On us officials lies a strict command,
Even by the hearth to be inscrutable.
Falk.
O those despotical authorities,
Muzzling the—clerk that treadeth out the grain!
Stiver [shrugging his shoulders].
It is the law; to murmur is in vain.
Moreover, at a moment such as this,
When salary revision is in train,
It is not well to advertise one’s views