Evening star., 1922-03-10
1,0DOAT NAVY YARD
MAY LOSE OUT ON
RETIREMENT ACT
Believed Barred From Bene-
fits by Decision of At
torney. General.
APPOINTED IN 1912 UNDER
BLANKET ORDER OF TAFT
As Per Cent of Employees Named
Prior to Establishing of Com
petitive Examinations.

More than 1000 employees left at the
Washington navy yard. after the re-
cent lofts, are believed not entitled
to the benefits of the retirement act,
under the recent decision of the At
torney General declaring eligible only
those who took competitive examina
tions for entrance into the civil serv
ice.
This number of employees at the
yard were blanketed into the service
by executive order of President Taft,
dated December Z, 1912. and it is be-
lieved that all these men are auto
matically deprived of the benefits of
retirement. although they have been
paying into the retirement fund regu-
larly.
The local navy yard was not under
the civil service until the date named,
and after the order. owing to dIfhcui-
ties incident to putting the order into
effect, the yard continued to employ
men under non-competitiver RULES unsl
May, 1913.
About As per cent of the employees
now at the yard, or approximately
1000 men or more. are "old line em-
ployes, Frank w. Dyer. recorder of
d u.
cording to the understanding preva-.
lent at the yard. are ineligible for the
benefits of the retirement act, unless
remedial legislation is pushed through
by Congress at once.
Cleveland Appointees Included.
During the administration of Pres
ident Cleveland, it is understood, quite
a number of clerks and craftsmen at
the yard were "blanketed" into the
classified civil service, and these, too.
will be deprived of retirement rights,
despite their long service.
William u. Bergman, chief of the
appointment division of the Navy De-
partmens, declared today that he has
received no official orders in regard to
the decision of the Attorney General,
and therefore had taken no action in
the matter to date.
1t is the belief in official circles that
the ruling really invalidates all
blanket ORDERS and that persons
covered into the service by such
orders lose the rights which they
thought they had under the retire
! ment act.
| owing to the recent heavy lay-offs'
| of men atsthe navy yard, the large
number of men hit by the retirement
| decision is regarded as unfortunate,
adding to the general sense of doubt
| in which the employees left there fnd
| themselves.
Postmaster General Work and other
officials of the Post Office Depart
ment today took UP the retirement
issue at the weekly conference, hear
| ing a report upon the matter from
! Appointment Clerk Reager. The mat
| ter was given consideration in most
of the departments.
! The joint conference on retirement,
one of the oldest organizations in
Chi jfh
passage of the present retirement
| law, will meet within a few days to
consider the Attorney Generals de-
cision, DR.. c. Eder Reed, secretary
of the conference, stated.
| DIR. Reed has received kilograms
| from civil service employees and re-
| tired employees in New York and
i Philadelphia. asking il they are to
| lose their retirement rights. and. in
| the case Of those already retired, If
! they are to be deprived or their
monthly>annuity checks.
(, DIR. Reed said that, lacking any official
| communications upon the subject, ne
/ had gone around the neighborhood and
gathered copies of The Star of We'd
nesday and Thursday. containing news
| of the decision, and mailed them to the
| SenderS of the kilograms.
Officials throughout the government
are generally optimistic that Congress
| will at once enact into law the bill
, to correct the evil enectS incident TO
the decision, submitted by Secretary
| Fall of the Interior Department to
! Senator Sterling and Representative
| Lehlbach. who introduced it.
1t is the prevailing belief that the
Interior Department should be left
| free to interpret the retirement law as
the plain intent of the law demands,
| which is to benefit, not to HARM
While it is realized that making
| decisions upon test cases may be
necessary, it is felt, according to the
| expression of officials today. that
| such matter should be looked upon in
| the broadest manner. SO that the gen.
eral confusion and .'pow-wowing" in
| cident to the recent decision might
be avoided through cooperation and
conference before such decisions are
rendered.