If he receives the former sum he lives in the slums; if the latter, he moves to a respectable neighborhood, clothes his family more fashionably and gives his children a better education. All the extra money received is returned to the Government in the form of a higher class citizenship. When accounts are balanced at the end of the year, the householder finds no cash to his credit. How can he provide for his old age? For years Goverment employees have sought to answer the question through annual bilis presented to Congress asking that body to create a retirement fund by deducting a perecentage from all civil salaries. At first the de. duction asked for was 2 per cent, but it was gradually increased to 5 per cent, and then the plan ended in "no thoroughfare." In the meantime, the Civil Service Reform League appointed a committee, of which Richard H. Dana was chairman, with instructions to devise some plan for the retirement of superannuated Government employees. The members of that committee, after patient research and ruature deliberation, drafted a bill providing deferred annuities for all new comers into the service and throwing the old officeholders upon the mercy of Congress, be cause the rates chargeable to the latter class were prohibitive. Now, after the lapse of years, it is interesting to speculate on the form of bill the House Committee would have presented had they amended the Reform League draft instead of shelving it. But no matter how interesting or instructive the line of reasoning may be, the inevitable conclusion is reached that a law granting annuities at a given age only, would fail to relieve the Departments, and, at the same time, spell hardship for old employees who broke down when almost within striking distance of the goal. It is, therefore, necessary to find some other solution and, outside of the Euglish Pension law, the bill drafted by the Federal Retirement Association, of Boston, seems the most practical. That measure provides that a trust company be chartered with extended powers; that 3 per cent each year, in monthly installments, shall be deducted from all classified salaries; that the money thus obtained shall be paid into the trust company to create a retirement fund; that until the interest of the said fund, together with deductions from salaries and profits from the trust company, shall guarantee to all incapacitated employees and those who have reached the age of 62 years, annuities ranging from 20 per cent of salaries, after ten years of service, up to 50 per cent after 25 years, the annultants shall be retained on the pay rolls and their salaries divided as follows: $600 a year shall be paid to substitutes, 40 per cent shall be granted the retired employees, and the balance, when the salaries are in excess of $1,000, shall be paid into the trust company. When the salaries are less than $1,000, the deficit shall be made up to the retired employees by the trust company; that, for five years after the law goes into effect, no employee shall receive a greater annuity than the 40 per cent herein specified; that after five years the annuities shall be increased to half pay, and that 3 per cent of salaries shall be deducted each year, in monthly installments, from the retired pay of annuitants until they have paid into the retirement fund the amount of abatements due for 25 years. The three vital points of the proposed plan are: (a) The formation of a trust company; (b) the employment of substitutes to serve instead of the incapacitated, and (c) the levy of a flat assessment rate. (a) The average wage earners view with alarm the idea of having anything to say about how their money shall be Invested, drop their savings into banks and leave their wealth and responsibility behind them. Legislators in the several States have made laws to protect these hoardings, and Massachusetts solons are supposed to lead in this respect. Members of Congress, in the Capitol at Washington, gravely point to the statutes to prove that the money of savings banks in Massachusetts may be loaned only on real-estate mortgages and certain specified bonds. But as a matter of fact, large blocks of savings-bank money in that State are used in the stock market. Take, for example, the Boston Five Cent Savings Bank, incorporated April 7, 1854. In a statement issued October 13, 1908, the bank shows deposits of $35,616,684.93 and loans on personal security of $8,091,000. This eeming violation of the law is approved by the bank commissioner and the bank is perfectly solvent. The case is cited only to show the way financiers do business and to suggest the wonderful possibilities of a trust company assured of a large monthly increase of wealth and an ultimate capitalization of three or four hundred millions, watched over by Congress and conservatism guaranteed under rules made by the President and Cabinet. (b) In theory, the employment of substitutes for the benefit of superannuated men and women is rank injustice, but in practice the arrangement would be found wholly impartial and of mutual benefit. It would relieve old employees who wish to retire; improve the condition of fortunate substitutes, and without additional cost, supply active young people for the Government service. As a matter of fact, in the postoffice, where conditions are hard, every substitute would thankfully accept one of the proposed places as a decided improvement over present arrangements, and those on the waiting lists for positions in other departments would gladly accept appointments as substitutes or proxies if they knew that such appointments meant promotions to the first vacancies. (c) If deductions from salaries of old and young are uniform, the latter will, of course, pay more for annuities, but if the amount taken from the young people is much less than the cost of annuities there is no hardship. The average age of entry into the Government service, as found by the Civil Service Reform League, is 28, and the monthly cost at that age of a $600 deferred annuity, payable at 70, would be $2.32; payable at 65 the cost would be $4.40 per month, and if annuitants received the benefit at 62, as proposed by this plan, the be increased premiums would to $6.19, which is more than double the abatements necessary for carrying this scheme to a successful conclusion. The Keep Committee assert that the average salary of classified employees, July 1, 1904, was $1,100, but, to keep will within bounds, it is wise to assume that the medium wage is $1.000 a year. In countries where pensions are paid, the ratio between the pensioned and employed is about as one is to seven; therefore it would require 7 1-7 per cent of all classified salaries to pay 50 per cent annuities to superannuated employees, and it is the object of this paper to demonstrate, to a mathematical certainty, that under this plan the money can be ob tained without additional cost to the Government, as the following statement and example will show: If this plan was law, the average salary $1,000, the substitutes working for $600, the incapitated receiving 40 per cent of their yearly pay, and the maximum ratio between the employed and retired had been reached; there would be seven in active service, each subject to a monthly deduction from salary of $2.50 against an eighth person relieved from duty and entitled, for five years, to an annual allowance of $400. After five years the annuitants' allowance would be increased to half pay, less $2.50 a month, to be deducted until the retired employees shall have paid $750 into the fund. At the end of thirty years the money paid into the fund by seven employees, improved by 4 per cent compound interest and plus Thus, with interest at 4 per cent, after thirty years this plan would be self-supporting. Given an average salary larger than $1,000 and the profits from the trust company the arrangement with substitutes could be discontinued much earlier. Boost the M. B. A. To gain such confidence as will merit and increase the membership of the M. B. A.. the Board of Trustees are using every effort in bringing to the attention of the N. A. L. C. members every feature connected therewith. It has been shown to you in these columns how you can beat old line companies' rates by taking out a policy in the M. B. A., and placing the difference that you pay for this policy in our M. B. A., and the amount that you would necessarily be compelled to pay to an old line company, into the savings bank, which would be about as follows, taking age 30 as a basis in both: Twelve monthly payments in an old line company, on a $1,000 policy, will average about $24.16; for a like amount in the M. B. A. you will pay $10.56, a difference in favor of the M. B. A. of $13.60 per year. It has also been shown how much money has been collected by the M. B. A. in all its years and the amount paid out to beneficiaries, which now amounts to over $1,080,000. The reserve fund on hand is, in round figures, $213,000, most all of it invested in first deeds of trust on real estate valued at more than $400,000, and all drawing on an average of 6 per cent. These various items showing the financial end of it, prove the high standing of the M. B. A. and needs but passing reference here. It establishes the fact that we have a very nice insurance feature and one that is growing stronger each succeeding month, also that we have an insurance system whose magnificent manner of protection places it with the leaders of fraternal societies, while its accomplishments in the fulfilling of its mission in relieving the wants of the loved ones, has won the highest praises from every Branch having M. B. A. members. It is our purpose to appeal to the N. A. L. C. members to continue to further assist in the movement of "Onward and Upward" that is now so prevalent in a large majority of Branches, by taking out a policy in the M. B. A. There is no doubt in my mind that if you will carefully consider your needs, and this naturally includes the needs of your dependents, you will come to the conclusion that a policy in this feature of our association is what you need. The Board requests you to consider the rates, general cost, etc., compare them with other safe fraternal or old line insurance societies, and if you will do this, the Board knows what the result will be-another member for the M. B. A. Few of us are so poor that we can not afford to carry a policy, but the truth is, that the poorer the man is, the more certain it is that he needs to provide in some way to protect his dependents, and the M. B. A. offers him this opportunity at cost; for while he lives he can not possibly save enough to make life, after his demise, fairly for his wife and children. Fewer still are so wealthy that an extra one, two or three thousand dollars, in case of his death, would embarrass his dependents. It is therefore readily seen that the members of the N. A. L. C. could do nothing better than join the M. B. A. and help build it up, at the same time providing for their families. comfortable continued monthly deductions from salaries, will retire one annuitant. EXAMPLE. For five years, seven employees pay $17.50 a month into a fund improved by 4 per cent compound interest, and the amount is placed at 4 per cent compound interest for 25 years. After five years the annuitant receives $70 a year from the $17.50 a month contributed by the seven in active service, and the remaining $11 2-3 a month is placed at 4 per cent compound interest for 25 years with the following result: $17.50 per month, at 4 per cent compound interest for 5 years..$1,162.07 Show your willingness to help yourself and the brother members will help you. We shall endeavor at this time to give you a clear statement on, "What is Life Insurance." Life insurance, as it is viewed by all practical men, is a convenient way of investing one's money when in good health, by small monthly payments, payable at death to his dependents. It is a form of laying up money, providing for the proverbial "rainy day" for the family. It is investing when you are prosperous, building up a surplus for your wife and children when you are gone. If every one of us was so situated that he could invest beyond the reach of misfortune a small sum every year for thirty to fifty years, he would be laying up just the same, only he would have to take care of it himself; and he would be very likely to overlook it some years, or invest it at a great risk, again he may be so unfortunate as to have sickness in the family or himself be disabled, whereas if he had an M. B. A. policy, the Board of Trustees would be looking after his interests. Your attention is called to the fact that the M. B. A. rates are founded upon very close figures, taking into consideration the expectancy of the life of the applicants at given ages; consequently it is possible for you to receive insurance at positively cost in the M. B. A. There is a reasonable expectation founded on observation, that at a given age a person will live a certain length of time. Nature tells a man reaching the age of 45 in a sound and healthy condition, you have conformed to nature's laws of health and morality, and your expectation of life is enhanced thereby very greatly. In a degree we all realize that there is a penalty for violating the laws of nature by shortening the prospects of long life. This is the expectancy, but in reality we will all admit that life is a gamble, consequently a nonM. B. A. member can show his wisdom by taking out a policy, payable at death, because it not only benefits his dependents after his death by providing for them, but it makes him more economical and frugal in his expenditures, cuts off, in a measure, some indulgences which would waste his means, and gives quiet to his mind in troubles, and especially in sickness and apparent death overtaking him. He would not look in sorrow at his wife and children's prospects, at his death, loaded as is often the case with heavy expenses during his illness, funeral expenses and many more items, and in connection with all the foregoing, be thrown upon the world without means of making a living wage, and at a time when worry will go far to waste away all the energies he possesses. To insure in the M. B. A. is not only not wrong, but it is a duty we all owe to our dependents. We have no right to leave those that are depending upon our love and care, to the chances of making a livelihood in this world of the survival of the fittest. Is there anything so pitiful, so helpless, as a woman whose husband has just died, when with her children at her back, she goes out to fight for bread? Shall she become a menial in somebody else's household? No; not the one who has been making life worth the living and has filled the household all these years with joy and happiness. How any man, with no large amount of wealth at his command, but still enough to pay on an M. B. A. policy, can refuse to do it, and then look his wife and children or other dependents in the face without a blush, is a mystery that has never been fathomed. It is such utter indifference of many persons on this important subject, life insurance, that accounts for considerable of the distress and pauperism of our day. Don't you be the one to say, "I know what you say is so; it is the proper and necessary thing for me to do, and I will attend to it sometime." That some time may never come, so attend to it TODAY. Do not begin by putting it off until tomorrow; for tomorrow may never come for you. JOHN SCHIMMELPFENNIG. The Mutual Benefit Association NASHVILLE, TENN., March 1, 1909. Assessment No. 181 is due from all members in good standing on the first day of April, 1909, and must be paid before the twentieth day of April, 1909. A MEMBER FAILING TO PAY THIS ASSESSMENT ON OR BEFORE THE TWENTIETH DAY OF APRIL, 1909, IPSO FACTO DISCONNECTS HIMSELF FROM THIS ASSOCIATION AND RENDERS VOID HIS BENEFIT CERTIFICATE DURING THE PERIOD OF DISCONNECTION. See Law 6, Section 9; also Law 7. The advanced assessment paid by members admitted during the month of April is placed to their credit on Assessment No. 181. See Law 6, Section 1. Total... $55,488.98 Amount on hand Received since: Total receipts Total Disbursed: Feb. 9...906..A. A. Alexander.. 14.00 25.00 10.00 Feb. 15...910.. Folk-Keelin Ptg. Co.....3,500 Envelopes.. 12.75 . Prizes. Services for Feb. 3.00 75.00 Total Balance March 1, 1909 STATEMENT OF MEMBERSHIP. $192.75 $2,493.84 War. Letter Carriers' National Sick Benefit Association (RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION) SICK AND ACCIDENT INSURANCE -ANNUITIES THIS ASSOCIATION PAYS AN INDEMNITY OF EIGHT (18.00) DOLLARS A WEEK for loss of time resulting from disability caused by accident or disease FOR A PERIOD OF TWENTY WEEKS in any year, the said indemnities to be drawn at one or at different times during the year, AT A COST OF 55 CENTS A MONTH if under 51 years of age and 80 cents a month if the member is over that age. The above named sums include the per capita tax, which is five cents a month. Benefits begin the second week in case of sickness, but are paid from the first day in case of accident. Benefits are paid for fractional parts of a week, after the first week of disability, in all cases. Benefits are paid by check through the local clerks, who act as the agents of this Association in each branch. Certificates are in force and benefits are payable on them thirty days after the date of their issue. Members who leave the letter carrier service may retain their membership in this Association. QUALIFICATIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP All letter carriers who are in good health and not over 65 years of age, who are members in good standing in a branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers are eligible to membership. HOW TO BECOME A MEMBER Apply to the local clerk for an application blank. Fill out the same and return it, with the necessary application fees, to him. If the Branch is without a clerk apply direct to the chief clerk of the Retirement Association, John T. Mugavin, Cincinnati, Ohio. In that case, if your application is approved, you not only become the first member of this Association in your branch, but its local clerk as well, and will be entitled to hold that office until your successor is elected or appointed. But whoever holds the office must be a member of the Retirement Association. NOTICE TO CLERKS All remittances, on account of monthly dues, must be forwarded by you in time to be received at the Chief Clerk's office not later than the 20th of each month, Monthly reports of the number and standing of the membership in each Branch, on the blanks furnished by the Association, must be forwarded with the remittance. All other remittances and reports should be promptly forwarded and especial care taken in the matter of members' claims for benefits, to see that the applications for same are properly filled out and are made as soon as the benefits are due. Prompt applications for benefits will ensure their speedy payment, if correct, and in view of this assurance it would seem to be the duty of every clerk to get these claims in on time. Application for Membership," "Application for Sick Benefit" and "Monthly Report" blanks, also "Members' Receipt Books" will be furnished on application to the Chief Clerk. Cash on hand.................... 1,329.25 $9,233.03 We have yet to meet with a letter carrier who did not say that the National Sick Benefit Association was a good thing and that the idea was right, and we believe that the above report of disbursements for the month of February goes a long way to show that the idea is right and that the N. S. B. A. is a good thing. To any member of the N. A. L. C. who may have any doubts on the subject we take the liberty of referring him to any one of the forty men whose names appear in the above list. It is now three years since the first member was accepted and we now have over 2,200 members in good standing. The Canton convention found us with 594 members, the result of eighteen months of hard work in an effort to show just what could be accomplished along these lines, and an increase of more than 1,600 members has been the result of lots of hard work since the Canton convention. The cash in the disability fund at the last meeting was a little over $1,500 and the present report shows cash on hand for the payment of disability claims to the amount of $7,900, demonstrating beyond the question of a doubt that the general health of the members taken in is all that could be desired. The financial exhibit also shows our ability to meet all claims and to make good all the promises set forth in our certificate of membership. We believe we have the nucleus of the best fraternal, health, and accident insurance in the United States and only ask for the cooperation of the rank and file to be able to pay more for less money than any other similar organization. We wish that every Branch in the country would make the Disability Association the subject of a discussion at their next meeting. Bring it up and talk it over and see the good that may come of membership therein, have your president appoint a clerk to attend to the taking of applications and instruct him to write to the chief clerk for application blanks and circular matter relative to the association. Now, we know that there is lots of room for just such work, because our membership is confined to about three hundred Branches, and although this office sent out a circular letter containing a return card and a request to send the name of some member who would be willing to act as local clerk, we have received responses from less than 50 per cent of the Branches affiliated. This is a matter that should be given the closest attention as there is no feature of the N. A. L. C. in which the members should be more interested than the one that guarantess an income when you are not able to earn one. The cost is slight and the benefits as great as you can get anywhere for the money and as great as is consistent with a safe management. We are desirous of increasing the membership in order to make this the association to which all letter carriers can turn in time of need and to that end we ask all those who are now enrolled to try and interest someone else. Postmaster Hitchcock Washington, D. C. No. 4 WASHINGTON, D. C., APRIL, 1909 The statement is frequently made, following the appointment of a man to some responsible position, that he is eminently qualified for the post, and that his appointment has given general satisfaction. Ofttimes the statement is sincere and a deserved tribute to ability and worth; occasionally it is inspired by ulterior motives or a mistaken idea as to what constitutes general satisfaction. But in the selection by President Taft of Hon. Frank H. Hitchcock to be Postmaster General, the press, the public, and the postal employees are unanimous in the belief that, out of our eighty millions of people, no better choice could have been made. So closely is the postal service allied to the successful conduct of the vast interests of the business world, that he who would be the ideal head of this Department must possess the confidence of business men; must have a comprehensive knowledge of the needs of the public, and the executive ability to adapt the service to changing business conditions. Such a man is Mr. Hitchcock. Though young in years, his life has been so crowded with study and work that, gauged by the standard of achievement, his has been a long life. As a schoolboy at play, when he captained his baseball team; as a student at Harvard; as biologist in the Department of Agriculture; as chief clerk in the Department of Commerce and Labor; as assistant to the chairman of the Republican National Committee; as secretary of the Inaugural Committee; as First Assistant Postmaster General; as chairman of the Republican National Committeein all of these diversified callings Mr. Hitchcock has observed but one standard-excellence. And that he has attained that standard in the many responsible posts to which he has been assigned, none will deny. The long and unbroken line of successful achievements to his credit are pointed to with pride by his friends as entirely the outcome of his great ability and indomitable energy. It is a long and hard road that leads from the position of biologist in the Agricultural Department to the proud eminence of a Cabinet portfolio, and the more one ponders over the rise of this remarkable man the greater his wonder grows that any one could, by his unaided efforts, have accomplished so much in such a short space of time. The Post Office Department will furnish this many-sided genius full scope for his superabundant energy and executive ability. With his profound knowledge of the complexities of our postal system, gained by keen observation and exhaustive study of its workings, from the executive departments down to the humblest details, the country is assured of a clean-cut, businesslike administration, while the great army of postal employees will be incited to do their "level best" by the knowledge that at the helm is one who will recognize and appreciate their endeavors to perfect a model service. In addition to his mental and other equipments for the position is to be added physical vigor of the first order, Mr. Hitchcock being cast in an athletic mold. When it is taken into consideration that the work entailed by his office is onerous and intricate to the last degree-none of which he will shirk-it will be seen that this latter qualifi cation is by no means unimportant. Postmaster General Hitchcock needs no introduction to the letter carriers of the country, who have long admired him for his attainments and loved him for the many acts of kindness and justice of which they have been the recipients at his hands. None who was present will ever forget the great outburst of applause that greeted his appearance on the convention platform at Canton, Ohio. This spontaneous welcome was in partial acknowledgment of the great debt of gratitude the National Association of Letter Carriers owes to him who had been one of the chief factors in securing some of the benefits we now enjoy. The National Association of Letter Carriers predicts for Mr. Hitchcock a most successful administration, and pledges its best efforts toward securing that end. "Soon or late I know you will see that to do right brings good, and to do wrong brings misery." For the information of our members we desire to state that the $155,000 appropriated by Congress for pay of letter carriers in second-class postoffices eligible for promotion to the fifth or $1,100 grade is sufficient to promote 50 per cent of the carriers to that grade. Congress also appropriated sufficient money to provide for the promotion of 50 per cent of the carriers in first-class offices who will be eligible for promotion to the sixth or $1,200 grade. Sufficient appropriation has been made to provide for the payment of the salaries of all carriers now serving in the $1,200 grade, and the carriers in that grade need have no fear of their salaries being reduced unless it be for violating the Postal Rules and Regulations, and the reduction is made as a matter of discipline. The appropriation is also sufficient to cover the automatic promotions in all other grades. The Department has not made any rules as yet governing the manner in which the promotions of the 50 per cent of the carriers will be made, but we are of the opinion that as soon as a definite conclusion is arrived at the postmasters will be notified by circular letter from the Post Office Department. "The true solace for all private troubles is to lose yourself in your work." Congressman John A. Sterling, of Illinois, introduced in the House of Representatives last session a bill which, in case it becomes a law, will be of interest and benefit to the Government Liability Law letter carriers of the country. The bill renders the Government of the United States liable to its civilian employees for injury or death by accident arising out of or in the course of employment. This bill applies to all the civilian employees of the Government whose salary is less than three thousand dollars per year. If the injury is slight or does Lot continue for more than fifteen days, or if it is due to the misconduct of the employee, no compensation shall be paid. These questions are left to be determined by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor. In case of injury the employee shall receive his usual salary for a period of six months if his disability on account of such injury continues for that length of time. At the end of six months the Secretary of Commerce and Labor shall cause an examination to be made, and if it appears that the employee is permanently incapacitated, then the monthly payment shall cease and he shall receive a lump sum in payment of damages for the injury of not less than $3,500 nor more than $7,500, according to the provisions of the bill. If death results from the injury the Government shall pay to dependent relatives, if any, not less than $2,000 nor more than $5,000. If deceased employee leaves relatives only partially dependent on his earnings, the Government shall pay not to exceed the sum of $1,800, the Secretary of Commerce and Labor to determine the amount. Payments made to dependent relatives shall be divided among them as the Secretary of Commerce and Labor deems equitable and just. In case the employee leaves no dependent relatives, then the Government is liable only for burial expenses not exceeding $150. This bill was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. The bill was not reported to the House at the last session, but it is understood that Mr. Sterling will reintroduce the bill at the next session of Congress and hopes to see it enacted into law. A decision just rendered by the United States Court of Claims reaffirms the victory gained by the letter carriers of the smaller postoffices of Greater New York in their longstanding contest for readjustment of their salaries from January 1, 1898, to June 30, 1907. Court of Claims Decision The question arose out of the provisions of the second section of the salary act of 1887 providing "That there may be in all cities which contain a population of seventy-five thousand or more three classes of letter carriers, as follows: Carriers of the first class, whose salaries shall be one thousand dollars per annum," etc. Long Island City, N. Y., has always been, and still is, a separate and independent postoffice, having a population of less than seventy-five thousand within its delivery limits. Prior to 1898 it was also, by the laws of New York, an independent city of that State. By the terms of the Greater New York charter, which took effect January 1, 1898, it became a part of the city of New York. It was claimed by the carriers that from the moment of its consolidation with New York City, the carriers of Long Island City became carriers serving within a city of more than seventy-five thousand inhabitants, and therefore entitled to the benefits of the larger salaries allowed by law to carriers in such cities. The Postmaster General admitted that there was sufficient ground for this claim to warrant him in seeking a decision of the Court of Claims. He therefore referred their applications to the Court of Claims. The matter was most elaborately argued by Mr. George A. King, of George A. and William B. King, on behalf of the carriers. He maintained that the purpose of Congress, as shown in the enactment of the law of 1887, was that all letter carriers serving within the limits of a municipality of more than seventy-five thousand population were entitled to the higher salaries without regard to whether the office at which they served was a branch postoffice or postal station or an independent office with its own postmaster. This view was accepted by the Court of Claims, who, on the 4th of May, 1908, in an elaborate opinion, delivered by Barney, J., expressed the following opinion: "It is the opinion of the court that since January 1, 1898, the carriers attached to the postoffice at Long Island City were entitled to the benefits of Section 2 of the act of January 3, 1887." Counsel for the United States immediately moved for a new trial, claiming that the court was mistaken in its application of the law, but this motion was promptly overruled by the court. He then applied to be allowed to take an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. King insisted that the case was not of an appealable class. The court had enough question in regard to this subject to order the whole case to be reargued. Unfortunately, by this time the judge who delivered the opinion was suffering from a prolonged illness. Immediately upon his return, however, on the 4th of January, 1909, the case was elaborately reargued on the facts and the law. It was held under consideration by the court for about two months. Finally, on the first of March, 1909, the court announced its decision, adhering to its former view favorable to the claims of the carriers. It is now hoped and believed that Postmaster General Hitchcock will direct that the mandate of the Court of Claims to be carried into effect and the salaries readjusted. The decision covers all the carriers of the smaller postoffices incorporated by the Greater New York charter into the municipality of New York City. Throughout the progress of this matter before the Departments, Congressman William W. Cocks, of the Long Island City district, has taken all action proper to be taken by a Representative in Congress, and should the question of appropriation to carry out the decision of the Court of Claims come up in Congress, he is sure to be an active and zealous advocate of justice to the carriers. "So over the plains and prairies, over the mountains and seas, over cities and towns, in palaces, tenements, moving wagons, dugouts, cottages, hovels, sleeping cars, day coaches, cabooses, cabs, in solitary cells behind prison bars, or wandering out under the stars, my heart goes out to you, and I wish you well. Only love do I send, and a desire to bless and benefit." Another session of Congress has passed without provision being made for the payment of the overtime claims of letter carriers, which were excepted from the judgments heretofore rendered because not filed in the Court of Claims within six years, and although the bill did not become a law, the developments in connection with it are such that those who have followed it most closely feel reassured and believe that the claims will be paid. Overtime Claims of Letter Carriers In January, 1908, the Senate passed a bill providing for the payment of these claims alone, and the same was referred to the House Committee on Claims. Hon. Augustus P. Gardner, of Massachusetts, and Mr. George A. King, of the firm of George A. and William B. King, who represent a large number of the carriers, appeared before the committee and made arguments in favor of the payment of these claims, and so far as could be learned the committee, with the exception of one or two members, expressed themselves as being in favor of their payment. Shortly after this the House passed what is known as the Omnibus Claims Bill. This is a bill in which it is customary to provide for the payment of various classes of cases. The bill as it passed the House of Representatives contained little but Southern war claims. When it reached the Senate it was amended by having added several other classes of cases the French Spoliation cases, in which nearly all of the States of the Atlantic seaboard are interested; some Navy pay cases, and the letter carriers' claims, which are distributed over the entire country. In addition to these items there were a number of miscellaneous cases added. This bill finally passed the Senate in its amended form on the 29th of January, 1909. It then went back to the House and was referred to the War Claims Committee, which committee voted to non-concur in the Senate amendments, the object of this being to send the bill to conference with a view to reconciling the differences between the two Houses. This procedure was blocked in the House by certain parliamentary tactics that were adopted and the bill died, for it was not reached on the calendar. So far as can be learned, the objectionable items were certain miscellaneous claims which had not passed through the Court of Claims. Hundreds of letters were received by Members of Congress from their constituents and the Members almost to a man took up the matter actively on their behalf and did what they could toward getting the bill through. This general interest on the part of the claimants and on the part of their Representatives in Congress is the most encouraging feature of the situation. If the matter comes to a vote, the bill will undoubtedly pass by an overwhelming majority. As these claims are just and meritorious ones, and their payment having been recommended by the Court of Claims and officers of the Government who inquired into them, it is thought when the financial condition of the country improves that Congress will be a little more liberal and just toward its creditors, and particularly to these letter carriers and the widows and orphans of those who have passed away waiting for the payment of these claims. "See that your children be taught not only the labors of the earth, but the loveliness of it." "To escape criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing." At the request of Branch 28, of St. Paul, Minn., which has been approved by the National Executive Board, the Seventeenth National Convention will convene in St. Paul during the week beginning August 30 and ending September 4. It has been customary in the past to open our conventions on Labor Day, the first Monday in September, but a change in date was found necessary this year on account of the Minnesota State fair being held midway between St. Paul and Minneapolis during that week. The change in date has been made for the convenience of the delegates, as it would be impossible to make any satisfactory arrangements to accommodate the delegates and visitors to the National Convention if it were held during the same week as the State fair. The personification of imbecility is the fellow who fondly imagines that the world is breathlessly awaiting his opinion as to how things should be run. |