The National tribune., 1910-06-30
D1SCHARGING AGED VETERANS.

A great deal of vicious misinfCrma-
ton has been disseminated thru the
country in regard to the wholesale dis
missal of aged clerks, who after their
| long service to the Government re-
ceived notification that they were no
| longer needed and must seek other en-
ployment. a great deal of this in
| formation emanates from the Wash
| ington newspapers themselves, which
have been unduly alarmed over the
possible loss of employment by so many
of their citizens Much of it is also due
TO the efforts being made to arouse
public sentiment to the interest of a
retirement law which will provide for
the clerks who become superannuated
or otherwise disabled.
A public meeting was held in Wash
ington by the Business Mems Associa-
ton, at which a request was made up
on Congress to appropriate 100000 to
| pay each of the discharged employees
the sum of $50 month for one year.
Investigation does not discover any
basis for this extensive alarm. 1t is
true that the legislative executive and
judicial bill for this year contains the
following clause:
THE appropriations herein made for
the officers, clerks and persons en-
ployed in the public service shall not be
available for the compensation of any
persons incapacitated otherwise than
temporarily for performing such SER
vice. and the heads of Departments
shall cause this provision to be en-
forced"
But every one of these bills passed
for at least 10 years have contained
this identical clause. Last January,
when the appropriation bill was being
made up by the Committee on Appro-
priations. OF which Hon. James A. Taw-
ney Is Chairman, Hon. Charles d. Nor
ton, then Assistant Secretary of the
Treasury and now Secretary to the
President, and who had been charged
with the duty of reorganiZing the force
in the Treasury Department, appeared
before the committee, and explained
that the plan OF reorganization would
not necessarily involve any dismissals
He explained that by the adoption of
labor-saving devices and improved
methods of transacting the business Of
the Department the services of many
employees would not be required where
they are now working. In order to
avoid the dismissal Of employees. Mr..
Norton proposed that the installation
Of labor-saving devices should at this
time be limited so as to affect only
about 200 persons. because this num-
Der could be provided for by transfer
to the natural vacancies occurring since
last November and which have been
reserved for the purpose. OF course.
the Department has not been able in all
cases to find places where the salaries
were the same. but this was done as
far as possible. This statement by Mr.
Norton was confirmed by members Of
the committee who heard 1t, and il was
reiterated by him in a recent interview
with him at the White House. The
policy OF the Treasury Department is
that which is being followed by other
Departments. Consequently the whole
sale dismissal of which so much sem
sation has been made has not occurred
and will not occur. Nor is 1t for a mo-
ment true that the veterans and their
widows have been singled out for dis
missal. The contrary is the truth. and
particular attention is paid to the
claims of everyone of having served in
the army or navy or being the widow
Of one who did. These have been given
a manifest preference In the work of
reorganization and the making public
denoted.