The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1935-02-25
House Hearings on H. r. 1927
Are Summarized by Benjamin
Tells Congressman Bill
Represents Genius
ofU. S. Workers

LllEA Il III ESEIlLd blFto VINO dBDEdLEQ
before the House Committee on
Labor hearings on the Workers IN
employment. Old Age and Social
Insurance Bill. H. R 1927. Herbert
Benjamin, executive secretary Of the
National Joint Action Committee
for Genuine Unemployment Insur-
ance. laid bare the Roosevelt hun
ger program.
The summary Of his address fol-
lows
The hearings on H. r. 1927 have
served to corroborate and sustain
every claim that has been made in
behalf of this. the Workers Unem-
ployment, Old Age and Social In
suranee Bill In this as in many
other noteworthy respects, these
hearings stand out as the most
unique in Congressional history. The
hearings as well as the Bill itself
afford striking proof Of the fact
that the masses Of workers and
farmers, whom so-called statesmen
regard and treat with contempt,
can devise the measures that are
essential to their welfare. and can
the facts. figures and argu-
mentS as well as the forces needed
for support Of their measures. This,
it seems to me, is the most sig
nificant and outstanding conclusion
that can be drawn from these hear
ings.
Unity Behind H. r. 1927
Those who aspire to real democ-
racy, those who take pride in what
is the real America. namely, the
genius. res0urcefulness. intelligence,
perseverance and courage of the
American masses, will find in the
record of these hearings on H. R.
2527, a source Of real hope for our
future. These records establish the
fact that the masses Of producers,
the workers. farmers and profess
sionals are rapidly graduating from
a condition Of mere discomfort and
becoming intelligently aware of the
causes for these conditions. They
prove also that on at least one re-
measure, a high degree Of
unity has already been achieved.
That measure is the Workers IN
Old Age and Social In
surance Bill-H. R. 1927.
For those who have attended
these hearings and for those who
read this record. there can be no
question as to whether those who
here have a right to speak
for the masses. 1t was the masses
who spoke here. They
spoke through workers, farmers,
veterans and professionals who are
true spokesmen because They. come
from the very midst and depths Of
our toiling population. They came
from the chief industrial centers
and from the rural sections. They
came from the West as well as from
the East. from the South as well as
from the North. They represented
the most skilled and talented as well
as the most impoverished and UNI
derprivileged of the producers. They
each one Of them displayed earnest
ness, sincerity and a serious attempt
to inform themselves and others
such as is seldom encountered in a
legislative hearing. They demon
strated that they had arrived at
their conclusions in consequence Of
a searching study and analysis Of
their own experiences. And all of
them unanimously came to the same
firm conclusion-the Workers I'm
and Social Insurance
Bill is the one measure all need and
demand as the means Of meeting
the vital problem Of existence under
present dav conditions.
The testimony that has been re-
corded in these hearings also served
to answer clearly those who think
or profess to believe that the masses
who endorsed H. R. 1927 did so
simply because they favor some
kind of out of work insurance" and
not because they understand the
between this and other
measures and plans. Certainly even
the most simple and apparently UNI
tutored worker who has appeared
in these hearings has shown
greater awareness of differences as
between genuine and spurious So
cial insurance plans than most of
the members Of either house of this
Congress or any other legislative
body in this country can show. Even
when unable to phrase their views
perfectly, they have each one dis
played sometimes conscious and
sometimes instructive capacity to
differentiate as between genuine and
merely formal support of their pro-
gram. Members Of Congress will do
well to realize that the masses are
rapidly arriving to state of DO
litical maturity which makes pos
sible such a critical attitude. They
are no longer satisfied with blan-
dishment, with political diplomatic
ing which substitutes, as far as most
politicians are concerned, for earn
est service.
Life and Death Question
In relation to the life and death
question of social insurance, those
in power are bringing forward the
Wagner-Lewis spurious social Sc
curity bill. In these hearings. and
elsewhere, we workers have made
clear that we are not to be fooled
and defeated by this device any
more than by any other method
that may be employed to deprive
us Of social insurance. We expect
those members of Congress who
align themselves with us in the de-
mand for genuine social insurance
to fight as consistently and as re-
sourcefully as we do against those
who are opposed to us. We say il
you are for the Wagner-Lewis Bill,
then regardless of the reasons YOU
may give for this, you are effectively
and actually supporting the effort
of the ruling class to defeat our