Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1936-06-25

IoWnsendS fanciful dream for pay
ment Of pensions Of
oIOnSend 5000 per month for
Plan FLops everyone over sixty
years Of age seems
TO have gone up in smoke, but there
are developments in connection with
the California doctors unavoidable
scheme that merit comment. The good
doctor and his half-baked idea have
been skidding rapidly since the House
investigating committee showed up the
plan as befuddled idea and as once
predicted, the bubble burst in a big
way.
While l am inclined to believe that
DR.. Townsend was honest and sincere
In proposing the 5000 per month pen
sion, it was the sort Of thing that
serves as an inducement for racket
GERS to gather. 1t was the old mo-
lasses barrel for the flies in the world
OF racketeers. 1t never had a chance
to go anywhere and never will, be-
cause 1t was fundamentally unsound.
We can dismiss it then except for the
two phases which ought to be vigor-
Ously condemned by right thinking
people everywhere.
The two circumstances which I hear
discussed most frequently are: The
tragedy, the heartaches, that obviously
follow in the wake of movements
such as the Townsend plan that can
not succeed and that draw to them
selves thousands, If not hundreds of
thousands, Of persons who believe they
are going to benefit; and secondly, it
seems to me that the House commit
tee, headed by Representative Bell,
of Missouri, overplayed it's hand with
the result that it has brought upon
House committees the same public dis
gust and distrust as characterizes 80
per cent of the Senate investigations.
Each of these conditions is to be de-
plored. Each is definitely destructive.
There can be no more excuse for
some of the methods employed by the
House committee in crucifying DR..
Townsend than for DIR. Townsend him.
self to wreck hearts and hopes and
homes by pushing forward such mis-
erably impossible proposition as his
5000 per month pension program.
The House committee had within its
power opportunity to do magnificent
job in exposing the racketeering that
become part and parcel Of the Town
send plan. 1t had within its hands the
capacity to educate millions within the
United States against following such
an Illusion, such a mirage, as the
Townsend plan. If it had confined it.
self to that work, Representative Bell
and his committee should receive the
plaudits of the nation. But the sad
story is that the committee under Mr..
Bells guidance allowed itself to be-
come an agency of prosecution, even
persecution, rather than an unbiased
investigating unit, determined only to
obtain the truth.
Since there never was any question
that the Townsend nostrum would fall
Of its own weight
Committee eventually, 1t is diff
Errs ficult to understand
why the committee
res0rted to the tactics 1t used. 1
watched some Of those hearings. AS
the committee delved deeper into the
activities of DR.. Townsend and his as
sociates, it became Infatuated. That
was where 1t made its big mistake
and 1t is going to be quite long time
before House committees again can
have a reputation throughout the coun-
try Of conducting unbiased and rea-
sonable investigations.
DR.. Townsend was sufficiently "hard
boiled" to justify the committee in
making vigorous investigation. He
was sufficiently Indifferent to their Of
fers or hints of cooperation to war
rant a feeling on the committees part
that they had to "bear down." Yet,
it must be said the committee went
beyond all reason and l imagine that
in the end it will flare back on the
individuals.
Now, DIR. Townsend surely cannot
blame anyone other than himself for
the fact that he is faced with proceed
ings by the United States attorney.
1t will be remembered, of course, that
DIR. Townsend deliberately walked out
of the committee and refused to tes-
tify. That has always been held as
contempt and Congress has the right
to punish for contempt. In this in
stance, the House Of Representatives
elected to turn DR.. Townsends case
over to the United States attorney for
punishment in court rather than to
employ a House vote which might
send the elderly dreamer to Jail.
Further, the whole Townsend inves-
tigation has turned out to be some
thing Of a mess like the Townsend
plan itself.
Thus, there is every evidence Of
second type of politics in this investi-
cation. The evil
Second Type dence of politics lay
Dalai. in tha fact that the