The Washington times., 1911-01-28
Continued from First Page.)

of death
THE great advantage of the plan, ac.
cording to the report of the committee
is that every man man gets back what
he paid in, each man taking care OF
himself
but that can hardly be considered an
advantage from the viewpoint of the
man affected His pay is not of the
largest at best and TO have deductions
made from 1t is TO add more burdens to
the employees, and consequently to
make them less efficient. There is no
dispute about the high cost of living
in our country, and in every country,
but the pay of clerks and general civil
service employees has not increased in
anything like an even proportion to the
increase in cost of living. Such en-
ployes are not as well off now as they
| were ten years ago. but to insist now
upon their giving up part of the al
ready shrunken salaries is to add insult
to injury.
Easy to Take Away Salaries.
1T is very easy to legislate away the
salaries of Government employees on the
theory that you are providing for their
comfort In old age; 1t is another thing
| to have to live on the shortened sala-
| ries, and to wait patiently for the time
| when you can enjoy the good things
that the kind legislators have deprived
you.
Such a plan-compulsory savings
may be actuarially sound. as the COM
| mittee's report states, but very unsound
in securing contentment and efficiency
| in the employees it affects. If the whole
| intent of the retirement plans Is to
| secure efficiency in the service, we are
defeating 1t by legislating in such a
| way; we are merely adding discomfort
- the already unsatisfactory condition
| of affairs.
Another serious disadvantage OF
this plan is the fact that II does no!
provide at all for the superannuated
| employees now in the service, and who's
\ retirement now and in the next few
years is necessary for its improvement.
How can the men who have already
spent their lives in the Government
service manage to part with enough
of their salaries to provide FOR pensions
or retirement at once?
Aimed to Make Newcomers Pay.
I'm bill reported last year the ma
! iority of the committee sought TO over
| come this by seizing some Of the firsSS
| months salary of new employees. and
| by taking promotion increases for a
year from other employees. If the claim
| In favor of the compulsory savings
| plan is that each man provides lor
| himself, the claim would break down
right there, for the poor newcomers
would be held up at the start TO take
care of the ones patiently waiting re-
| tirement. and even those entitled to IN
Creases would be neld up 10 take care
of the other fellows. Even though TINS
would be but temporary eNpeulenC'
lasting for limited number of years.
It vet would he ContIadicting its own
,rincipleS in practice
This years committee bill. now be
fore the House, endeavors to get around
this fatal objection of Iroylding ior @
straight draft upon the Treasury. II
has been claimed for the Gtliett bill
that it's greatest beauty was its lack
of expense TO the Treasury of the Gov
ernment, each man taking care of him
self and the nation getting off scot free.
But if a draft is to be made on the
Treasury after all, II the Nation has
to foot part of the cost of retirement,
then the plan has lost its beauty.
Draft to Continue.
"Of course this call on the Treasury
is only to be a temporary matter, we
shall be told; but the temporary mat
ter means a great many years. as many
years as employees now in the service
may live. Only the new employees Will
be able to fully provide for themselves
under the compulsory savings plan;
every other employe already in tne
service will be short more or less in
his own retirement fund, which Will
have to be made up by Government
Z IL.
of the plan disappear and we are baci;
after all to the question of how muCn
it is going to cost the Government, Tor
cost 1t will, as provided for in the
Gillett bill.
'Tn the committees report after
making a number of deductions and
allowances. We are told that the cost
to the Government for this feature,
the retirement of present employees
in the service before the institution
aN-ip
would be about $5O,O0O,O00. scattered
over forty or more years. And with
further deductions, it is said that the
cost would probably be less than
$1,000,000 a year for thirty to htty
years, after which the plan would
take care of itself without cost to
the Government.
Would Be Unpopular.
"Perhaps we might differ with all of
these figures and find that on the con-
trary it would cost very much more
and perhaps for a much longer period;
but the fact remains that there is to
be an annual draft on the Treasury
for many years The compulsory saw
ings plan fails in its institution to
avoid expense to the Government, and
in this respect does not differ from
the straight pension plan. 1t Will not
be any more satisfactory to the gen
eral public than the straight pension
plan, and if public sentiment is
against the latter because of its cost,
surely it must also be against the
former for the same reason.
THE Gillett bill. therefore, Will be
serious tax on the employees on the
one hand, cutting down their already
poor pay and bringing discomfort and
dissatisfaction as new element into
the service; and on the other hand. 1t
will afford no satisfaction to the people,
the taxpayers, because it will also cut
into their pockets.
'It has been held out as hope that
II a compulsory savings plan was IN
stituted that perhaps the Government
might be irduCed to increase salaries.
IF This was a certainty and not a hope
II might help to make up tor The deduc-
tions, and thus prevent discomfort from
cre-ring into the service. But remen-
per that only q hope is held out, and
the deferring of its realization would
onIv add another grievance. On the
other hand, suppose general increase
of salaries did ensue. This would mean
an Increased tax on the Treasury, and
we would be back once more at the
crucial difference, or alleged difference,
between the two chief plans of retire
ment. .,,
THE compulsory savings plan would
make deductions from salaries, but
would Immediately make draft upon
the Treasury in the way or increased