Evening star., 1932-04-30
BROWN DECLARES
POSTAL CUT BLOW
Service Will Be DemoraIized
by Loss of az, 900 Work
erS, He Says.

The American public faces the pros
pect of standing a $3.50, 900 900 boost in
postage costs in the next fiscal year and
receiving in return a service curtailed
to the point that Postmaster General
Brown describes as 'demoralized"
throughout, by reason of nearly $4,000
dismisSals, unless certain contingencies
are provided for.
The situation, as he has informed
Congress, resolves itself into this.
The departmental fund bill as re-
ported from the House, carried $685.
| 466,175, a reduction of approximately
$37 900, 900 under the appropriation for
the fiscal year ending in June.
The Senate has ordered 10 per cent
slash, which amounts to about $780,
| 00O, 900.
Due to the inelasticity of the several
allocations making up the total, virtu-
ally all Of the $4,000, 900 must come
off of the appropriation for salaries and
wages, amounting to $57o,000,o0o.
Adherence TO Law.
BY law, the Department Is required
to adhere to certain wages and working
conditions. Consequently, unless the
law Is changed to permit spreading"
the cut, diSmiSsals are the only way
out, according to Brown, who has had
compiled table showing what this will
entail, meaning, as it will, that Al 1872
employees of total of 251 ,075 must be
| dropped, or-in the case of 18,417 city
letter carriers-reduced to the status Of
substitutes. In the neighborhood Of 200
workers here would be affected.
President Hoover's furlough plan
would avert these wholesale dismissals,
according to Brown, as would, he said,
the first House proposal to reduce by
IL per cent salaries over 81, 900 annual
ly. Both of these proposals would incor-
porate changes in the law for which the
| Postmaster General Is arguing -elimi-
mating extra pay for overtime, night
work and work on Sundays and holi-
days. Compensatory features Brown
told the Senate Appropriations Commit
| tee are unnecessary"
In addition, Brown says, the furlough
! plan would provide work for 14,500 sub
| stitutes.
Neither proposal would cover the
| $50, 600, 900 due to be Topped out, either
| figuring to save around 5000, 900. with
| that for the President going over this
amount, and the House plan, under it.
1t had been the hope of postal off,
| ciials, however, that by showing the
Senate this sum could be saved and the
efficiency of the department main
tanned the difference would be
waived in the interest of holding up the
| service standards. In any event, the
effect of a cut in personnel would be
greatly mitigated.
Salary Exemption Raise.
Now this particular feature has been
complicated by the House action in
raising the salary exemption to S2,500,
for while the salary cut alone, on the
81 900 basis, would have saved in excess
of $27,000,000, the higher exemption
puts this at less than $500 900, which
nearly has the Department back where
it started.
At the same time, however, postal
officials call attention to the fact that
not a cent that is cut out Of their ap-
preparation will be operating to reduce a
postal deficit, but will be applied to re-
duction of the general Government de-
ficit, for the department itself faces a
! balanced budget for the year ending
June 80, 1888. This, primarily, be-
cause the current revenue bill already
past the House and now awaiting Sen
ate action, provides for boosting the
first-claSs rate from 2 to 3 cents, add
ing $3.50, 600, 900 to postal revenues.
On this point. while conceding the
necessity for reducing Government ex-
penses and expressing the desire of the
department to 20 along with Congress