Evening star., 1925-02-03
The Aff1uent Charwomen.

An increase in the pay of charwom-
en- serving in the Capitol, just ap-
proved by the House appropriations
committee, is not to be attributed to a
burst of generosity. Careful explana-
ton is made that this increase in COM
pensation is approved, not because
these women need more money on
which to live, but because it will
facilitate accounting and deductions
on account of the retirement fund"
1t is plainly the judgment of the COM
mittee that these women do not need
more money. They already get the ex-
travagant salaries of $410 a year each.
ton of $3.50 a year is made merely as
a bookkeeping measure to prevent
splitting pennies when the United
States takes its percentage to swell
the retirement fund now accumulat-
ing in the Treasury.
But somehow it is impossible to
avoid feeling that bookkeeping is not
the only end to be served in this mat
ter of pay for Government workers.
The total addition of $3.50 a year to
enable the Treasury accountants more
conveniently to compute the retire
ment deductions from the pay of these
21 scrubwomen is comparable with
some Of the salary changes effected
through Redistribution. 1t is, indeed,
rather characteristic of the general
average of pay increases brought
about through that long contemplated
and much protracted process of read
justment, as a result of which thou
sands of the Government workers
fc md themselves practically where
they were before, with the bonus pay
ments discontinued.
Reference in the appropriations COM
mittee's report to facilitating account
ings and deductions on account Of the
retirement fund brings Furthermore
to mind the fact that every Govern
ment worker up to a certain salary
limit has a percentage of his pay
taken from him each month. Those
who get $1,000 a year find this de-
duction a material deprivation. Those
who get, as do these charwomen, $41O
a year, suffer even more severely in
the curtailment of their stipends. To
them retirement, for which they are
paying in advance, is not a glowing
prospect. A retired charwoman who
in active service gets s410 year, now
to be raised to s412.S0, minus retire
ment percentage, is not likely to con-
template freedom from toll at the
scheduled pension with any enthu-
siasm, particularly as to enjoy her
privilege of retirement she must serve
until she is upward of 10. The figure
of a retired charwoman of three score
and ten, living upon her retired pay
based upon an annual salary of
$412.S0, is not calculated to impress
the public strongly with the prodigal-
ity of the Government in a generous
mood.
The potential charwoman annuitant,
however, is no more appealing a figure
than the actual annuitants, already
retired, who are now asking for an in
crease of pension pay. There are
abundant funds in the Treasury for
this purpose, funds taken from
salaries with no accompanying con-
tributions by the United States, funds
that are at the disposal and use of
the Government. These people worked
for many years in the hope of even
tual release from daily, monthly, year
ly toll at small pay with little chance
of promotion, trusting to the adoption
Of retirement system that would
enable them to live in decent comfort.
They have now been turned out with
pittances so small that few of them
are able to maintain themselves with
out help from relatives and in some
cases from charity.
A proposal is pending for an in
crease of the annuities. 1t should be
enacted. And while Congress is about
this business it might review the stu
alta of the 21 charwomen whose case
gives rise to these reflections and con-
slider the propriety of making an addi-
tion to their wages on other grounds
than those of convenience of account
ing.