Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1939-02-15
Confederate
Widow Funds
Help Little
In the Sir Walter Hotel.
Daily Dispatch Bureau,
BY HENRY AVERILL.

BY HENRY AVEKll4L.
Raleigh, Feb 15-Legislators sup
porting transfer of $250,O00 from pen
sions for widows of Confederate vet
Grams to the regular old age and So
cial security division, and who be-
lieve that this transfer will bring an
increase in the number of old folks
on the rolls or any increase in the pit-
tances now paid them are doing go
under a mistake of fact, in the cr
inion of Nathan Yelton, director Of
the social security program in the
State.
AS a matter of fact, not one per-
son except the Confederate widows
will be added, nor will the division
be able to increase by so much as
dime the average payment either for
old age assistance or aid to Deepen
dent children
Principal beneficiary of the new
arrangement will be the equalizing
fund set up to take care of t.ios.
counties which have been obliged to
levy tax of more than ten cents to
take care of their. old people and
their dependent children; though it
is, of course, true that Mr. Yelton
cut the number of beneficiarles, or
decrease the average payments of
those now on the rolls were it not fer
the fact that he, will get bit more
money by reason Of the fact tnat the
Federal government will match the
amount transferred from pension to
social security funds, something it
has not done in the past.
All this comes about through a
somewhat complicated and unusual
state of affairs, under which the So
cial security division had more bene-
ficiaries on the rolls last fiscal year
than it could normally do with the
same nominal appropriation it was
given by the State.
This state of affairs was brought
about through the fact that the first
year of the program began practically
| in the middle of a fiscal year, rather
than at the beginning. 1t followed
that at the end of the first fiscal year
of the biennium, there had not been
expended much more than half the
entire amount available.
| For the second year, therefore, the
social security division had available
the funds it would normally disbursa
over year and half and not a
years time. Allotments for old age
assistance and aid to dependent chill
dren were accordingly made on the
basis of the amount available and not
on the nominal appropriation for the
year.
Therefore, although there will go in
| to next years social security approp-
riations a total of $250,0O0 more than
the present nominal appropriation,
this increase will not permit the d-
vision to add any Eeneficiaries to it's
rolls or to raise the payments made
| to these current beneficiaries, because
| the division is now functioning on a
basis which requires more than the
! $1,OO0O00 old age and the $525, 900 de-
pendent children carried in the APP
preparations bill.
Of course, the Federal government
is mulcted for the $250,OCO transfer
red from pensions for widows Of Con-
federate veterans, but the State will
continue to spend just as much money
as it is now spending, and no addi-
tons will be made to the social Sc
curity rolls.
It probably isn't the idea of those
|
will add old folks to the rolls, but it
undoubtedly is the thought. in the
minds of many average legislators
who will vote for the transfer in the
firm belief that they are actually do
ing, something for North Carolinians
now on the old age rolls who really
should be.
Earlier in this piece, something was
Il oh 80. g., 4
fact that it will probably benefit more
| than anything else through the pen
sion fund transfer.
It's really complex thing anC SO
| technical as to be quite difficult Cf
explanation in any reasonable-lergt
story, but in it's broad outlines it
works something like. this:
Theoretically, every North Carolina
county is required by law to pay cnc-
| fourth of the total allotments io~ old
| age assistance and aid to dependent
children in it's limits; but there is a
provision that the State shall step in
and help when. it becomes necessary
for any county to levy tax at rate
of more than ten cents Whenever this
happens the social security division
pays, from it's equalization fund
three-fourths of the excess needed
over the yield Of ten cent tax
In it's first year of operation, the So
cial security division was forced to
spend more than $4,000 from this
fund, but in the, second year it re
quired less than $4,000 from the Same
source because of the surplus left
over from the first years appropria-
ton and the money left in the coun-
ties share by reason of the fact the
tax was levied for a whole year and
only slightly more than half was
spent.
Now it's a case of getting down to
fullryear periods and the equalization