national Typographical Union, and, after I am 60 years of age and unable to follow my occupation and secure employment, I am entitled to $5 per week from the International Typographical Union. as long as I live, and Chicago Union No. 16, of which I am a member, will pay me the additional sum of $3 per week. Therefore, after I am 60 years of age, if I am unable to secure employment, I will receive a pension from the printers of this country. I will receive it because I will be entitled to it. I have paid for it in the form of dues. As I say, I would receive $8 per week. But we feel that it should apply to the whole citizenry or to all of the citizens of the country who are benefited by the men who do the world's work, or who do the real work-who build the homes and take care of the homes, who do the work that is necessary to carry on our business-we think that all of them should be taken care of in the same way. There should be no preference shown as between citizens.

I hold that the man who runs the train, the railway-mail clerk— and I have seen them work, and I have seen the men in the post offices work long, continuous hours-I hold that they are entitled to equal consideration. The railway-mail clerks, unless they have changed the laws of late, have long hours and then lay off for a day and a half. These people perform hard and irksome work, and they are equally entitled with the judiciary, if not more so, from the equitable standpoint, to receive pensions. They are more entitled from the equitable standpoint than the judiciary, because the judiciary receives a higher rate of wage or higher salaries than these employees. The Government is not a respecter of persons, but it is supposed to deal out evenhanded justice to all of its citizens, and for that reason, then, an effort should be made to the end that all should receive pensions in their old age for the purpose of taking away the worry and anxiety, and for the purpose of having a happy and contended people. That is what laws are passed for. They are passed for the benefit of the people and for the purpose of having a happy and contended people. Mr. Chairman, if this Congress should enact a retirement law for the Government employees you would secure in the aggregate more satisfactory returns. Therefore, without taking any more of your time, I want to say that the American Federation of Labor, representing 3,000,000 wage workers, urge upon you to give favorable consideration to this bill and to use your influence to secure its enactment, to the end that it will be a stepping-stone to further legislation that will bring about such conditions that we will have 100,000,000 people with higher concepts of citizenship than ever before.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Morrison, Mr. Hamill would like to ask you some questions.

Mr. HAMILL. You spoke about the matter of corporations and industrial enterprises taking care of their men, and referred to the fact that there should be a law to that effect in the future. Now, it is a fact that a number of them do at this time take care of their men by pensions, is it not?

Mr. MORRISON. Yes, sir; or, that is, they promise to do so. The only trouble is that, with respect to some of them, just before the pension period arrives they sever their connection.

Mr. HAMILL. The point I wanted to bring out was that, at any rate, it indicates a disposition, whether it is from motives of justice or from motives of policy on the part of corporations to help their

men, and in that respect they have gone a little bit ahead of the Government in taking care of their employees.

Mr. MORRISON. Yes, sir. That is usually in companies that refuse to allow their men to be organized, and it is for the purpose of making the men contended. It is for the purpose of keeping them or holding them in their employment. If the Government grants retirements, it would be for the purpose I have indicated. Then, there would be the additional surety and confidence that a man would have that in his old age he would receive his pension. But where a man is working for a corporation there is the danger that through lack of work he may be laid off, and then when he ceases work he loses his pension. In other words, he is tied right onto conditions that are not as satisfactory as they might be, and then, without his own volition and without any act of his own, he may be cut off. As in the case of the Pennsylvania Co., the United States Steel Corporation, and other companies who give pensions, it is a voluntary act of their own, and there is no law compelling them to do it.

They could change it. But the Government says, " Here, you work for us or work for the Government, and we will take care of you in your old age by giving you this pension," and if it also says that the people working in any industry, no matter how they work or in what industry, shall receive pensions, the worker's mind is at rest. He knows that the Government in his old age will be back of him, and with that knowledge the mind is satisfied. Both the man and his family feel that the old-age problem will be taken care of. There is a great deal of worry among people about what will happen to them in their old age. It is something that is lurking there in what is called the subconscious mind. You know what that is, Mr. Chairman. It is the thought that is in the heart and mind of the man. It comes to him every once in a while. He tries to forget it, and does not want to think about it. He does not want to think about what will happen to him in his old age, but he sees what is happening to people in their old age. He sees men living on charity, or doing little jobs here and there, getting just sufficient to buy bread. That is not how any citizen should be taken care of. The Government of the United States should pass this bill and should set at rest the minds of their employees for all time.

The CHAIRMAN. All people who have worked all their lives have, of course, contributed to the production of wealth, that wealth, you think, when those people cease to be able to further contribute to it, should be used at least, for the maintenace of its own creators?

Mr. MORRISON. Yes, sir; for the maintenance of the men who helped to create it.

The CHAIRMAN. The workers do create wealth in fact. Capital is the most helpless thing on earth without the labor of men, and can not create itself.

Mr. MORRISON. No, sir; that is true.

The CHAIRMAN. Without the labor of men no return could be paid on capital. No interest could be received on capital unless there were workers to use it. You believe, then, that there is a universal obligation upon accumulated wealth to take care of its producers when they are no longer able to further produce by their labor?

Mr. MORRISON. Yes, sir. It is the same as the workmen's compensation bill, and that is the principle upon which you based the compen

sation bill. That principle is that if a man is hurt or injured in his occupation, the only thing necessary for him to prove is the fact that he was injured, and he receives compensation. This is a charge on the industry. Prior to that, when men refused to pay compensation for those injuries, the matter went into the hands of lawyers, and some people never went into court with their claims because they were helpless. All of that has been cleared up by the passage of the workmen's compensation laws. When a man is injured or out of employment through injury, he gets his compensation. There is usually a representative of organized labor on the commission that is taking care of it. Therefore, we are making progress along these lines. It is progressive legislation, and I am glad to have lived to see it. I think I will live to see a law enacted that will take care of men who are working in the various industries. I think I will live to see a law enacted so that they will be taken care of as well as the judiciary and the representatives of the Navy and representatives of the Army. Of course the men in the Army and Navy, or the men who are protecting the country, should be taken care of. It its natural that they should be taken care of, because they put their lives in the balance. They put their physical lives in the balance.

At the same time, let me call your attention to the fact that in carrying on the industries of this country before the war 30,000 people were killed every year and 700,000 people were injured and the injuries were of a character that kept them out of work more than two weeks in that year. This shows that industry is dangerous to life and to health. There is danger to life and health in the industries, as well as the more apparent danger to which the man who is a soldier is exposed in battle, as appears to-day when a great and fearful war is being carried on for democracy-for the democracy that we are struggling to get through legislation so as to make a happier and more contented people, and so that the people may govern. I believe that when we have 2,000,000 of our people over there in the trenches, with our merchant fleet augmented, we will drive the Germans back out of Belgium, back out of France, back over the Rhine to Berlin, and in that city I believe a peace will be signed that will mean much for the people of this country and for the people of every other country. I believe that we may look forward to a time when the millions of people that populate the earth that have been called the submerged people will come up out of their present condition, and the efforts of the Government, through future legislation, will bring about a condition which will enable them to live in reasonable comfort, so that every child that is born will have an equal opportunity for an education to carry on the world's work. The CHAIRMAN. We thank you for your statement.

Mr. ALCORN. Mr. Chairman, I would like to have the committee hear Mr. Edward J. Gainor, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers.

STATEMENT OF MR. EDWARD J. GAINOR, MUNICE, IND.

Mr. GAINOR. Mr. Chairman, I wish to avail myself of this opportunity simply to record the indorsement of the National Association of Letter Carriers, an organization representing 35,000 members.

upon the general provisions in the pending measure, the McKellarKeating bill. Later, during these hearings I hope to be granted the privilege of including in the record a more extended brief, setting forth the arguments favoring this legislation and the attitude of this association on the question.

As I see it, Mr. Chairman, there is one fundamental principle involved in this proposed legislation and that is whether or not it has grown to be a recognized social obligation on the part of the employer to care for the aged employee after a life of useful service. If this social obligation is admitted-and no careful student of public opinion can conclude otherwise-then a law should be enacted carrying this principle into effect. If to care for the superannuated in industry is not a social obligation, then there is no place for this legislation.

Originally, when this Government was established, we were a people almost entirely devoted to agriculture. Ninety-five per cent of the population lived on farms, they largely supplied their own wants, and individual notions prevailed so generally that even the Government in it relation to the people was expected to do little more than to use its police power so that each individual citizen, unaided and undisturbed, could work out his own destiny.

A great change has come over our way of doing things in the intervening 150 years. The functions of Government have been widely extended and society has grown so interdependent that it now takes a million hands to prepare a breakfast. We realize that we can not live alone and we understand now that the Nation is simply a large family, one depending upon the other. Consequently the natural trend of legislation in keeping with the economic and political development of our country has been to add new duties and new obligations to the State, and in the end each of these added responsibilities have turned out well for all concerned. The State demands more and more of the individual and in return manifests increasing concern for his welfare.

In keeping with this natural trend, public sentiment has grown to favor an equitable retirement system for Government employees, until now there is a remarkable unanimity of opinion on the subject. This is indicated by the indorsement of more than 100 city councils and a great number of State legislatures, as well as by approving declarations inserted as planks in all the leading political party platforms, including that of the dominant party. The people are ready for this legislation, public sentiment favors it, and there is not a single valid argument in opposition. Not one.

In the first place no one will challenge the assertion that a retirement plan will increase the efficiency of the service. The superannuated employee is with us now in alarming numbers and an awakened public conscience will quite properly not permit the discharge of old men and women although they may be little able to render efficient service. The enactment of a retirement law would furnish a means to definitely care for these deserving employees, provide young blood to fill their places, and immediately the service would respond to the newer strain.

Again, the argument of cost carries little weight because older employees contributing lesser service are displaced by young and active

ones. But this is but one phase of the cost argument—an argument which was similarily advanced when the workmen's compensation law was up for consideration. Experience has shown that when an employee is injured in production he must either fall back on his own meager resources or call upon charity. The case of the superannuate is just the same. Should the aged employee be discharged on account of disability, and left without a means of support, ultimately society, in one way or another, must pay the bill. A pension plan as contemplated in the pending measure simply proposes to place upon a well-established workable order a burden which is now borne by society but in a helter-skelter fashion.

Again, the effect of this legislation upon human character will be profound. Henry George, in his Progress and Poverty, calls attention to the fact that much of human misery arises from the fear of want. Once the worker realizes that his old age will not be afflicted by penury he takes a new attitude toward society and a new feeling of cheerfulness reposes within him. As in all similar legislations, whether the eight-hour day, the child-labor law, the compensation law, or what not, when once put in operation the effect has been beneficial, so will the enactment of this bill result in unmixed good to both the Government and the Government employees.

Primarily, I believe that the cost of a retirement plan should be borne entirely by the State. I believe that the chairman in the question he asked touched the crux of the issue. I believe that all the burden involved in caring for superannuated employees should be borne by the State on the principal that when a producer who has spent his life in useful production can no longer produce for society, then it becomes society's duty to care for that producer.

The same principle is involved in the workman's compensation law. When a workman or producer has been injured in the performance of duty this law provides that he shall be cared for until he is able to work again. It is a social obligation. The same obligation exists when we ask the Government to provide for its aged employees, and the experience with compensation laws which have been so favorably received will be exactly the same if retirement legislation is passed.

Therefore, Mr. Chairman, I wish to place the seal of approval of the National Association of Letter Carriers upon this proposed legislation and the principle involved therein and I trust it will meet with your approving consideration.

Mr. ALCORN. Mr. Chairman, Congressman Hamill has made quite a study of this subject, and we would be glad to have him heard.

The CHAIRMAN. I was just going to suggest that, as Mr. Hamill is a Member of the present House and will be in the next House, we would be glad to have his views on this matter of legislation.

STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES A. HAMILL, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY.

Mr. HAMILL. Mr. Chairman, I am very thankful for the invitation so graciously extended to me to say a word or two on this subject, which is the one of prime importance at the present time, outside of the winning of the war. I have had quite a little to do with the subject of pension legislation. At the request of several of the great