The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1936-01-02
sssss.s..ss.s.ess.ssss.s..
THE TOWNSEND PLAN
EDWARD NJ HENRY In The Point Pleasant en- J) Leader


spent for enjoyment that is to-
day saved for future use.
What tremendous boom
would come to the business of the
country, and What demand there
would be for labor to provide all
the things that the people would
buy. Everybody would have
much more in the way of comforts
and means to enjoy than the in
dividual has today. The new car
need not wait because the cost will
! come from the savings fund. There
will be no real need for saving.
Old age will be safeguarded.
All these claims on the part of
the supporters to the Townsend
Plan are based on a solid foun-
dation. Everything that the
Townsendites claim will happen
will surely happen. All the bene-
! fits enumerated will come to pass
if the Townsend Pension law is
enacted. The increased volume o.
Expenditure will do all these
/ things. Then what is wrong with
the plan?
r. Townsend Plan Is Workable
| There is no question about the
, Townsend Plan being workable
and no danger of its bankrupting
the country. Our country can
readily raise the funds necessary
to provide for the plan by taxing
the people. The necessary $24,-
j 100000 can be raised each
! year. All that will be required
will be to enact the necessary
legislation. The government will
:; be able to collect the $24,00O.O0O,-
! 900.
The only danger to the success
of the Townsend Plan is the ques-
! ton as to whether or not the
people who will have to provide
the money for its support will be
willing to stand the expense. Peo-
! pie have a way of protesting
vociferously against paying for
things that are going to benefit
others than themselves. Let us
j take look at the present source
! Of the funds necessary.
The Townsend Plan will take
about $20.O0O,O0O.O0O to support
it if the pensioners number only
+, 5000. 000-or to be exact-the
! nice little sum of $19,200.000,-
600. This sum will have to be
| paid by the rest of the people
, with the exception of two per
cent of it-$384, 900, 000-which
will have to be paid by the pen
! sioners themselves. But this leaves
about $1S,SOO,OO0,OOO which will
be provided by the rest of the
! people of the United States
There is no doubt of the ability
of the American people to pay
out this amount. The annual in
come of the country is approx
mately the sum of about $64,-
/ 000,000.000. 1t will take only
about thirty per cent of this in
come to paw the expense of the
Townsend Plan. And this thirty
per cent is exactly what it will
Jeost each income producing citi-
zen.
10 Of, course, the greatest burden
will fall on the man of large in
| come. A citizen in receipt of an
income of $1,000, 100000 will pay
out 100000. while the poor man
i who earns only $1,000 will be
compelled to pay out only $500.
This seems like a lot of money,
but there are some compensa-
tions. There would be greater
incomes possible because there
would be vastly more work to be
done and more jobs for every
| body.
The average man earning ST.
900 per year today might be able
to work longer hours and he
might even increase his income to
$4,000 per year, in which event
he would only have to pay out
$500 for the support of the Town
send Plan. Thus he would re-
ceive a net income of S1.400 per
year, and he would be S400 per
year better off. There is no
question but that this possibility
would be a probability. The only
fly in the ointment is the fact
he would be compelled to work
twice as hard as he is working
today. But a. lot of US can work
twice as hard without suffering
very much.
Courts Might Interfere
The Townsend Plan looks like
nice, comfortable idea-fof
those of us who are sixty or over.
Of course there will be delay in
its enactment into law. After we
have disciplined the House of
Representatives we viii still have
the Senate to train-and the SEN
ators are not elected as often as
are the Representatives.
But once we have the two
(Continued on Page Fourl