Norwich bulletin., 1910-12-07

the aim is not proft-the aim is the maximum of public service at the minimum of cost. We wish to reduce the expenditures of the government, and we wish to save money to enable the government to go into some of the beneficial projects which we are de- barred from taking up now because we ought not to increase our expendi- lures.
 At later date shall send to con- gress special message on this gen eral subject
 Civil Service Retirement
 It is Impossible to proceed far in guch an investigation without perceiv- eliminating from the service the super annuated. This can be done in one of two ways-either by straight civil pen sion or by some form of contributory plan.
 Careful study of experiments made by foreign governments shows that three serious objections to the civil pension payable out of the public treas ury may be brought against 1t by the taxpayer, the administrative officer and the civil employee, respectively.
 A civil pension is bound to become an enormous, continuous and increas- ing tax on the public excheQuer. It Is demoralizing to the service, since it makes difficult the dismissal of incom- potent employees after they have part ly earned their pension. and it is dis advantageous to the main body of em- ployees themselves, since it is always taken into account in fixing salaries, and only the few who survive and re- main in the service until questionable age receive the value of their deferred pay.
 For this reason, after a half century of experience under a most liberal pen sion system. the civil servants of Eng land succeeded about year ago in having the system so modified as to make 1t virtually a contributory plan with provision for refund of their the oreticaI contributions.
 The experience of England and oth- CT countries shows that neither can contributory plan be successful, hu- man nature being what 1t is, which
  of contributions, with interest, in case of death or resignation before pension able age. Followed to it's logical con clusion, this means that the simplest and most Independent solution of the problem for both employee and the government is a compulsory savings arrangement, the employee to set aside from his salary a sum sufficient, with the help of liberal rate of interest from the government, to purchase an adequate annuity for him on retire ment, this accumulation to be inalien- ably his and claimable if he leaves the service before reaching the retirement age or by his heirs in case of his death. This is the principle upon which the Gillett Dill, now pending, Is drawn.
 The GilIett bill, however, goes fur ther and provides that the government shall contribute to the pension fund of those employees who are now so ad- vanced in age that their personal con tributions will not be sufficient to ere ate their annuities before reaching the retirement age. In my judgment this provision should be amended so that the annuities of those employees shall be paid out of the salaries appropri- nted for the positions vacated by re- tirement and that the difference be- tween the annuities thus granted and the salaries may be used for the en- ployment of efficient clerks at the low CT grades. If the bill can be thus amended I recommend its passage, as ,--frT E,g Io -4a-y, md ultimately result in great saving in the public expenditures.
 Interstate Commeree Commission.
 There has not been time to test the benefit and utility of the amendments to the interstate commerce law con tained In the act approved June 18 1910. The law as enacted did not con tain all the features which I reconn- mended. It did not specifically de nounce as unlawful the purchase by one of two parallel and competing roads of the stock of the other.
 Nor did 1t subject to the restraining influence of the interstate commerce commission the power of corporations engaged in operating interstate rail roads to issue new stock and bonds. Nor did 1t authorize the making Of temporary agreements between rail roads, limited to thirty days, fixing the same rates for traffic between the same places.
 I do not press the consideration of any of these objects upon congress at this session. The object of the first provision is probably generally covered by the antitrust law. The second pro vision was in the act referred 10 the consideration of & commission to be appointed bJ the executive and to re- port upon the matter to congress. That Aemmission has been appointed and Ia engaged in the investigation and con sideratlon of the question submitted under the law. 1t consists of President Arthur T. Hadley of Yale university as chairman, Frederick c. Strauss, Frederick \. Judson, Professor B. H. Meyer and Walter L. Fisher, with Wil- liam F. S. GeiswoId as secretary.
 The third purpose led to so much misconstruetion of it's object that am not disposed 10 press it for further con sideration. IL was intended to permit railroad companies to avoid useless