It sometimes happens that a small man gets the position of chief of a division, and by reason of the fact that he has none of the aristocratic blue blood in his veins, but comes from the lower class of white people, and is therefore filled with the prejudice of his kind, he will try hard to get rid of Colored clerks under him, by means which are very questionable. Cases of this kind are rare, but they have occurred under Republican as well as Democratic administrations and I state this, because I have been hearing of such cases during the last fourteen years. Such white men are in all political parties and whenever elevated to power over Colored men, will deal them a blow in the back when they have the opportunity to do so under cover.
Now as to dismissals, reductions and promotions, they have occurred under every administration following a change of political control. They occurred during President Cleveland’s first term and again under President Harrison’s administration, and it is quite reasonable to expect them to occur under the present regime; because the party in power, will always find some means by which they are enabled to place their political friends in good places. It was the practice under Republican rule, and it is the practice under Democratic rule and, in my opinion, it will always be the custom, not only in the Pension Bureau, but in all the departments of the government, even at the expense of reducing their opponents to lower grade in pay.
Of the one hundred and twenty-five Colored employes, borne on the pay-rolls of the United States Pension Office, on November 7, 1892, there was only one man who claimed to be a Democrat, and he hails from the South and was then, and is now, a $1400 clerk. There were four or five Colored employes, who opposed President Harrison’s renomination, but when he received it they quieted down like good party men, but after Harrison’s defeat, they commenced to trim sail, as it were, and by March 5, 1893, they had become fullfledged “After Election Democrats.”
So as a matter of fact, we had no special hold upon a Democratic administration for favors in the shape of promotions. There were one hundred and twenty-five Colored men on the pay-rolls of the United States Pension Office, March 5, 1893, and there are now, March 30, 1895, borne on said rolls, the names of one hundred and twenty-three Colored employes, showing that we have lost only two men since the Democratic party regained control.
The records of this office show the following:
| Number of Colored employes on the rolls March 5, 1893: | |
| Clerks | 92 |
| Labor Roll | 33 |
| —— | |
| Total | 125 |
| Number of Colored employes appointed since March 5, 1893: | |
| Clerks | 1 |
| Labor Roll | 18 |
| —— | |
| Total | 19 |
| Number of clerks discharged | 7 |
| Number discharged from Labor Roll | 14 |
| —— | |
| Total | 21 |
| Number of clerks reduced | 20 |
| Number of clerks promoted | 8 |
| Number now on rolls | 123 |
Among the twenty clerks reduced, from a higher to lower grade of pay, my name occurs, but as it was a political matter purely, and did not reflect upon my efficiency as a clerk, and only reduced me from fourteen to twelve hundred dollars, I felt that there was no cause afforded me to grumble and did not do so. And although being one of the unlucky number, I am free to say, that Colored employes have been fairly treated thus far, under Judge Lochren’s administration, and so far as my own personal treatment goes, I can say truthfully, that I never received more respect and kindness under any administration, than I have under the officers of this, from the Commissioner down to my section chief.
Like most people in the States, who have only a vague idea of a clerkship in the departments of the government at Washington, I thought a position in one of these departments was a bonanza, and that I could save at least one half of my salary every month, and that any clerk who did not do so was a spendthrift, and ought not to be retained. I soon learned that nearly everything one needed costs more here than the same article would cost in the States, besides, one is almost compelled to board and room at a first class place, and pay a higher rate for whatever article he needed, in order to be classed with respectable people. If one stopped at a cheap house with second-class people, that act alone settled his status in Washington society.
There are private and public boarding houses here, which furnish room and board at from twelve to forty dollars per month, so that one can take his choice as to place and price, but the usual price paid by Department clerks for room, board and washing, is about twenty-five dollars per month. A decent house here, with modern improvements, cannot be rented for less than twenty-five dollars per month, nor a front room for less than ten dollars for the same period. One will soon find that he must dress in the latest style, if he wishes to be on a par with his fellow clerks, and to do that he is required to go dressed up in his best clothes every day, thereby making his clothing bill twice or three times what it would be in the States. Of course, there is no regulation requiring-clerks to appear at their desks dressed in their best clothes, but there is an implied understanding, that poorly dressed employes are to be classed with the lower grade of Washington society, a position not desired, because it is generally believed that a clerk who is too stingy to spend money so as to appear at his desk decently dressed, is not a fit subject for promotion. At any rate, in my opinion and experience, such persons seldom, if ever, are recommended for a higher grade, and what I state here applies to lady clerks and gentlemen alike.
So that a new clerk from the States, receiving an appointment here, thinks for the first few weeks that he is going to save money, and not only that, but he is going to set an example of economy to his fellow clerks. But he soon finds that he cannot do it, and if he would command respect and association, he must do as he sees others do, and like an adept, he falls in, convinced that his fellow clerks are not spendthrifts after all. There are several other lessons the new clerk learns, after he is sworn into the Departmental service, especially if he came in through examination under Civil Service Rules; that there are old clerks here, who are competent to teach him many things which he failed to learn at school, and that the ideas he had previously formed, touching the ability of government clerks, who were appointed prior to the passage of the Civil Service Act, were erroneous. To his surprise, he finds men and women in the Departments here, highly cultivated and well posted in the very latest literature of the day, and competent to take a leading part in almost any of the historical and scientific researches of recent date. So that the newcomer, although having successfully passed a civil service examination, and received an appointment based thereon, must take his position at the foot of the class, as it were, and go to work to even hold that position, for it has often happened that such clerks have been dropped after six months service—“cause, Inefficiency,” while older clerks, because of their efficiency, hold on.