The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1936-01-10
THE TOWNSEND PLAN
BY b. L. MAuRY

lion dollar commissions to use oul
money to lend to every busted
nation from Ecuador to Hungary
in 5 years, August 1914 to Aug.
ust 1919 we dumped in the sea IO(
billion dollars-more each veal
than DR.. Townsend's plan woulC
cost to benefit men and womer
that have spent their best year.
in labor for their country. Dur
ing two of those five years 6 mil.
lion OF our best workers were out
of productive labor-and vet the
entire nation as an average dur
ing all those 5 years had NOR,
physical comfort and materia
means of subsistence, better dis
tributed, than it has had during
the last %vs years or than it will
have dun the next five year.
unless we follow some plan diff
ferent from our present plan.
The chief opposition to the
Townsend Plan or to any de-
cent plan of social security will
come from the greatest present
menace to the nation, the life
insurance companies. The es-
,tLblishment Of the plan will re-
ieve the desire for life insur-
ance. There will be no need
of life insurance under it.
In z years the life insurance
reserves of 142 standard comDan
les have increased by 8 billior
dollars. For 5 years the outlet FOL
investment of these funds of the
little folks by the inside racket,
GERS has been confined largely t.
national, state and municipal
bonds. In one breath, they bemoar
public debts, in the other they
encourage the increase of then
for their investments. In 20 year;
they with the banks have procur.
ed the issue of 80 billion of ma.
tlonal and so billion of state
county, city and school district
interest bearing debentures. The
end is not in sight. The go bill.
lion dollars of deposits in banks
is also a provocative constant en-.
enlargement of the issue of pub.
lie securities which if continued
much longer will lead to complete
slavery by interest, excessive in.
flation, or righteous agrarian la.
Dor revolt, or Reputation.
Already psychology is being
formed by the kept press QUOTING
some unknown professor telline
US that England has A times the
per capita public debt of oursel.
yes and telling not to fear increas-
ed public debt. In the first place
this is a lie when our municipal
debts are added in and in the sec
ond place England is fed by heI
colonies. eve in Montana are one
Of the colonies as long as large
blocks of the Northern Pacific
bonds are owned in England.)
The fierce fighting against
tn Townsend Plan is vet to
come. In another year the adj
vOcates of the plan will acquire
courage from numbers and in
slst NOT on a sales or trans
action tax to meet the budget,
(Ehis fear would strike the
POOR but will demand a CAP
ITAL LEVY, or other form of
drastic but just method of rails
ing the fund needed TO COM
mence working the plan.
When this turn is taken bv
the Townsend Bloc the cOnde-
scending smirk of ridicule an
pearing in the kept press dailv
about the Townsend plan will
cease. That press will emunate
daily to us from a dip in a ket-
tie of sulphuric acid to damn
the TOwnsendites.
Rather than wait for the end
OF the contest that will follow the
cry for a capital levy, we might
consider a Montana State plan
for old age pensions payable in
money not promises. I am 60 and
feel like 1 will be going fairly
strang at IS. There are in Mon
tana by the last census 10000
men and women IS years of age.
The insurance companies take out
from this state the year 8 million
dollars more than they nav us
back. They would not desert us
under a retention tax of 2 million
dollars the year. The Northern
Pacific mines at Colstrip l million
tons of coal the year at 35 cents
the ton. A dollar a ton tax on
large open pit coal mines would
not stop them. We are submits
sive to the point of paying as hu-
man being a 4 per cent state in
come tax but do not make our
corporation pay any at all. A cor
poration state income tax of d
per cent would yield 6 million
dollars the year or more. They
would not quit US under It though
Con Kelley might have to stand
a reduction of his quarter million
dollar year salary. The North
ern Pacific with suplus of 1876
million dollars) has 40 million
acres of land in this state This
should be taxed S1.OO per acre
per year with provise that if the
tax is unpaid in one county the
lien shall be foreclosed on all its
land. Finland, dear old hencat
can repay what it owes
US because IL years ago it broke
up all the l'rge landed estates.1
Branjord makes for this state
better than a million dollars the
year. The state owns almost as
much land in the state as the