Without Fear or Favour .sx Slaves of the MAYOR'S CHAIN .sx The London County Council is shortly to dismiss between 200 and 300 temporary clerks , all ex-Service men with good records of efficiency in their work , most of them married .sx The L.C.C. has 82,000 clerks , of whom a large proportion are temporaries , who can look forward to no more than two years' employment at a wage of about 54s .sx a week .sx In contributing to this system of employment the L.C.C. is no better and no worse than other local and governmental bodies throughout the country .sx The trend is shown in the recent advertisements of council bodies , the wholesale " sackings " on economy grounds and other tactics towards the black-coat worker .sx What , for instance , can be said for this ?sx The medical superintendent of the Exeter City Mental Hospital recently invited applications for an assistant male clerk , a Poor Law officer , whose commencing salary was to be 80 a year .sx The fortunate applicant was expected to keep up the appearances of his class and training for 1 11s .sx 1d .sx a week .sx The ultimate sum he could rise to would be 2 2s .sx 6d .sx a week !sx Another example is that of the West Country council which recently asked for a skilled shorthand typist for 30s .sx a week .sx Plenty of similar examples of gross under-payment can be culled from the pay-rolls of municipal bodies .sx Every town and county council has technical departments which carry on the public services .sx At the head of it is a professional man , who has special and exceptional standards of salary and promotion secured to him .sx But in his department he has numerous clerks on whom he has constantly to rely , not merely for routine work , but for their expertness in the professional work concerned , their precise knowledge of local conditions , and the plans and requirements of the body which employs them .sx Condemned .sx Yet these clerks , " temporaries " and permanent , without whom the whole machine of public work would break down in a single day , for the most part carry out their work on pay conditions such as those we have quoted .sx Under the present system he is condemned to it in perpetuity .sx Almost every kind of professional clerk can rise to the top of the industry in which he is employed .sx But not so the municipal clerk .sx Highly specialised work like that in the education departments of town councils demands often the most exceptional qualifications from the clerks who carry on the work .sx Yet many of them are " temporaries , " who receive 3 2s .sx a week .sx Whitehall is not far behind ; its departments give employment to 536,000 men and 100,000 women , a large proportion of whom are graded as " temporary .sx " Local governments employ 680,000 servants .sx A large number have no security of tenure beyond two years at a close-pared wage .sx The pay of the most efficient of these temporary " black coats " is , as a rule , far less than the dustmen employed by the respective councils with whom they work .sx With little or no hope for the future , on a pay which is comparatively a miserable pittance , they must yet keep up a standard of living and appearance far beyond that required of those other workers in humble capacities .sx There is a bitter irony in the fact that many of the clerks at the employment exchanges who fill an exacting and responsible service to the State , receive in pay for a full week's work often less than the unemployed to whom they pay the " dole " across the counter .sx The last few years have seen a progressive decline in the possibilities of a permanence for most of these clerical workers , a steady drop in wages offered and at the same time an increase in the standard of education and the qualifications which are demanded .sx Scotland Yard recently advertised for clerks in the office of the Commissioner of Police .sx Secondary or public school educations were asked for , together with a knowledge of modern languages .sx The salaries to be paid amounted to 2 10s .sx a week .sx Those appointed would not have any rights to promotion ; only the most exceptional ability and merit could rise by increments to 363 per annum .sx Out they go !sx BEFORE us is a letter from a man in West Hartlepool .sx He is engaged in a Ministry of Labour office and receives 2 6s .sx 9d .sx a week .sx He is one of thousands , officially engaged as filing clerks , who are yet employed in much the same routine as the rest .sx He is expected to work forty-four hours , but , as a rule , puts in three or four hours' overtime , for which no payment is made .sx At the end of his two or three years' term , out he goes , to seek fresh openings elsewhere , to begin all over again , learn new terms and technicalities in different offices , his hard-won knowledge thrown overboard - a vicious circle of waste and worry .sx What a futile waste of good material is all this " temporary " business !sx What a senseless addition to burdens and problems of living which are already bad enough .sx A large proportion of the work officially supposed to be done by permanent officials is performed by these temporaries at much less pay , and with no security whatever .sx Except in the case of the branch exchanges , all these temporary male clerks are ex-Servicemen .sx Of this pay of 2 6s .sx 9d .sx a week they are expected to support a wife and family in decency and to preserve the standards of appearance expected of a Government official .sx Out of their miserably inadequate pay they must strain and scrimp to put by enough for the inevitable day of their discharge and the workless period before their next " temporary " job .sx Is it surprising to learn that the diseases of malnutrition are particularly rife among these clerical workers ?sx More than one-half of the 25 per cent .sx of them who die of consumption fail to reach the age of thirty-five .sx Thirty-three per cent .sx of their sickness casualties is from chest and lung diseases .sx Our hope .sx THE conditions under which many of them work demand all the vitality they have got , and many of them , to provide food for their families go without food necessary to maintain their vitality .sx Many years ago Lord Robert Cecil and Lord Sainsbury concerned themselves in strenuous efforts to remove by legislation some of the many evils and abuses which afflict this singularly undefended class of worker .sx There is somewhere in the musty precincts of the House of Commons , to which so many great constructive measures have been consigned , a Bill framed years ago which would have removed a great many of the ills we mention .sx And there it has been since 1914 .sx It is our hope that there are a sufficient number of enlightened Parliamentarians who will take steps to revive it , in the inter4ests of a class whose voice is often lost amid the loud surge of complaints and counter-cries which breaks about the steps of Westminster .sx The clerk controls the industrial and the legislative machine .sx Without him it would speedily stop .sx Give him a square deal and it will run still more smoothly .sx High Lights of HUMANITY .sx THE SILVER LINING TO THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW .sx by PHILIP INMAN .sx I HAVE not seen Chaplin's new film .sx But a society woman told me that during one of the scenes she " positively wept .sx " It was that in which the famous little comedian sees that his hard-earned money has been the means of restoring the sight of the blind heroine .sx I sympathise with that society woman's condition .sx For fifteen years I have witnessed many such scenes .sx I , too , have seen the eyes of the blind opened .sx I have watched the lame walk , the nerve-shattered restored to health , and the malady-stricken body made whole again .sx And my eyes - let me confess it - are often moist .sx Said a surgeon to me the other day :sx " After all these years you ought to be hardened to such things .sx " " Hardened , " I replied , " if I ever become that I will give up my job .sx " " City Lights " is what Chaplin calls his new film .sx What an amazing picture could be produced of hospital life !sx In it would be all the ingredients of a highly dramatic movie .sx Think of the thrills of a scene like this ; .sx A man walked out of the hospital and went round the corner to buy a bottle of port for his wife , who was recovering from an operation .sx He was served by a barmaid , who , ten minutes after he left , was shot at by a man in a fit of jealousy .sx In half an hour the barmaid who had served him with the bottle of wine was lying in a bed opposite the wife for whom it had been bought .sx Love that laughs .sx One night , at my hospital , we were called upon to deal with an attempted murder , two would-be suicides , and seven street accidents .sx And all within the space of a couple of hours !sx Hospital life is full of melodramas .sx But my film would not confine itself to the sensational .sx It would portray the heroism , the self-sacrifice , the cheery optimism and the love that can laugh - even at death .sx And if I were to produce this living picture , I would call it " The High Lights of Humanity .sx " He lay , still as death - his face bloodless , his eyes bloodshot .sx He had been found unconscious in the street at three o'clock that morning .sx " Drink or drugs , probably both , " was the doctor's diagnosis .sx But it did not stop there .sx His latest revelry brought on pneumonia , and that night his name figured on the danger-list .sx His parents were summoned to the hospital .sx The mother , with anxious eyes , stayed by his bedside .sx The father preferred to wait downstairs .sx " He's a waster - always has been , " was his unnatural comment .sx But there was a reason for his bitterness .sx That son had been sent to Cambridge by the heroic sacrifice of his parents .sx " We have gone without ourselves to give to him , " said that disappointed man .sx The boy had repaid that sacrifice by being " sent down " from the university for disorderly conduct .sx " He would be far better dead , " concluded his father .sx Mother o'mine .sx But that was not to be his fate .sx He wad dangerously ill for a week , and then , with the passing of the crisis , he started to regain his strength .sx His mother was a constant visitor ; but though the father often accompanied her , he refused to go into the ward .sx The day before the patient left the hospital I sat by his bedside .sx Without sparing himself he had been telling me of his past life .sx And what a sordid tale it was !sx Suddenly his eyes flashed .sx " But that's all over and done with now , " he exclaimed .sx He turned to his mother , " Mum , " he said - and his voice trembled with emotion - " Mum , everybody's lost faith in me except you .sx Give me but one more chance .sx I won't let you down .sx My God !sx I won't .sx " His mother's eyes glistened .sx " My boy , " she said simply , " I'm your mother .sx " Born again .sx Five minutes later the father walked into the ward .sx The patient looked at him .sx Their eyes met .sx " Dad , " he said softly , " I'm going straight .sx " There were tears in the father's eyes .sx " My boy , I'll help you , " was all he replied .sx That young fellow is keeping his word .sx The other day he sent a cheque .sx " In gratitude to the place where I was born again , " he wrote .sx OUTSIDE the hospital is a cabinet containing a miniature representation of a ward .sx The other day a woman carrying a parcel came to see me .sx In a voice of rare tenderness , she explained that her only child , a girl of five , had died in the hospital some years ago .sx This woman had treasured her little possessions , and among them was a furnished dolls'-house .sx " I have kept these toys by me all these years , " she said , " but when I saw the case outside I thought some of the furniture looked shabby and I would like you to have these to replace them .sx " You see , " she went on wistfully , " though my little girl died here , I know that everything was done for her and everybody was so kind to me in my great sorrow .sx "