The Red Cloud chief., 1899-02-03
No PENSIONS. FOR CLERKS.
Salaries for Retired Treasury En-
ployes Wiped Out,
PROTESTS FROM CONGRESS,
Assistant Secretary Nsodrrilp'. rian
Dniked la the Legislative A%ppropria-
tion Hm-A Mutual Insurance. Thoir
only Hope.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3i.-Thc so.callcd
roll of honor" of tho Treasury de.
partment, inauguratcd some time ago
by Assistant Secretary Vaudcrlip.
which practically retired on pensions
supcrannuatcd clerks, is wiped out by
a section ot the Legislative %appropria-
ton bill which prohibits expenditures
for the compensation of any persons
permanently incapacitatcd by age or
otherwise, and declares that 'thc cs-
Establishments of u evil pension roll or
an honorable service roll or an cxcmp-
ton of any Of the officers, clerks aud
persons in the public service from the
existing laws respecting employment
In such service ~ hereby prohibited"
There arc said To- be twenty-five
clerks in the Treasury department
who are on this roll Of appropriated
employees and the committee, having
procured u list of tho names of such
and the divisions where employed,
have omitted from the bill u clerk or
clcrkships in all such divisions. II
has also prohibited the use OF time
recording clocks In the department, n
feature which has been introduced by
Assistant Secretary VANDERBILT In the
treasury in order to prevent absence
and loss of time on the part of tho
clerks.
The action of tho committee in prac-
tically providing for the dismissal of
q number OF supcrannuatcd employees
Is due chiefly to repeated protests on
4 Ia, Nnrs of u.pntArs mud pntNsaa.nsa N.
tivcs against the retention In Office OF
clerks no longer able to perform their
duties. but whose long aud faithful
service In the absence Of n civil pension
system has operated to prevent their
displacement by younger and more
capable inen. In consequence, the
work which, IL physically competent,
they would be callcdupon To perform
is thrown upon other clerks, many o.
whom draw less salaries than those
who practically do no work at all. Al
u result those employees upon whom
the added clerical labor falls have beer
protesting and insisting that the gov
crnmcnt Is entitled to full service 70
tho salary which it pays.
In all the departments there ar
aged employees retained on the roll
who cndcavor TO the bcst Of thei
ability to continue in the Performance
Of duties for which they are untitte,
, by reason of advanced age and physica
infirmity. We're q civil pension la
in force several hundred would b
placed upon n retired list, but in tn
absence of such a law they nrc retaine
on the rolls out OF pure charity. A.
) s~istant Secretary Vanderbilt, however
sometime ago relieved u number c
} clerks in the treasury department
from the performance OF routine Gle,
ical duty, making what was prsoticall
n roll OF superanuuatcd employees.
was against this roll that the section
In the pending Legislative, c~xecutiv
and Judiciary appropriation bill wa
aimed.
Representative Tawney of Minne,ot
has u bill pending providing for super
ANIMATED and disabled clerks. to l.
drawn from a fund made up Of en-
forced contributions from tho clerls
of the departments. This measure /
drafted on the lines OF laws Ia opera
ton In Germany, by which insuranc
is provided for the employees OF co
porntions through the aggregation G
small amounts deducted from I'll
weekly wages of such c mploycs.
H