Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-25
Approves Contributory Plan
for Civil Service Retirement.
COMMITTED TO NO METHOD
Will Permit Circulation Of Petition
to Congress.
$4,000 SIGNATURES EXPECTED
Secretary MacVeagh's Championship
Wins Over Cabinet and Presi-
dent to Cause.

President Taft has approved a contrib
utory plan of retirement Of government
clerks, but does not now wish to commit
himself to any especial method.
At the same time he has given his ap-
proval to the circulation OF a petition to
Congress, to be signed by government
clerks, calling attention to many facts IA
voring what has come to be known as the
contributory plan and urging the enact
ment OF legislation putting the plan into
immediate effect.
MacVeagh Champion of Cause.
Secretary Macveagh has led all the
cabinet officers of the Taft administra-
tion in recommending to Congress a civil
service retirement law that will take care
of those clerks who have reached an age
when their usefulness Is seriously i'm
paired He took the matter up with the
President and also brought it to the at
tention Of his fellow cabinet officers.
His presentation Of the case was so
fOrcible that every member of the cabi-
net has Joined with him in approving
the contributory plan: as prepared by the
committee Of the Civil Service Retirement
Association. The inhibition against gov
ernment clerks addressing Congress in
their own behalf was also withdrawn by
consent of the President and his cabinet.
Congress will get petition such as it
has never before seen. The petition will
be speedily circulated and submitted to
Congress at the earliest possible moment.
and 1t is intended to have 25,OOO sigma
lures.
Petition to Be Circulated.
The petition that has received the ap-
proval of the President and his cabinet.
and which will soon be on its rounds, is
as follows:
ITO the Congress Of the United States:
"The undersigned members Of the civil
service. with the authority of heads of
executive departments, desire to bring
the attention Of your honorable body to
the following facts:
''The United States has in it's classified
civil service a body of public servants.
certain Of whom in the ordinary course
of life become superannuated each year
THE greatest republic on earth is
practically the only civilized nation
which makes no provision for the re-
tirement of its superannuated civil en-
ployes: :
Retirement systems have been recog-
niZed as just, reasonable and economical,
and adopted by many of the business
corporations in the United States;
Support Given Proposition.
"a commission appointed by the
President. after devoting much time to
investigation of the subject. reported
in favor Of retirement in the classified
civil service;
1.-The President and his cabinet favor the
principle of retirement as sound and
economical policy on the part of the gov
ernment, tending to increase the efficiency
Of the civil service.
'In view Of these facts, the undersigned
members of the civil service respectfully
petition your honorable body to enact a
retirement law based on an equitable con-
tributory plan, such law to provide for
an adequate retiring allowance based on
average salary and length of service, and
for the return of contributions, with in
terest, to persons leaving the service be-
fore reaching the age limit, or to their le-
gal representatives in case of death.
Objections to Gratuitous Pensions.
"It is apparent from the experience of
other countries in granting civil pensions,
payable wholly from the public funds.
that such a policy ultimately results in
an underpaid official force. and we be-
lieve that the establishment of civil
pension law in the United States would
tend strongly to maintain the present
low scale of salaries existing through
out the service, because the prospect OF
such a pension would be considered an
essential part Of the compensation,
LAS such pension would only be re-
ceiyed by the comparatively few en-
ployes who survive to the retiring age
and also remain in the service to that
age, it would be secured to those few at
the expense of the great majority of the
employees working for less than full COM
pensation on the prospect OF receiving
pension they are destined never to enjoy.
I'VE further petition your honorable
body to enact a uniform reclassification
law, under which salaries shall be based
upon the character and quality or work
performed by each employe.'
H. D. Brown of the Treasury, who has
been working for five years on civil serv-
ice retirement plans, said today that he
feels more sanguine of ultimate success
today than at any other time.
Mr.. Brown has sent to Congress i'm
portant data relative to the civil service
retirement laws and their workings In
England and New Zealand.