Evening star., 1935-01-06
RELIEF
EFFORTS SCORNED
Congress for Unemploy.
ment Insurance Critical
in Opening.

Short Of temper and patience TO-
ward unemployment relief efforts and
promises of the Roosevelt administra-
ton and many individuals the Ma
tional Congress for Unemployment
and Social Insurance opened here
yesterday.
Throughout the two sessions held
in the afternoon and evening. the
dominant note was one of criticism
and denunciation of President Roose-
welt, big business interests whom he
was declared to have befriended, and
individuals such as Upton Sinclair,
DR.. Townsend, Father Coughlin and
Senator Huey P. Long, who have Of
fered social security ideas of their
own.
Lundeen Bill Lauded.
In an approving direction, speakers
at the congress lauded H. r. 1927,
introduced to the new United States
Congress by Representative Lundeen,
Farmer-Laborite, of Minnesota Even
this measure, however, failed to find
complete approval and its author was
accused of "timidity" because of his
failure to specify that strikers should
be fully eligible to all unemployment
insurance benefits. The accusation
was made by Herbert Benjamin, ex-
ecutive secretary Of the congress, who
admitted, however. that the bill rep
resents the only approach to a gen.
uine system Of unemployment, old age
and social insurance for the United
States"
Introduction Of this measure in the
United States Congress was termed
by Mary Van Kieeck, national chair
man of the Interprofessional Asso-
ciation for Social Insurance, princi-
pal speaker at the evening session,
as being the first practical step to
enact adequate social legislation.
Miss Van Kleeck was a member of
the Presidents Conference on I'm
employment in 1921, member of the
Hoover Committee on Unemployment
and Business Cycles, chairman of
the Program Committee of the World
Social Economic Congress in Amster-
dam, Holland. in 1881; president of
the International Conference on So
cial Economic Planning, held last
month at Russell Sage Foundation:
director of industrial studies at the
foundation, fellow of the economic
section Of the American Association
for Advancement of Science, and
president of the International Con-
ference of Social Work at Frankfort
on-Main in 1892.
The workers bill puts forward a
new concept of social insurance" Miss
Van Kleeck said, namely, that con-
tinuity of average income, with an es-
tablished minimum equal to a living
standard, must be assured through
governmental action as a first charge
upon the economic system. This con-
trasts sharply with past procedures in
American industry, which have pro-
vided no governmental insurance, but,
on the contrary, left the whole burden
upon the workers, who are paid only
during periods of production"
Other Speakers.
Other speakers of the evening were
T. Arnold Hill of the National Urban
League, Israel Amter of the National
Unemployed Council, Waldo McNutt
of the Y. M. c. A., Elmer johnson
Of the Central Labor Council and
Representative Lundeen. The latter
promised to carry on an active cam
paign in behalf Of passage Of his work.
ers' bill "a
About 5000 delegates representing
Communist, Socialist and other politi-
cal groups, several trade and labor
units and numerous fraternal organi-
cations, attended the first days ses-
sions
First action Of the convention was
to respond to call by a temporary
chairman to raise $26 to defray the
court charges Of two delegates being
held for speeding in Laurel, Md. The
offenders were from Camden, N. j.,
and the head Of the New Jersey dele
cation at the convention undertook
the task Of succoring his companions.
F. Elmer Brown Of the International
typographical Union presided at the
sessions