ncurred in. The amendments were ordered to be engrossed, a read a third time. The bill was read the third time and passed. The CHAIRMAN. We will now adjourn until to-morrow 30 o'clock.

(Whereupon, at 12.45 p. m., the committee adjourned ay, July 12, 1917, at 9.30 o'clock a. m.)

1777-17-5

Also present: Mr. H. M. McLarin, Mr. Thomas F. F John S. Beach, Mr. W. C. Ryan, Mr. Willard F. Warne O'Donoghue, Mr. Edward J. Ryan, Dr. Lledellyn Jord Robert H. Alcorn.

The committee resumed the consideration of the bills and 633) for the retirement of employees in the civil serv The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. next witness?

Mr. ROBERT H. ALCORN (chairman Joint Civil Service Committee). Mr. Chairman, I suppose it is your desire to by noon if you can.

The CHAIRMAN. If we can; yes. I would like to do so. Mr. ALCORN. For that reason I will ask the speakers on this morning to be as brief as they can covering the you desire. I suppose the committee will allow supplen ments to be filed within a period of something like 5 or 1 The CHAIRMAN. Yes.

Mr. ALCORN. The next speaker on the program is M of The Federal Employee, a magazine published mon Federal Employees Union.

The CHAIRMAN. You may proceed, Mr. McLarin.

STATEMENT OF MR. H. M. McLARIN, PRESIDENT EMPLOYEES UNION, WASHINGTON, D. C.

Mr. McLARIN. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, we are law at this time because of the fact that we believe it is war measure. Anyone who will go into the departments through them will see that they have literally thousands and women who are not able to stand the pace which is the Government work to-day. The conditions, on acce war, have got to change, and a great many of the older not be able to adapt themselves to the change. So inst doing something, getting forward with things, putting ment service on an efficient basis they are in the way o

say,

port gives it; it shows about 280,000 in the classibout 200,000 are in the unclassified service. So ting to the classified service, discriminate absounclassified man because he has not been able to examination.

Included among the unclassified service are Contors; all others who work for the Government,

es, sir. It includes people in the Library of the District government; none of these are classiorers throughout the service are unclassified. The lectors and the deputy collectors are unclassified. gest number, though, is composed of laborers in work.

Well, you easily see that if we establish anything ill have to be grades established. You could not etirement pay, such as is proposed among civil

hese retirement measures provide for grades acreceived by the employee.

Some of them do and some do not.
a flat retirement rate of $50 a month.
of the laborers get, or about as much

We would also obviate that.

One bill, I That would as they get

That is as much as

the skilled laborers get. They are classified. hout a difference.

It

Well, I think if we have any retirement pay, it

es.

All right, I did not mean to interrupt you.

ake, for instance, the employees over here in the them are highly educated and skilled, and yet h has been introduced so far to cover the Library

ately $3,000,000 for 10, 12, or 15 years. But in that s ion I wanted to call attention to the figures disclosed by ulletin of 1907, which is the latest information availal umber of employees of all ages, etc. A computation fr etin, percentages used in that bulletin, shows that the pmployees at this time is practically the same as it was at ny given ages. For instance, Mr. Brown's latest investig hat there are 6,000 employees 70 years and over, and th he Census bulletin show 1.2 per cent of employees ag and over. Take that same percentage and apply it to now in the service instead of the number in the service in get 6,000; so that the percentages compiled in the Cen are applicable to it. Using this percentage for the con cost of retirement at this time, you will find that the tota employees is 488,000. The percentage of employees ag and over is 1.2 per cent. One and two-tenths per cent of is 5,864. Now, the average salary of these employees 7 over is $1,118, and if you multiply this amount by the these employees you get a total of $6,555,952, which w amount that would be saved by removing the superar ployees from the rolls.

Half of this number of younger employees could d amount of work that these older employees do, and t salary of these younger employees is $1,000 a year; so 2,932, half of the number of superannuated employees, a it by $1,000, you get $2,932,000, which is the total amoun to be paid to the new, young employees who would rep the work of the employees retired.

The retirement of 5,864 superannuated employees at will cost $3,518,400 per annum. The saving from this re this dropping from the rolls of such a number of supera ployees is $6,555,952. The new employees costing $2, the retired pay of the superannuates amounting to $3,51 a total cost to the Government, if the employees were $6,450,400. That makes a net saving by the adoption