Evening star., 1935-08-02
GEORGE EXPLAINS
SOCIAL SECURITY
Senator Declares Legisla-
tion Lasting Achievement,
in Radio Forum Speech.

The pending social security leglsla-
tion may well stand out as the last
ing achievement of the Roosevelt
administration" Senator George,
Democrat, of Georgia, said last night
in an address in the National Radio
Forum, arranged by The Star and
carried over a Nationwide network
of the National BroadcaSting Co.
Senator George, a member OF the
Senate Finance Committee which
conducted hearings on the measure,
and one of the conferees adjusting
differences in Senate and House on
the measure, detailed its provisions.
He said it had aroused no i'm
portant opposition in any quarter.
He warned however, that obviously
we are setting in motion here vast
new force which must be admins
tered sanely and carefully, with the
welfare of all the people in mind"
Text of Speech.
The text of Senator Georges speech
follows:
The social security bill marks the
first national effort to make future
provision against the hazards COM
mon in the lives of our people. Its
broad scope necessarily makes it a
rather complicated measure, but its
major features can be summarized
briefly
First, the bill deals with the prob
lem of poverty in old age. Under its
terms, the United States Government
will take action both to help those
who are today aged and destitute, and
will also inaugurate a system which
is intended to prevent such destitu-
ton in the future. Many of those
who are now old are receiving pen
sions from their States; 35 States
have old age pension laws. When
ever a State has such a law and it
is approved as being sufficiently lib
eral. the Federal Government will
match, up to SIS a month per per-
son, whatever pension that State, to-
gether with its counties and towns,
pays to its aged citizens. The State,
as we'll as the counties and towns,
is required to participate financially;
but very wise and helpful addition
to the bill provides that if the State
constitution prevents State participa-
ton, the Federal Government will
match what the counties and towns
put up until the people of the State
have had an opportunity to remove
the constitutional restriction.
States to Decide.
The States will decide who shall re-
ceive pensions and how much they
are to get. The Federal contribu-
tionS, however, show that there is ma
tional recognition of the need Of as
sisting these old folks who might
starve or go to the poorhouse we're
no pension paid them.
For the future at least with respect
TO all industrial employees, a plan OF
national old age insurance is contem-
plated. These employees will, begin
ming in 1887, pay taxes in a small
percentage of their wages. Their en-
ployers will pay taxes of an equal
amount. This revenue will make it
possible for the Federal Government
to establish an old age reserve &C
count from which regular old-age
benefits will be payable to these en-
ployes when they reach IS and re-
tire from regular employment. The
benefits will be anywhere from SIS
to S85 a month, depending on the
previous wages earned by the en-
ploye.
At the present time, probably over
100000 employees are covered by
private annuity plans maintained vol
UNFAIRLY by their employers. A Senate
amendment to the bill would exempt
these employees and employers from
the Federal taxes and benefits, If the
private plan adequately guarantees
benefits at least as high as the Fed
eral benefits.
Looks to Future.
The old age insurance system looks |
TO the future. It is intended to pro-
vide a small but regular income to |
those who today are not yet old. The |
benef1ciaries themselves will help, by |
paying the new taxes, to build up |
their own annuitieS. Thus in the |
future the cost of State old age pen
sions should be diminished, as more |
and more people are cared for by the
Federal benefits which, in effect, they
themselves have helped to buy. The
social security bill deals with another
great problem, that of future unem-
ployment. 1t is not aimed to affect
the present situation, but simply to
mitigate the hardships of unemploy-
ment in any future depression. 1t
will do this by promoting State sys-
TENS of unemployment insurance. A
new payroll tax will be levied next
year on employers of eight or more
persons. An employer may offset
against the tax, however, whatever
he has paid into an unemployment
insurance fund in his State in ac-
cordance with a State law. Thus if |
the State wants to keep this money
at home, for the benefit of it's own
citizens, it should pass an unemploy-
ment compensation law, for then it |
would collect money to be used for
its own unemployed, instead of having
the money paid to Washington and
with all other tax receipts
there
The Federal Government will assist
the State systems further, by reim-
bursting the States for the administra-