longer ooomi from Quiney or Oahkoeh, but haiU l'r.mi Illinois or WisOOOtio State usooiatiou are kept up, and one of tlie htghest hooors a elerk aspires to il to baoame tl.'1 presideol or tecreter; of bis tate associ:itMti. He thus bolda a plaoe of couimandiiii.' prominenee, in bis opinión, in the politics ui' bis state, and wben the battle is on he is at the front in the campaign, rallyin the "boys" to go to "work," bogo boae and tovoto, aod to subscribe libera]!; to the torchlight and kyroeket luml. Be ia a créat man in thee times, and takrs oars lo g tion lor bis urvioM illertrards. After hls retara from a 8Bwes8ful eleetion bis head 'ut f'ull of promotion. Eleplauand Sgares, thtii giiiiuliKs and (rowb, and at last threatens, enrset, and in tbe end, as a rale, nuls to gel t. He, all the net of hú lili', considera tome unloitunatc congremn in debt to liiin solely for the position he enjoya and honen. Many of the state under the pi lawoan get no more appointmenU in ihe tr :':4siiry owing to the fai't that their iuota, aocordins to popolation, was long sinos filled. In ISTó a law fas pas-cl to DTO rate the appointments aooofding to p ; tion betweeo the state, terricories, and Di-triet of Colambia, bat SeoreUry Bristow eoastraed t tojtpply only to the fu¦ that liini' New Kngland haa bad no pfaues. At present Maina and Bfaasaehosetla have the most, with the other Kutern statcs following oloae after th in -all above their quota. New 'mk and l'i'iinsylvania have a good many, but not more o proportion to popnlation than many olhers. The only ohanoe l'orappointneot for sone years, ir this law eontinnea in foroe ander the preeent oonstmotion, will be trom Southern and Western statcs, whieh are le!ow their quota. Theyeannoi fill it up, however, untH the departim nt needa the help. The abore Euu been wriUeo o candor to the ihousands who are eoneentrating here only to háve the sad truth of l'ailuie to secure a place, or if obtained, fallare in wliat shonld be the life accomplishmeut of an Auierioan. ]! a. In poinl of nhabitanti Michigan now stands the 0th state in t lic union. During the past ten yeara she baapaased irinia, Qeorgia, Tenoeseee, and Lowas and only II; :;77 of being cquul to Kentucky. Hojs, stay on the farm. You will nevtr regrel it if yon do. Hut if you give up the prospect of au independent life, with plenty to eat, drink aud waar, Tot the ¦imiiaiiiiies of sBeeeas in the oity, the Bhaocea are you n'l regret it. Maid of the mist - drizzling rain. Matd of the mister- his sweetheart. Maid of the mystery hash.