The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-04-01
Widows Pensions.

The news comes from Albany, the capital OF
New York State, that the movement for the estab-
lishment of great scheme for widows pensions
fathcred by sensational journal in New York
City. has progressed SO far that bill for this
purpose has passed both houses of the legisla-
ture by large vote and now goes to the
governor who, it is said, will certainly sign it.
| This is discouraging tidings. Here is New
York, already confronted by difficult financial
problems the result of unwarranted and
thoughtless appropriations of public money by
Legislators for several years in the past propos-
ing to embark upon a costly and complicated
/; plan of public charity, whose ending no man can
foresce. The State formerly enjoyed, and still
enjoys, good credit. A few years ago it had no
State debt at all; but the result of diver
sions of public money of the same sort exactly
as that contemplated in the present bill and
through general reckless expenditure for all
sorts of needless purposes, the State has large
debt and faces, according to Gov. Whitman, a
direct tax upon the people of $4,000 900 for the
purpose of defraying current expenditures.
1t is the old story over again. Every political
party processes purposes of economy in the most
favorable way long it is party in opposi-
ton. The moment it gets in power it spends
money as lavishly its opponcnttdid, seemingly
careless of the results so far as the taxpayer is
ture is in large proportion of cases almost use
less.
The important phase of the situation is how
ever, the easy way in which legislators "fall' for
silly and harmful schemes like those contained in
the bill that has just passed the New York Iegis-
laturc. This program is similar to that COM
prised in the minimum wage law agitation which
has attained such a foothold in so many different
portions of the country. Cannot the people who
urge such projects and the legislators who vote
tor them be brought to understand that all these
schemes entail simply distribution of the general
money fund of the community which in the end
will impoverish the community unless something
is done at the same time to limit the number of
those who will receive the benefaction? In other
words, if everybody who is poor, weak or infrm
and even people who are not, are to be supported
gratis by the State the State in its turn must do
something to put 4 stop to the growth OF these
bcnehciaries. To say that everybody shall
ceivc minimum wage and that every widow
old person shall have pension, and at the same
time to allow and women to bring children
into the world at their will and thus indefinitely
increase the population of the country is to provide
endless outgo of money while a limited public
income is established to meet it.
The widows pension bill, which it is needless
to say is opposed by all the charitable organiza-
tons of New York State, proposes to set up Child
welfare boards" in every county and in all the
large cities of the State. The boards are to have
the power to pension any widowed mother who is
deemed to be the proper person to care for her
children. All this prompts the question whether
the people we send to State and national legis-
latures can be trusted any longer to appropriate
public money, whether not already in
an advanced state of Socialism