Evening star., 1947-05-06

Lower Bracket Annuitants' Case
To the Editor Of The Star:
There is an old saying, and 1t must be
an old one, for haven't, heard it re-
Gently, most Of my friends being Govern
ment annuitants, that: Hope springs
eternal In the human breast"
Well, the other day, Mr.. LANCER and
Mr.. Chavez, Of North Dakota and New
Mexico, respectively, revived and stimu-
lated our hopes" that at long-last we
are about to be given, some considera-
ton. along with the Romans and the
Greeks. to see 4 little less "Red'-and
a little more black" the next time wes
review the nnder-balanced budget OF our
"bread-basket." ~ y - =
It's been q long struggle. this recog-
milton. and some bitter. thought have
found lodgment In our "curmudgeon"
minds df Mr., Ickes can use it, we can
too) when day after day, month after
month, everybody in America, Europe,
Asia andsAfrica, was remembered with
folding money, while we, the forgotten"
men and women of the Governments
yesteryear. stood outside the whole outer
boundary of congressional consideration.
Where are the voices Of the north, the
south, the east, that only the west can
think up bill to give us meat to eat?
We will keep our ears close to the ground
and our hearts eager with hope that we
may hear even little t'peep" from the
silent spaces of our great commonwealth
heretofore calm with indifference.
But even at this early hour we hear
rumblings that the House Is cold to our
relieving measure" The radio says 1t,
the newspapers also say it. A "no-name"
in the civil service says there's "Not q
chance; 1t is only a promise!" We hope
they're all wrong. Even with reduction
OF 10 per cent in the cost Of living. we,
still are about 80 short" in our dollars:
maybe 40 would be more accurate. I'm
sure that the "Exs" that benefited
under the last tampering with the re-,
tirement law, the one that gave all the
gravy" to the "higher-ups" have to pay
more for their striped" trousers and
white ties. OF course, we under twelve-
hundreds" only wear pants" (and no
ties) that we buy In the "5-and-1o," and
II we don't get relief soon we'll all be in
Jail for the want of pants, or in the poor
house.
I cannot understand why Congress
always has cluttered up retirement with
lot Of controversial oddities which
either kill the bill or twist its meaning
SO that the "under-dog'' not only lands
back in the dog house, but behind it.
Take the last retirement bill enacted.
You benefited, If your salary was basic
$1,000 or better. Was that relief for the
poor dub" that gave his time and
energy to his country for a. smaller
stipend? My salary was around $2,7oo.
bought home while / was earning
that amount OF money. Now have to
maintain the place on an $500 pension.
This present bill gives "'retirant" who
made 5000 or $1,000 or even $4,000 an
increase of $500. while the retiree at
$1,000 or lower will get the $500 cor IS
per cent. whichever is the smaller" The
fellow who thought that up gets cool
$4,000 yearly with pension (when he
retires) Of another cool 1880.
A fellow committed suicide the other
day and left note to his wife saying
he either had been born 400 years too
early or 400 years too late. The trouble
with me was that when signed up with
Uncle Sam put down IS instead OF IS.
I was honest, but missed the gravy
train. I'm the "underdog" all right.
WALL =. ALLEN.