Evening star., 1938-09-20
Social Security Chairman
Discusses Workings of
AGE Insurance.

| AHnAC uAAy AAACACllNC OlOsAkC &c
curity is your problem, just as much
as it is the problem Of those who
have already reached the biblical three.
score years and ten. What happenl
to the old people Of today affects
their children and their grandchil-
dren. What is to happen to the old
people Of tomorrow-and that meanl
you. however young you are-is one
OF the most urgent and vital question:
before the American people.
And they know it. The many and
widely varying proposals now being
talked about, for giving an income to
those who have passed their working
years, are conclusive evidence Of this
widespread interest. And the fact that
we now have in operation in this
country = national Social Security Act,
which Is making old-age security q
reality for millions, is proof that we
have passed from the stage of talk
to that Of action. There can be no
question that since 1885, when this
law was passed, we have made swift
and lasting progress toward old-age
security.
100000 in Need.
The spearhead of the problem IS, Of
course. those who are now old and in
want. Today there are some l,7OO 900
OF these needy old people, scattered
throughout every State in the Union,'
who are receiving regular cash allow
ances under the old-age assistance
provisions Of the Social Security Act.
In this way the act has enabled US
to meet the desperate situation cre-
ated by our many years of past neglect.
But this spearhead OF immediate
need Is only part-in reality a small
part-of the total picture. When the
American people finally awakened to
the plight Of their old people, they
determined to forestall, this kind of
mass dependency for the future. And so
they also included in the Social Security
Act provision for old-aee insurance.
More than 10000, 900 American wage
earners-no doubt including q large
share OF you who are listening to this
program tonight-now have accounts
under this system. And that means
that the majority of young and middle
aged working men and women now
have a vay-perhaps for the first time
IN their hves-of security protection
Tor their own old age.
How has all this been done in the
brief space Of three years? How Goes
the system work? The answer is SIM
pie. We have been able to 70 full
steam ahead because the Social Sc
curity Act utilities the time-tested ma
chtnery Of our Federal-state govern
ri,ent. old-ass assistance (Which we
must not confuse with old-aee insur-
ance) y administered by the State;
every one OF the 48, together with
the District Of Columbia, Hawaii and
Alaska. runs its own program for its
own people. But all Of the States now
receive the cooperation and financial
assistance Of the Federal Government,
and 80 are able to do q better lob
than they could if they had to meet
the entire cost alone.
Sees No Other Method.
Old-age insurance differs from old
age assistance and. in fact. from all
other parts Of the Social Security Act,
in that it is directly administered by
the Federal Government, because no
other method Of handling this huge
undertaking 1s practicable.
But why, you may still ask. does
the Government have to 60 into the
insurance business at all? Why can't
people take care Of themselves, the
way they used to? The answer to that
Is also simple. The American people
always have and always will take care
Of themselves. That is exactly what
they are doing through the Social
Security Act. But as times change
methods change Just as we no longer
provide single-handed for everything
we eat and wear, so also most of us
can no longer count on providing
sinele-handed for old age. -.
It 10 4 set Of hard-bitterly hard
facts, and not somebody's bright idea,
that has led the American people to
enlist their Government in the fight
for old-age security.
Harder on Old Folks.
We cannot escape the fact that the
kind Of cash and wage economy We now
live under Is far harder on old folks
than the farm economy of the past.
Then the old folks themselves could
continue to help and the family itself,
one way or another, could take care Of
the old folks out Of their own re-
sources. Today the old folks can't get
jobs, the family lives In crowded quar-
ters. and Il dependent upon the weekly
pay envelope.
We cannot escape the fact that the
number and percentage Of old people
IN our population Is steadily increas-
ing-from 100000 40 years ago to
nearly 100000 today, and on to an
estimated 100000, representing we'll
over II per cent of the total popula-
tion, in another 40 years.
We cannot escape the fact that to-
day not more than one person out Of
three. In the group over IS, Is self
supporting, either from what he earns
now or from what he has saved in
the past. Moreover, Of the two-thirds
who are dependent, one third are al
ready being supported by public or
private social agencies, and two-thirds
by friends and relatives, in many cases
at extreme personal sacrifice on their
part.
Chance of Dsstitution,
The plain truth u that our people
have come to recognise this 2-to-l
chance Of destitution in declining years
Is un-American, and have made up
thier minds that 1t cannot and must
not continue. Experiencing in their
own daily lives the desperate hard.
ship wrought by these facts. not only
for the ared hut als0 for their IN m iIiAs