Note 219 — Chapter IX · FEDERAL, STATE, MUNICIPAL EMPLOYÉS, AND TEACHERS’ PENSIONS

On January 12, 1821 a Massachusetts joint legislative Committee in a report on pensions submitted to the Legislature declared: “The contributory system has proved to be a success in the case of those State employés and teachers who have been brought into it. It places a reduced financial burden on the State and provides through the employé’s contributions a savings account which is payable to the employé or his estate in case of his resignation or death; it fixes an age at which all must retire, thus safeguarding the public service against inefficiency resulting from superannuation; it establishes a co-operative partnership between the employés and the public;—each shares in the management, each shares in the expense and each derives benefit from the system.”