Evening star., 1934-10-22

object is to destroy wealth and the
profit system. I realize that wealth is
| not evenly distributed, but this, be-
lieve, can and will be corrected with
out changing the fundamentals of our
social order"
DR.. Townsend premises his plan on
the fact that there were, according to
the 1880 census. 100000 men and
women in the United States over so
years old. Assuming that 10000, 600
of these apply for the pension and are
accepted, he calculates that S2,o00,-
600 900 would be put into circulation
every month. The booklet he has
circulated proposes that this be de-
frayed by a sales tax, estimated at l0
per cent, but he now suggests trans
actions tax, applying to every turn
over of goods or services, the rate OF
which he believes would need to be
much less and perhaps as low as 2
per cent.
New Government Function.
1--WE say" he said, that in order
to avoid unemployment we've got 10
bring consumption up to the point
where it will match the Nations pro-
ductive ability, and We, can do that
only by the Government assuming
new function of circulating money in
definite quantity. u4s.
isn't it ridiculous that in country
which is qualified to produce so mucn
wealth, one-third of our people are
chronically poor. The dole system,
under which we are now working,
is vicious. 1t tends to destroy
the character of the people TO
whom it is paid, and this becomes
the more so the longer it is continued.
This is proved in England, where there
are many men 80 years old today who
never have worked.
IF our civilization has any value,
let us make the most OF 1t. Let us
create a group of citizens emeritus.
reaping the reward of their years OF
toll and enabling the Nation at the
same time to utilize their brains and
experience instead of discarding them
like worn-out shoes"
why should the pension be given
to people who are not in need OF it?"
DR.. Townsend was asked.
"Well-to-do people can add just as
much to purchasing power by their
spending as any others, and the main
purpose of this plan is to increase
purchasing power and to take elderly
people out of employment. The plan
assumes, of course, that if people OF
this sort are to receive the pension,
they must surrender their work to
younger hands. They must with
draw themselves from the machinery
of production.
New Currency Not Needed.
Similarly, I would pay the pension
to people in the slums, the Negro
sections and the hillbilly districts
Let's give all these people access to
money and see how quickly they will
snap out of their present backward
conditions"
Would this require new issue of
currency?" the doctor was asked.
mo, it requires no change whatever
in the currency system"
How would you insure that the pen
sions would be spent within 80 days?"
THAT is easy" he said. "The money
would be deposited in bank and
checked out If man takes an oath
to spend the money. and knows that,
unless he does SO. his next payment
will be cut off. think there will be no
question about his spending it,"
Petitions containing more than l.
100000 names already have been COL
lected in California and the circula-
ton of petitions just now is being
begun in the country at large.
I'VE have found that 95 per cent of
the people approached sign the petit
tions," Dr. Townsend said.
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