The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-05-15

UCA4CNCo AAC Wuo 8ASOBStAASS 4AbAAOS- the fight to kill the bill in coln- mittee was stupid and, consider ing the vote cast against 1t, Iln- warranted. The House might have avoided the mess created by the petition of two hundred and eighteen members to get 1t to the floor and the country would have been spared the interchange of pleasantrieS between Father Coughlin and Chairman John O'Connor of the Rules Committee. Worried
 The National Association of Mu- tual Savings Banks Is just now holding ist sixteenth annual cone ference in Atlantic City and the delegates, if the use of that deS. ignation is permitted, are worried not only about the social security legislation which has been passed but what Is to come. Press rec ports announce that the bankers regard 1t as inevitable that the increasing number of persons past the age of sixty-five would con. tinue to vote some old-age peIls sion, now or later, until one is des vised which will survive the test of the courts" The bankers "likewise Iestimated the political pressure for unemployment insur. ance as irresistible in the long run" It is pleasant to record that the delegates to the conference did not tear their hair out by the roots at the prospect. Robert G. Glazier, president of the Society for Savings in Hartford concluded that
 "there Is general agreement
 that some measure of social SC.
 curlty fostered by the govern
 ment Is inevitable, and that by
 gradual steps means may be
 found to bring about not Q mile
 lenium but 8 better condition
 for all without sacrificing the
 principles of thrift and self
 help"
 M. A. Linton, president of the Mu' tual Life Insurance Company ot Philadelphia, told the savings bankers that there were seven million five hundred thousand persons in the United States who were at least sixty-five years ol6 and made a deduction from those figures.
 "An electorate of this Tiagni-
 tude", said MT. Linton, "increas-
 ingly interested in old-age pen-
 sions, points to the conclusion
 that, whether or not the present
 law shall survive the test of the
 courts, some practicable way will
 be fOupd to make the old age of
 our workers more comfortable
 and happy"
 Why Not?
 All of the above, I presume. means that old people are going td vote for their own interests in the days to come. Overlooking the note of resignation in the remarks of MT. Glazier and Mir. Linton 1t is not strange that the oldsters have come to the conclusion to look after themselves in the mat" ter of security. They have become infected by the bad example SC. them for years by other groups iI our civilization. Financial, induS'' trial, and business interests have 50 long and so often sponsored and showed through legislation for their own special benefit that 1t is only natural for others to do likewise. It occurs to me that the savings bankers are unnecessarily concerned. If they want to find something which really deserves consideration and demands solu- ton they will find 1t in the prob- lem of security not for those who have reached the age of Sixty.flve but who have been thrown on the employment junk heap ct fifty. And younger.
 Horrible
 Somewhere recently I came across Q report of Q meeting of in- dustrial engineers and was amazed to learn from 1t that in certain industries in this country the maximum age at which man could secure work was thirty-two. Not being in Q position to check up on the accuracy of the state- ment there is no sense in corn- menting upon it except to say that if 1t is true 1t suggests Q horror too awful to dwell upon. It is menacing enough for the future to know that Q human being is in the discard when he or she ar- rives at the ripe old age of two score and ten. But if the ern- ployable limit is to be further re- duced what hope is there for the continued existence of an indus trial and social structure which can indulge in such diabolical madness. Is 1t to be marvelled at' that in increasing numbers Com munism is making converts among those who see in 1t their only hope of protection?
 That the protection is mythical does not matter so long as the converted imagines 1t to be real. Is 1t also to be marvelled at, that the bulk of the people Of the na- ton approve of national admin istration and Q chief executive concerned above everything else with this problem of social secur- ity? The speakers at the conven- ton of the National Association of Mutual Savings Banks have seen the light. I hope they will shed some of 1t into certain dark and noisome spots in the industrial and financial world.
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