Evening star., 1936-09-22
BY BLAIR MOODY.

One prime objective Of the social
security act is to make the average
American worker less susceptible to
the Establishments Of agitators,
erackpots and demagogs.
The very fact that a $200-a-month
pension pipe dream, share-the.
wealth scheme that was made In
Louisiana" and a plan for writing
off farm mortgages in light moment
by ruinous imitation successfully be-
came menacing political threats is
sure sign that there Is something
eskew in the economic system.
1t means that scores Of thousands
OF families, without resources. have
reached the state Of mind where
they're willing to grasp at a straw"
1t means their morale has become
50 low that when some one comes
along with a picture OF a pot at the
end of rainbow, they're ready to
start after it without waiting to
determine whether it's gold or brass.
1t means that the old sound" eco
nomic shibboleths have come to mean
to them a low standard of living
and discomfort.
Purpose of Program.
The social security act is broadly
conceived attempt to rebuild that
morale. It seeks to chase the specter
Of insecurity and uncertainty from
the minds of the worker and his
family and substitute a feeling OF
safety and a personal stake in the
stability of society.
BY unemployment compensation, 1t
paves the way for supplementary
cushion of income in hard times,
which will not only give the indi-
Vidual wage Garner time to look
around for another job before his
family gets hungry, but will bolster the
buying resources of the consuming
wage earners in aggregate, so that
minor economic disturbance, in
volving a temporary loss of jobs, will
not send purchasing power downward
IN a progressive spiral and engulf the
Nation in depression.
By old-age annuities, it gives the
worker confidence to use his income to
buy now, since it guarantees him
against penniless old age. 1t as
sures him that, so long as he keeps
his job he is putting aside some
thing out of every pay check to
build up a monthly income on which
he can retire at IS.
Duties of Government.
Now it is true that, to provide such
security on a mass scale, the Govern
ment must enter the private financial
life of the individual and force"
him to save. 1t must set up vast
and inevitably bureaucratic Federal
and State machinery. 1t must find a
way to take all sorts of confusing
hurdles, and finance and administer
with the States a system that involves
figures that sound like the distance
between couple of far-away stars.
All this has been criticized as Gov
ernment paternalism, as unconstitu-
tional assumption of power by Wash
ington, and as a reckless venture into
the economic stratosphere. But its
advocates point out that. while social
security is new in this country, its
an old story in Europe.
to try to combat the sink holes of
modern industrial economy and throw
back the growing Socialist movement
by insuring German workers against
the loss of their jobs. Conservative
England entered the field. of pensions
in 1908 and enacted unemployment
insurance in 1911.
Program in England.
Today, England protects 50 per cent
Of its population by unemployment
insurance. In 1888, AZ foreign coun-
tries with an aggregate population of
more than 100000, 900 workers had
established pension systems covering
all or some of their citizens. OF
these, 81 call for a contribution by
the worker. In most countries, the
worker, the employer and the govern
ment all contribute. Approximately
100000 workers are covered by un-
employment insurance in a dozen
countries including England, Ger
many, Italy, Poland, Austria. Bull
earia, Ireland, Switzerland and Aus
tralia.
"As q people we've got to recog-
nize, as Europe has, that we have
developed into new sociological and
economic world" says John Pearson,
director of social security for the New
England region.
The political strength of the Town
send movement is bedded much deeper
than those who scoff at 1t realize.
The old folks Of the country could
not be fooled by anything 50 silly
unless many Of them were in real
want, broke and grasping at any
straw.
We are just waking up to the fact
that an economic order which, on
occasion, suddenly tosses its human
units out into the street must have
some balance wheel to take care of
them properly. The number of fami-
lies in this country that have no re-
sources is appalling. It is a gigantic
and complex subject and we don't
know much about it, We need our
best brains to solve it."
Figures Support Statement.
The figures bear Mr.. Pearson out.
a quarter of q million families each
with incomes Of $4,000 or more a
year have piled up savings of six and
one-half billion dollars. But sixteen
and one-quarter million families with
incomes of less than $4,000 each have
saved a total Of only quarters
OF billion. And of this group, five
and three-quarter million families
have incomes below $1,000 and have
saved virtually nothing.
Radical waves like the Townsend
movement parallel what has happened
more drastically in Europe. The
spread of dictatorship under its vari-
ous guises, fascism, communism and
- .. >uaA -uAu.