The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-12-20
OLD AGE POVERTY
STATE PENSIONS CONDEMN
ED-INSANE POOR.
Various Phases of Great Social Problem
Discussed Before Orange Chari-
ties Conference.

The connection of old age with poverty
and a discussion of its many interesting
aspects and a claim thai State pensions to
the aged would not be of great help We're
f~eatures at the Charities conference of the
Oranges held yesterday afternoon in the
Charities building in Essex avenue, Or
arge. The speakers were the Rev. Adolph
Roeder. OF Orange, and Frederick L.
Hoffman. statlstician of the Prudential IN
surance Company. The conference was at
tended by a large assemblage.
Il hold that the agitation for State PEN
sions in the United States is ill-advised, :
said Mr.. Hoffman, in that the problem
of poverty In old age. as generally met
with. is primarily the result of ill-spent
years. or i~ll-spent earnings, or ill-spent
savings. What is needed most is rational
education in household economics. Poverty
Is a relative term. and its actual extent
is much less than generally assumed. OF
real pauperism there Is, as yet, very little
in this country, and the economic condl-
ton %precludes the growth of a permanent
pauper class.
The agitation for old age pensions in
truth and in fact has not come from those
who would be the beneficiaries under the
proposed measures or plans, out rather
from those who feel strongly, but reason
badly, upon the facts in the case. The
vast majority Of wage earners are fully
aDle TO provide Tor Lnelf own Olu age out
of savings deducted from present earnings,
amply sufficient to meet a reasonable
standard of living. 1t requires no very
extended knowledge of the life of the poor
to know that among them exists, in spite
of poverty. the highest possible ideals Of
a true family life.
"The chief safeguard against poverty
and dependence in old age Is a thoroughly
sound and w-ell-conducted family life, such
as prevails in the preponderating majority
of American homes. In this truly lies the
strength of the people, and not in the
money in the banks. nor, for that matter,
In policies of insurance, or in contracts of
annuities. All these are means to an end,
but Mt the root of the problem of poverty
and old age lies the proper conception of
individual responsibility, and this, no
doubt. would be weakened and partly de-
stroyed by reliance upon State support in
1T IS one of the most unfortunate ten
denotes of modern times to misuse the
English language and to adopt a form of
expression to cloak the insidious character
of certain traits. In a problem of this
kind 1t is of the utmost Importance that
mere should De no mlsunderstandlng, ana
Il Is an imperative duty to use words in
their right meaning. Any system of State
pensions is charity in another form, In
that the funds have been derived from
others than those who will benefit by its
distribution. The specious argument Is
sometimes made that the poor have spent
and that in return they are entitled by
right to adequate support. In fact, the
recommendations of the Royal Commits
sion of Australia on old-age pensions dis
tinctly concede this point by holding that
It should be laid down in the proposed
legislation that 'old-age pensions are to be
granted as a right, and not as an act of
charity
III ere would no doubt be a saving IN
outdoor relief. but most of this would
merely be a shifting Of the tax burden,
Which would continue under another nanle.
The facts are not known MS to the pro-
portion of persons in this State, or through
out the United States, who are now in re-
ceipt of outdoor relief, in some form or
another, and who have attained to the age
of sixty-five and over. The. vast majority
of the aged poor, as distinct from the
pauper class. are in part supported by rela-
uves and friends, which. under any cir
eumstances, must be the most satisfactory
solution of n social problem of serious inn
portance. Once a system of state pensions
is adopted, this support will largely fail,
and it is more than likely that the effect
will be progressively downward, and affect
the development of thrift and mutual self
help of other classes than those who would
be the immediate benefciaries under a
state pension fund
The State should only as a last resort
attempt to do thai which can possibly ne
done by private agencies, or by individual
forethought and forbearance, and moth
Iig should be done which Is likely to dis
courage voluntary thrift In whatever direc-
ton that thrift MAJ be exercised"
Rev. Fir. Roeder took up three objects OF
Tie DOU DFODiGIns F1fkI, inc grunge
Poor FARM secondly. the habit of util-
izing INDECENT males in municipal work as
far as possible, and thirdly, the aged poor
IN a municipal aspect. On this latter point
he said.
IF / may call the county and the State
an enlarged municipality which virtually
they are, we may move into the centre OF
of the aged and llflrm poor 1t is in
these institutions that the most serious as
pect of this question presents itself, Pow
asfxy a a a no clio factor In fhn nrn6upfinn nf
Insanity is so tragically palpable as TO re-
quire no comment. A walk through the
rooms of an Insane asylum will amaze the
spectator with the number of old men and
women who close their life in the asylum.
There is the old. old story. There ars
more women than men, because the social
fabric of which we are part and which
was built mostly in the past, but of which
we are reconstructing same parts and add
ing new wings, so to speak. was built upon
the idea that mar was the hreadwinner,
woman the dependant. And hence there
seem to he more dependent women than
men in many cases.
Nor Is 1t hard to understand the process
by which the breakdown of mental tissue
leads to the insane ward of Overlook
or Norris Plains. There is poverty 10
begin with. There Is marriage, the hard
life which comes after marriage. The
taking IN Of wishing on the part of the
woman, anxiety about the rent, anxiety
about the loss of labor, anxiety about the
husband being laid off, anxiety about the
children, usually a little army of children
with all the hardship that their birth and
care involve; there is i'll health and the
drink to which the man takes; there is
the use of the dulling drug which is to
help over the pain of today by the stupor
of tmorrow-all these and a thousand
more tend to break down the mental fibre,
the actual brain tissue. and on the records
of our asylums are given in grim figures
the ultimate additiYe results of this
method of social economy. II is a marvel
thai the percentage Is not heavier than
it actually is.
And then comes the stage Of age de-
pendence. The Drawn and brain of man
and woman are exhausted by this fierce
struggle for life, which has been handed
down to us as an Inheritance from our
ancestors and their unwisdom. Bravely we
try to face 1t. Here are our facts. DR..
r. p. Evans, medical director Of Norris
4 Plains, writes in answer TO our question:
In reply to the question as TO per-
centage of old people In this hospital, |
beg to say that we have gone over our
records carefully, case by case. and. the
result shows that 1853 per cent, of patients
under care and treatment in this hospital
arc 60 years OF age and over
This for the State institution. Tlc
County OF Essex has its institutions In
South Orange avenue and at Overlook
the latter being the new institution into
which the patients of the old are gradr-
ally being transferred. DR.. Dill reports
from Overlook, which report covers both
institutions. that so per cent. of the
patients there are over fifty years OF age.
are INDECENT. and have no friends TO sup
port or care for them. This Is a tragic
- - = LNA.Na.