Evening star., 1915-06-02

service employees an opportunity to
| ascertain what the majority believed
should be done in the matter Of re-
tirement system, in view OF all the cir
| cumstances The Star has advocated
no particular plan in making the poll
The feeling is strong. however, that the
civil service employees Will get lar
more from Congress If they present a
solid front in making demands upon
that body than if various factions of
the employees. demanding different
things, go before the congressional
the employees, advocating the straight
pension plan or the contributory plan,
| have been published from day to day
by The Star.
Appeals for United Action.
| One of the employees sending his cou-
pom to The Star has written an appeal
to the civil service employees to get to-
gether and stand for some one plan
Il have written this after. some study
on the subject of retirement" he said.
When We stop wrangling among
ourselves there can be no doubt about
what the result of legislative action
will be- While we argue and debate
in what form the remedy shall be the
patients die.
been introduced down through the dim
ages, in their final analyses amount to
the same thing.
Take the contributory or savings and
annuity plan proposed in the Perkins
bill, and strongly recommended in II. D.
Browns excellent report, the cost OF which
will, according to the author. eventually
be borne entirely by the employees, except
the matter of administration. By this
plan an employe entering the service at
twenty would pay $3.50 per month on a
salary Of $1,000 until the age of seventy
to secure an annuity of $500 for the rest
Of his life These monthly payments at
the age Of retirement above stated would
amount to s2,5s020, which, compounded
at 3La per cent interest, would amount
to $685., so. That is to says. the govern
ment would pay back almost three times
CD as much as the employe had con-
tributed We are led to believe that this
plan is absolutely self-supporting after
those of mature ages already in the serV-
ice have been taken care of. II the gov
ernment cannot to advantage use the
funds at 3h per cent interest it is pro-
posed to place the funds In municipal
bonds or other gilt-edged securities.
But no matter how the pensions or
annuities are paid they will come from
the same Golfers, whether direct from
the national Treasury or indirect from
the people themselves scattered
throughout the country
Near the Subsistence Level.
THE majority of workers throughout
the world labor near the subsistence
level. OF course, 1t is not meant that
they are reduced to a bread and water
basis. but necessarily through keen
competition for jobs. comfort and hap
piness. the margin Is very narrow. In
other words. the surplus over the
amount absolutely necessary to main
kypr f1
niggardliness is not sufficient to per-
NIT of any great extravaganza. 1t is
true that we dislike to believe these
sordid facts. but they are true. never
provides homes for the indigent and
superannuated. Few things are certain,
and when figuring what it will cost a
man to live we cannot possibly esti-
mate what fate has in store for him in
the way of sickness. accident. unem-
ployment, despair and countless other
misfortunes. We have the weak, blind.
infirm and decrepit with us. and 1t Is
against all our noble ideals to take
them out into the continuous woods
and lose them as was the custom Of
some savage tribes
Our duty is clear. The cost of the
employees service Is surprisingly In
significant when compared with the
immeasurable benefits conferred upon
the country. The people want the best.
need the best, can afford the best and
ChedDeSt
none too cheap. and the dearest is
none too dear. Just the same as it is
bad policy to buy because it is cheap,
so likewise 1t is false economy to hire
clerks because they are cheap. You
cannot get action when a man Is COM
pelled to spend most of his time
scheming how to make ends meet.
Cost Must Be Met in Some Form.
The people may refuse to vote pen
sions to worked-out veterans and may
keep them in the harness or discharge
them, but either way the superannua-
tion must be paid for If they are kept
in tho service most of them will be
doubly pensioned, as they will be
getting an average salary without
being expected to earn it II they are
throughout society will be impelled
through compassion to maintain them
aside from the humanitarian view
II is not difficult to see that the re-
tirement OF these aged servants would
be magnitudions benefit to tho gov
ernment. Not only would 1t save half
of the money paid to these superan-
nuated employees. but their retirement
would give way for the younger and
more efficient employees and replace
the demoralizing conditions with in
centive.
THE half-and-half contributory plan.
which has also been advocated, would,
in effect, be like the savings and an
nuity scheme. the only difference being
that the government would mako q
fiat contribution instead Of allowing
compound interest.
These contributory schemes mean
holding back from 8 to 10 per cent of
the employees salaries, and at the pres
ent rates of remuneration II Is doubt
| full IL this can be done without work
ing great hardship on the employees.
Some people have been SO unkind as
to accuse the government employees of
| idling among the flowers and spending
their bulky stipends lavishly and e1-
| travaYantly. but we do not believe that
| any one has taken them very seriously.
Treasury Bears the Expense.
| III Congress should readJust salaries
to meet the enforced contribution this
\ money would also be taken from the
N h