Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-04-23
THE RETIREMENT BILL
Two Views Of the Proposition and Some
Strong Language
Interesting History of the Measure
and FOrciblc Arguments
in It's Favor.

Discussion of the clerks retirement bill
still engages the attention of those most
interested in it.
An "oid clerk" who probably has made
abundant provision for the rainy day."
writes The Star as follows: "Just a few
words more from another of those poor
government clerks, who are so unfortun-
ate as to be in the departmental or GUS
toms service, and unlike our very fortunate
fellow creatures, who have to work from
eight to twelve hours day for 312 days in
year, often at the large salary of from
50 to Sc week, helping to produce the
wealth of this country; again I say how
very fortunate they are, for there is not a
word said about appointing guardian for
them, to deduct two per cent of their sala-
ries and deposit it retirement fund af-
ter they are incapacitated for work. But
US poor government clerks cob! my
country! how we do suffer for theeD, draw
ing the largest salaries paid any class of
clerks in the world, working six and one
half hours day for eleven months in the
year; given all holidays, besides thirty days
sick leave, which is often spent at Atlantic
city or some other health giving summer
resort to recuperate exhausted nature
caused by long hours and hard labor, still
receiving full years pay with no deduc-
tons.
Buy u House.
Now, fellow-clerks, one word of advice,
be men and stop this silly talk of pension,
placing yourselves before the world as
mendicants, asking your fellow-clerks to pay
you princely salary after having received
one Tor thirty years, simply because you
nave seen fit to squander yours. If you do
not wish to pay rent, there are plenty of
coed houses in this city, or in the nearby
suburbs, to be bought easy terms, and
by practicing a little economy you can save
your own competency for old age. Above
shirt, try and improve yourselves through
all, even though it may be called make
some or the many mediums given in Wash
lhgton, SO that should you lose your gov
erninent position, You can step out without
helhg either beggar or a pauper"
COnstitutionality.
Mr.. Joseph Trainor, also an opponent of
the measure, sends The Star a commune
cation which he says is his last on the
subject. He says: "One of the interview
ed, Mr.. Broadus, said: 1T should be dis
tlnctly understood that the clerk is buying
an annuity fer himself, ETC. But sup
pose the clerk don't want to buy an
annuity for himself Should he be COM
PEELED to do it? Or, 1 ask again, has Con-
srtSs the constitutional prerogativc to
make clerk buy annuity for himself?
lie says, AS to the constitutonaIity of
tie iHdtttT, L lNlTh 1t Is iule TO discuss 1t,
II Congress passes the Tawney bill every
Clerk that goes to work the day after it
goes into effect acquiesces in it, agrees to
a new contract fer his services and is
bound by it Here, / think Mr.. Broaius
reckons outside his hosts Every clerk
VINO goes to work the day after it goes
into effect will not acquiesce in it, On
the contrary, L think it's constitutionality
VIII be tested in the courts But L have
no fear that Congress will pass such
bill. 1 have confidence that there are
enough good, sound constitutional lawyers
on the committee on the civil service for
1t not to report a bill containing an I'M
constitutional feature and if it should be
reported then the best thing for Congress
to DO would be to refer it to the judiciary
committee to report on its constitutionality
before essayinS TO pass il.
There are many other speciCus argu-
ments used by Mr.. Broadus, and the other
advocates of the bill. One OF their first
positions was that deduction of two per
cent would maintain the pension or re
1rement fund. But very little figuring
showed them that it would not do it, ard
now they say that if two per cent won't
maintain the fund 21k or perhaps 3 per cent
VIII do it! Can such persons az these be
trusted to formulate 3 measure to be per-
petual And to affect thousands of their
tellow-clarhs to the extent of millions of
dOllars-for there are millions in it, for
somebody-when they don't know their own
minds in even so small matter, so easy of
calculation as this-what per cent yearly
of the clerks salaries would be required to
sustain such a fund? They seem to be
cropping in the dark, the only thing seem
inSly visible to their eyes being the benefits
to accrue to themselves from the coveted
PIT Esion fund
There is talk about the government be-
ing the custodian of the fund The gov
eminent does not propose to guarantee any
thing connected with it-neither interest
nor principal. If the fund becomes de-
pleted or exhausted as it surely will on
any basis yet presented for it's sustenance
the government does not undertake to paw
back the money paid in by the clerks, and
SO 1t is not the safest custodian in the
world for this fund, SO far as seeing that
the money paid in is paid back to the
contributors if they do not become pen
stoned.
for promotions of the junior clerks by re-
firing the older ones is one of the specious
ones, but L 90 not think it would influence
any young clerks-of whom 1 am not one
to indorse the measure. The number of
old clerks retired would be fully enough TO
exhaust the fund quickly, but hardly
CROUCH to make an appreciable difference
in the number of promotions, especially af-
ter the first year. when the first batch of
veterans has been retired AS to the meas
ure being completing of the principle of
civil service REFORM If the civil service RED
form is as dishonest in it's other features
as this proposition appears to be- the best
thing that could be done with it in the in
terest of public morality would be to wipe
civil service reform out OF exist ence.
Some RefutatiOns.
ut has been intimated that the clerks
who oppo Sc the measure are standing in
their own light and oppose everything
that is for the benefit of themselves and
their fellow employees as a writer said in
The Star of the 5th instant. I deny that
the proposed measure is for the benefit
of any large per cent. even of the govern
ment employees, as every reasonable per-
son must know, that IS, that any large per
cent of them will ever be benefited by it.
Il also deny that a majority of the
clerks in the departments are in favor of
the proposition, if the departments were
fully canvassed as to it.
Also, it has been heralded with some
what of flourish that the members of
the civil service commission and the higher
officials of the departments favor the
scheme as If that should have any weight
in determining whether it should become a
law and be enforced. Has this commission
or these higher officials any interest in
the matter? Do they contribute any of the
money to create or sustain the fund?
I'm reply TO Mr.. Campbell of the War
Department, 1 will say that the figures
given in my communication to The Star of
the 9th instant were not my figures but
those Of Mr.. Mortimer of the Post Office
Department, an advocate of the measure