Evening star., 1915-05-19
We, greatly to the advantage OF ths
whole service
QUESTION In Being Weighed.

Question II Being Weighed.
Before leaving Warrington recently
Senator Atiee Pomerens OF Ohio. chs'rs
mar os The Senate COMMITTEES on ths
civ1 sASvtcA. stated that the question os
. retirement sysssm for the govern.
rnent employees was receiving careful
confederation. It has been tnttmated>
too By omcials of the administration
that an effort would be made when
Consrsss assemblies again to have this
question taken up for consideration
and action
A number of bills providing for civl
service retirement were introduced IN
with the last session Of the sixfy-thirt
congress. however. and must be rein
troduced IL they are to be given con-
sideration. The so-calied Hamill bill.
introduced by Representative Harri
of New Jersey. e1empliaes the straight.
out pension plan. The bill introduced
by Representative Giliett Of Massachu-
setts, on the other hand. provides for
contrfbutory plan. in which the gov
ernment is to act as the agent for =
FUND created out of a small portion %
the salaries withheld each month from
the pay OF the employees for that pur-
pose.
In voting upon the question OF q re-
tirement system. the civil service en-
ploye must give consideration to .
number of matters. In the first place.
is he convinced that some system OF
old age retirement is needed to provide
for him In his old age? or does he be,
lieve that by careful saving and In
vestment he will be better able TO pro-
vide for his old age through his OWL
agency? Does he believe that out OF
the salaries which the government pays
it's employees they can provide for
| themselves and for their families dur .
| ing their working years and at this
the time when he can no longer work
| efficiently for Uncle Sam?
Feasibility to Be Considered.
In selecting the kind OF plan for -
retirement system. provided II -
deemed wise that some such system bs
established, the clerk will be forced 10
take into consideration feasibility. Anf
IN this connection. the attitude OF Con-
gress toward pensions. and particularly
| civil pensions. must be given thought.
| Would Congress agree TO straight-oue
pension plan, the government TO supply
all the money therefor? OR would the
| Congress turn its back fatty upon such
a plan?
| one Of the arguments advanced hv
| the friends Of the straight-out pension
| plan is that the government employees
as a whole are underpaid at present.
They contend that 1t would be impos
| sible for them to live and r ar their
| families If any deductions are TO be
| made for the creation of pension fuho.
| On the other hand the friends of the
| contributing plan urge that a reclassi-
| f,cation of the employees be made ana
salaries increased all along the line Ia
| this way they say. the clerks VIII 10
| greatly benefited and will lie ahie 20
stand the deductions necessary for the
| pension fund. In any contributory
| plan. II is said. the government will be
| forced to pay an equitable proportion
| of the charge at the start. 1t has beeh
| estimated, however. that eventually ths
contributory system can be made self
supporting.
Contentious Of Advocates.
The friends OF the contributory plan
insist that it is the only feasible prop
osition to put up to Congress TheF
contend that Congress will never vote
/ to grant straight-out pensions to civii
employes of the government But
| tbey saw. Congress may be persuaded To
| look with favor on plan in which me
clerks will pay their fair share into tho
| pension fund.
| of Civil Service employees has given itS
| support to the straight-out pehsioi
| nlan as contained in the Hamlii Dill
Another large body of civil service EN-
! nIoyes has favored an equitable con-
trihntory plan. This association has
| urged upon Congress a scheme OF re-
| classification and readjustment OF sal
| aries to meet the increased cost OF Nv
| ing providing a margin over TO enap.e
| the civil service employees to contribute
| some of their earnings toward the Gre
| alton of an old-age pension rms -
| the United States Civil Service Retife-
| ment Association.