Evening star., 1933-02-12
WIDESPREAD LOSS
OF i. S. Jobs SFEARED.
Dismissal of Thousands Held
Sure Under Bratton-Cos-
tigan Plans.

Dismissal of thousands of Govern
ment employees throughout the country
and In Washington would be unavoid-
able under the Bratton- Costigan amend
ments to the pending economy bill, ac-
cording to letters sent to the Capitol
yesterday by the heads Of nearly all
the executive departments and q num-
Der Of independent establishments.
The Bratton amendment directs all
departments and Independent agencies
to save during the next fiscal year
per cent Of the total appropriations
finally allowed by Congress. To this
was attached the Costigan amendment,
which prohibits any wage cuts or fur
loughs as q means of making this 5
per cent saving.
When the conferees meet early this
week to act on these and other far
reaching provisions Of the economy
measure attached to the Treasury-P Post
once supply bill, they will have before
them these letters setting forth In de-
tail how the S per cent saving plan
would affect each branch of the Gov
eminent.
In nearly every case the department
heads and officials of Independent agen-
cies emphasized that their allotments
for next year already have been reduced
passing through the Budget Bureau and
the Appropriation Committees OF Con-
gress. The economy bill calls for cut
ting per cent from the remaining to-
tai after the bills have been enacted
into law with these various specifc re-
ductions already applied.
1000 Jobs Threatened.
Postmaster General Brown estimated
in his letter that the per cent saving
without wage cuts or furloughs would
mean dismissal OF in the neignpornoou
of 1000 postal workers. He pointed out
that the post office bill for next year
now stands at $698, ,033, ,378. The S per
cent amendment means an indicated
reduction Of 4,901 ,668.90. OF the to-
tai for the department $500,000 900 Is
for salaries. He figured that the maxi
mum saving possible outside of the pay
roll Is 100000 leaving $15,000,000
that would have to be saved on per-
sonnel.
BASED on the present average salaries
Of all the groups that would be affected
the number to be dismissed would be in
the neighborhood Of 7000," the Post
master General wrote.
Referring to the situation in the War
Department, the letter from Secretary
Of War Hurley read, In part, as follows:
"A further arbitrary cut Of per cent
in the military establishment has been
thrown overheard. Only few items
are left to which shuch cut could be
applied without creating deficiencies and
these are Of such vital importance to
the military structure on which our
system of national defense rests that
successive reviewings have preserved
them despite admitted necessity for
cutting public expenditures to the
bone"
The letter Of Secretary of the Treas
ury Ogden Mills dwells in detail on the
situation confronting the Customs Bu-
reau and the Bureau Of Internal Reve-
nue. because of the fact that the Sem
ate made sharp cuts below the House
in these two services before ordering
the general additional saving Of S per
cent The Customs Bureau was cut in
the Senate from $4,000, 900 to ST.
500 900 and the Internal Revenue Bu-
reau from $30,800,000 to $29, 1900, ,OO0
The Secretary predicted the result
would be loss in revenue collected
greater than the amount of the re-
ductions.
Dismissals Predicted.
For the Treasury Department as
whole, personal services amount to
$102,007, ,206. Deducting this from the
departments total of $19I, ,008,2l9 to
Continued on Page 2, Column g.