Evening star., 1932-06-07
FURL0UGH BEATEN
IN SENATE, Al TO Sc.
Ten Per Cent Reduction for
Salaries of ST. 900 or More
Is Sustained.
Continued From First Page.)

Is Sustained.
Continued From First Page)
isolated cases where it may develop
during the year that Congress, by over
sight or miscalculation, has not pro-
vided enough money for the present per-
sonnel
Senator Bratton declared it was the
purpose of the committee to make 10
per cent pay cut and then appropriate
enough money to carry the pay roll at
that figure but, he said. the members
realized that a case might arise where
an appropriation for some bureau might
fall short in which case the depart
ment head could apply the furlough
method. Chairman Jones said 1t was
also intended to put bureau heads on
notice that they must not encourage
deficiencies during the coming year.
Furlough Plan Urged.
Senator La Toilette urged the Senate
to adopt the furlough plan in lieu of
the 10 per cent salary cut on the
ground that it would be the lesser of
two evils" The furlough plan. fhe said,
does not change the basic rate of pay
and permits the Government to take a
step in the direction Of a flve-day week,
step. he continued, which must come
to bring about solution of the economic
problems that confront the country.
Under the furlough, Senator La Fol-
lette said, the Government will give the
employe a shorter working time, which
Is something at least to compensate for
salary reduction. The plan also would
be equitably administered he declared.
because 1t will remain with the en-
ploye whether he will take his furlough
longer than five days in any one month.
FurIough Substitute Features.
The furlough substitute, as intro
duced by Senator Moses, Republican,
Of New Hampshire, and amended by
several Senators late yesterday, is made
up Of the following salient features.
No salary under $1,000 year would
be touched.
The one-month furlough, which. is
equivalent TO a salary reduction OF 83
per cent in the form Of days of with
out pay, would apply up TO $1,000.
Above $4,000 the furlough and the
new percentage reduction would apply.
For those above this salary would be
the 83 per cent represented by the fur
lough, plus the percentage prescribed
for the various pay brackets above
SO 600.
Senator Vandenberg, Republican Of
Michigan, at whose suggestion Moses
accepted the plan Of addin~ small
percentage cut to the furlough in the
higher brackets. proposed the following
schedule: From $4,000 TO $4,000, l
per cent: $4,000 to $1,000, per cent;
5000 to $4,000, 3 per cent; $4,000 to
$1,000, 4 per cent; $1,000 to $4,000, 5
per cent; $4,000 to $4,000, s; $4,000 to
$4,000, : per cent, and over $4,000,
per cent.
BY adding s3 per cent which repre-
sents the furlough, to the specific cut,
you get the total cut for each of these
higher salary groups For example,
from $4,000 to $4,000. the cut would
amount to 90 per cent For the highest
positions above $4,000, it would amount
20 1853 per cent.
Limit on FurIough.
Another clause was inserted in the
substitute BY Senator La. Toilette. Re-
publican of Wisconsin. providing that
no officers or employe without his con-
sent could be furloughed more than
five days in any one calender month.
La Toilette pointed out that many
Government employees find it impossible
to set aside any savings. and. there
fore, are dependent on the payments
they receive either monthly or BIZ
monthly to meet their current expenses.
His amendment. he said. takes care of
the objection that it would be hard
ship to require an employe to 60 for a
whole month without any income what
ever
At the request Of Senator Hale. Re
publican of Maine. another clause was
put in the substitute providing that the
pay of any employe furloughed under
this bill shall not be reduced by the
action of any wage board during the
next fiscal year This is to safeguard
those whose compensation is fixed by
wage boards against a greater cut
The fat 10 per cent pay cut on all
salaries of $1,000 or more, approved
by the Senate Saturday. exempts en-
listed personnel Of the Army, Navy and
Marine Corps. This was done on rec
cmmendation Of the Economy Subcom-
mittee and yesterday Senator Jones.
chairman. had the Coast Guard in
cluded in the exemption. Senator
Moses exempted the same groups in
his plan in order to have the furlough
correspond to the Senate's previous ac-
tlOn IN tndt ItSpeCt.
Modified Plan Defended.
In the debate late yesterday Sena-
tors Moses and Vandenberg vigorously
defended the furlough plan as modified,
as being far preferable to the fiat hori-
zontal cut voted by the Senate last
week.
Senator Byrnes Democrat of South
Carolina) and a member of the sub
committee which drafted the economy
bill was equally positive in contending
that the fiat cut recommended by the
subcommittee is the better plan. Byrnes
argued the savings in the economy
bill would be curtailed by s40.000.000
if the furlough is substituted. He also
predicted it would lead to favoritism
through the issuance of orders exempt
ing some employees from the furlough
on the ground their services are re-
quired continuously.
Senator Vandenberg. in reply. de-
clared the claim that the furlough
would result in favoritism is shadow
boxing" He said he could not believe
that applying the furlough for one
wear as an emergency measure would
lead to any favoritism.
Five-Day Week Experiment.
1.-THE furlough plan" said Senator
Vandenberg, lis a trend in the direc-
ton of experiment with the flve-day
week. The five-day week and the
shorter work day are calculated. in my
Judgment, to be the ultimate, inevitable
economic reliance of the country in
finally liquidating our economic diff
culties in this mechanial age, with its
heavy and permanent chronological un-
employment. Here, in a sense, is a
laboratory test in the shorter work
week and the shorter work day"
Vandenberg further pointed out that
on the lower salaries it is less burden
some than the fiat 10 per cent cut,
since it leaves untouched those under
ST 200 and makes the cut only 8.3 per
cent up to $4,000.
One of the purposes of adding slid
irg scale of percentage cuts to the fur