Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-14
DALE BILL REPORT
WILL Be PRESSED
BEFORE COMMITTEE
Retirement Measure HEARING
to Be Held by House
Group Tomorrow.
ASSURANCE OF EARLY
ACTION GIVEN ALCORN
Says Leaders Will Speed Measure
if Employees Are Satisfied With
Provisions at Present.

At the House Civil Service committee
hearing tomorrow on measures TO lib
eralize the Civil Service retirement law
effort will be concentrated on the Dale
bill, which has passed the Senate four
times and the House once, and which
was pocket vetoed by President Coolidge
on the day he left Office.
The joint conference on Civil Service
retirement, which in the conference and
with cooperating groups represents
100000 employees, will urge an early re-
port ON the Dale bill as the one meas
ure that there is good prospect of hav-
ing enacted.
Robert II. Alcorn, chairman of the
joint conference, who for Is years has
been working for retirement system
by the Government that will provide a
reasonable and fairly adequate benefit
to superannuated and disabled Govern
ment employees, said today that he has
assurance that If the employees are will
ing to be satisfied for the present with
the provisions of the Dale bill, the House
committee ana the House leaders will
permit this measure in the identical
4Ohh III ~ pdooCu bIlC OCIldJC dIlu III Vic
same form in which 1t passed the House
unanimously last year to be acted upon
soon.
Mr.. Alcorn expressed his belief that
President Hoover Is entirely in sym
pathy, not only. with the policy of
the Federal retirement system. but with
the provisions of the Dale bill, and that
he is thoroughly familiar with this
subject as a result Of his own experience
as Secretary of Commerce. under which
there are several retirement systems.
s145,OoO,OOO Now in Fund.
Mr.. Alcorn called attention that next
May will be the tenth anniversary of
ment law and that the fund has null
tipl1ed far beyond all expectations, as
it now contains $145, 100000.
The Dale bill provides a maximum
annuity of 81 200 where the maximum
is now $1,000. and increases the average
annuity to S741 as at present to $3.50
There is no change proposed in the
retirement age, except that after 80
years of service the employe at his own
option may retire two years under the
retirement age.
Mr.. Alcorn today called attention that
1t is difficult to present the facts regard
ing retirement in such a way that
friends of the civil service employees can
fully appreciate what 1t is all about
During recent years great majority in
Congress have seen the wisdom of the
establishment of a retirement law that
Will in a large way do justice to the
civil service workers when they have
reached their declining years"
Reviewing the history of the legisla-
ton, Mr.: Alcorn pointed out that in
May, 1920, the Congress passed the
1rst general retirement system and
since then several amendments have
been added. The last general amend
ment. on July /, 1926, was step in the
direction in which the employees believed
the system should be established"
Studied at Great Length.
Mr.. Alcorn said that "for more than
six years the Joint conference on re-
tirement has been working for the
maximum annuity of at least $1,000
with optional retirement as to 80 years
service, and other desirable changes,
such as changing the divisor from IS
to 40 in order to give the lower-paid
employe better annuity than he now
receives.
THE House and Senate committees on
civil service" he said, have gone into
this question at very great length; ex-
tensive hearings have been held and
bills have been reported embodying these
provisions, providing, however, that the
optional provision should apply to en-
ployes with 80 years OF service at given
ages.
'The Dale-Lehlbach bill, which pro-
vides for the $1,000 maximum annuity,
bringing the average up from $741 to
something over $500 with an optional
aFk
years less than retirement age is the
on which we are now concen-
trating.
This bill also carries a change Of
divisor from As to 40; another change
using the last five years for comput-
ing the annuity rather than the last
ten which is now provided for In the
law. While these changes are not all
that are desirable in bringing about a
better retirement law, they are, how
ever. such as to make a decided i'm
in the law, and would be
quite little help to many thousands
of retired employees and those to be re-
tired In the future, and while 1t is not
all that we wish for, 1t is about all
we can hope for Congress to give at this
time. However, should Congress feel
to give something better, civil
service employees will Of course be very
grateful.
1.-THE members on the joint conference
on retirement, representing the vast ma
jority of those in the Government serv-
ice, are hopeful that there shall be no
further delay in the adoption of the
Dale-Lehlbach bill in order to give some
measure of relief to the retired employees.
and in that way make big step toward
more efficiency and better Govern
ment service"
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