Evening star., 1935-12-14
The Townsend Party.

It was probably inevitable that the
Townsened old-age pensionites would
undertake to form a political party. If
and when the party is formed it will put
forward candidates for Congress and tor
President, it is said. If the party is to
get anywhere in the long run it Will
have to get down to the grass roots and
nominate candidates for sheriff and
clerk. The supporters of national pro-
hibition long ago organized national
party and put forward their choice Tor
President every four years. The Social
lists have had a presidential candidate
for q long time. When DR.. F. f.
Townsend announced his plan for a
two-hundred- -dollarfa month pension Tor
every person in the United States sixty
wears of age or older, it sounded to lot
of people like the promised land. Un-
sound as the proposal is, thousands OF
nersons have fallen over themselves
getting in line for it, encouraged by
clever propaganda.
BECAUSE, 1lhC ObA4CA RN4P$SNN~ ~~-SN---
machine ideas, the Townsend plan would
bog down and place disastrous burdens
on the people. neither the Democratic
nor the Republican party has espoused
1t. In Congress too many members on
both sides of the aisle have temporlzed
with it; too many have spoken words
of encouragement to the proponents Of
the plan. But, generally speaking, the
two major political parties have kept
their skirts clear of this Utopian plan
to hand 5000 month to all those who
are sixty years of age. So DR.. Townsend
has now announced that a new third
party-the Townsend plan party-is to
be set up. Probably that is the best way
to get rid of the Townsend idea.
If the Townsendites were content to
bore from within there might be more
danger that this dream of afhuent old
age for every one might be tried out
in a country that already has tried a
lot of experiments. But the Townsendites
are likely to find that Republicans and
Democrats will think hard before they
hop to the new standard and to new
candidates carrying that standard. After
all, a political party must have more than
one single plank-and that one which
may not appeal to the youth Of the
country. That the whole population
under sixty years of age should bear the
burden of keeping the millions sixty
years old and more on pensions OF 5000
a month is the real proposal. One of the
provisions of the Townsend plan is that
no one after he or she is pensionable
and pensioned shall do any work. The
idea, of course. is that this will make
more work for the rest of the population
not of pension age.
The cost of the Townsend plan has
been estimated annually at many bill
will be saddled on the whole people in
the form of sales taxes. A cheerful
thought! The leaders Of the Townsend
plan claim they have five million men,
bers. They say that the total number
of persons favorable to the plan is as
high as 25,0oo,oo0. Congress has for
months been flooded with letters favor
ing the plan. It's proselytes have worked
in every section of the country.
The sooner the issue is met the better.
If DR.. Townsend and his followers wish
to set up national party, so much the
better. The great trouble in dealing
with crazy-quilt notions in this country
has been the strength of organized
minorities of the people working within
the major political parties.