Evening star., 1936-07-13
RAILROAD PENSION
PAYMENT IS BEGUN
Appeal Planned on Ruling
Taking Away Means of
Tax Collection.
BACKGROUND

establish mandatory railroad Ne
t!ren1ent pensions IN taxation OF
railroad income and pay rolls.
TU'ce the courts hare ouerruIed
the constitutionality OF the tar.
But Congress in passing the most
recent Of the M-fdted acts ap-
pToprtdted 46,685, 900 for the pen-
SION payment on the theory the
money mould eventually come from
the tar. When the District Court
here ruled the tar inraHd tuo
weeks ago it upheld the retirement
feature OF the act. So the Treas
ury is able to disburse the ap-
preparation.
The administration today began to
pay railroad pensions out of the Treas
ury, although a recent court ruling
left 1t without any immediate means
OF collecting taxes for the retirement
fund
The Railroad Retirement Board an
nounced IAN appeal probably will
taken" from the decision. A final
Supreme Court ruling on this appeal
could be reached before the present
congressional appropriation was ex-
pended by the end of the fiscal year.
The board said in a statement that
mutation Of the rail pension disburse-
ments marked the first operation in
this country Of a governmental old
age retirement system for other than
governmental employees.
1000 Immediately Eligible.
About 1000 workers are immediately
eligible for benefits, the board said.
and an additional 10000 have FLED
applications but have not yet fulfilled
all conditions necessary for receiving
benefits.
The board said it was proceeding
at top speed to certify to the .
Treasury annuity payments for all
railroad workers who are eligible"
AS a start, the board continued, I8
annuities have been certified, ranging
from sl3.55 to S91o4 a month. The
pensions are available for workers Of
IS or who have served for 80 years or
more. They are based on length OF
~ WV dAAN AabCO VI NOlIlDC4ISdl1Oll.
The payments which are being
made today have great historical sig
nificance, not only to railroad work.
ers." said Murray W. Latimer, chair
man Of the board, but to workers of
all sorts in America"
Indicate Security Benefits.
He said this was because they
forecast what is in store for 2600O,0oO
to 30,000,000 American working men
and women for whom somewhat sim
liar annuities begin to accrue January
/, 1887, under the social security act"
Latimer also serves as director of the
Social Security Boards Bureau Of
Federal Old-Age Benefits.
Asked what would happen to a rail
worker who retired to accept a Gov
ernment pension in event the Supreme
Court eventually knocked Gcwn the
entire pension system, Latimer said
this lis matter between the indi-
viduals and the roads themselves"
He said he understood that some
labor groups had been negotiating
agreements with the roads under
which they would be reinstated in the
event the pension program collapsed.
If the act is finally declared invalid,
the possibility also would arise that
the Government would lose whatever
sum it had expended in pensieA
Latimer said, however, if the present
system was voided, another attempe
would be made to enact a retirement
law which would meet the courts ap-
proval
OF the first 18 annuities certified to
the Treasury for payment, the largest,
of $9l.04. will go to Thomas Biddls
Strain, 70, of johnson City, Tenn,
who has been employed on various
railroads for 81 years. Biddle was
retired on the East Tennessee & West
ern North Carolina Railroad.
Another Of the payments will 20 to
Mrs. Cora Miranda Jones, who retired
after long service as station agent at
Iuka, Kans., for the Wichita North
western Railway.