The Washington times., 1929-04-24
H D D We R AIMS.
To ABOLISH
i. POVERTY
By B. c. FORBES

What are some of the things
President Hoover plans to do. some
of the monuments he aspires to
raise to his Administration?
Apparertly Inside" informa-
tiofi comes from an unusual
source, Ii. Is extremely interest
ing
Presumably Secretary of State
Etirison would not give out any
thing concerning President Hoover
unless it were accurate. Inc
fact. that he pives to the public
extracts from an article written
by tha Washington correspondent
of the Berlin. Tageblatt Is suf.
ficient to indo1Se their basic ac-
curacy.. .,...,, -,
Abolition Of Poverty
Among other things We learn:
The President fundamental
object rs abolition of poverty.
The, Behefits of modern technique
shall come to the people as
whole. and individually. Equal
rights for all and not merely for
Wan Street and Rockefeller and
Morgan.
Accumulation of great capital
In the hands of a. few would be the
antithesis of the program. and
years ago Mr.. Hoover had declined
that for himself and had declared
that he could not regard the max
ing. of nancy as a life work"
How does President Hoover pro-
pose TO bring about his aims? We
reaL:
As. to means, the President be-
lievSs in mechanism, organization
Standardization. He will create
welfare department with Dr. Ray
LYMAN Wilbur at the head. So
ctal insurance and social hygiene
are then to be organized by the
central Government for the entire
land.
''The people are to be helped.
The promotion of wellbeing
through the promotion of good
health is the practical formula.
At this prospect high finance and
big industry are uncomfortable.
For if poverty is to be abolished,
the rich must pay the cost of it."
Industry's Rights
This statement will cause re-
sponsible business men to think
seriously. Note particularly the
reference to social insurance"
and also the statement that IF
poverty is to be abolished the rich
must pay the cost of 1t.
1t has been clear to thoughtful
industrialists and others that
either industry itself would have
to do more than it has yet done
to take care of those whose SER
vices it utilizes or that the Gov
ernment would undertake the
task.
President Hoover, one must
assume from the statements here
quoted sees need for govern
mental action and intends to face
the far-reaching problem.
Why should industry have the
untrammeled privilege of COM
rnanding the services of as many
thousands and millions of workers
as it desires one month and then,
the moment it chooses, throw
thousands upon thousands of its
workers into the streets, into idle
ness, into poverty?
Not Understood
How widespread is the bitter
ness created by the inconsiderate
discharge of workers through no
fault of their own is probably
only family understood by bust
ness executives because many of
them come into regrettably slight
contact with the class of human
beings who are taken on Tor a
busy period and then cast out
when the emergency passes.
If this condition exists during
a period when American pros
perity is held up as the envy of
the world, what conditions are
likely to arise hen the business
pendulum swings away from pros
perity, toward depression? Will
industry feel perfectly free to
scrap just as many workers as it
desires, without accepting any
obligation or responsibility as to
what becomes of them? If in
dustry refuses to lend a hand
toward supporting its human cast
offs, upon whom will or should
the burden fall? 1t cannot fall
upon the workers themselves if
they have neither work nor en-
ployment.
President Hoover presumably
has given this tremendously Sc
rious subject mature considera
tion and reached the conclusion
that the state must prepare itself
to have the problem solved,