The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1940-04-25
COMMENT ON WORLD
EVENTS

men entering military service has be-
come an important problem not only
in the warning nations but also in
some of the neutral nations, recent
survey reveals.
Lessons learned in the World War
have not been forgotten and efforts
are being made to prevent suffering
among the families of men in the
army, navy and air services. But a
certain amount of hardship is newt
able, due to delays in beginning of
allowances, inadequate allowances
etc., adding to the burdens carried by
wage earners in war time.
In Canada the schedule of family
allowance rates has been determined
with view of making unnecessary
the supplements from voluntary sour
ces which led to the establishment OF
the Patriotic Fund of the World War.
Public policy in the Dominion, it is
stated, is to provide all the basic re-
quirements of the soldiers and their
dependents from the public treasury
and through governmental channels
and resources.
X X X
In Germany for the purpose of
adapting the amount of allowances to
the loss of family income resulting
from the breadwinners' mobilization
recent amendments have been made to
the scheme established before the out
break of war.
A new family-allowance system has
been created, we are told, which gives
the right of option between a grant
based upon family responsibilities and
cost of living in the applicants place
of residence, and a variable allowance
based on the wages last earned by
the person called up for service.
Switzerland is one of the neutrals
graphing with the problem of aiding
families of men in the army. Switzer-
land, to guard her neutrality, has
been forced to keep large numbers of
men under arms. An amendment to
an order by the Federal Council pro-
vided for an increase in the rate of
assistance for the families or soldiers.
This adds substantially to the cost of
Switzerland's war bill-a bill which
the nation must pay although it has
no intention Of fighting unless actual
ly invaded.
The presence on the American scene
for several years of three or four
millions of unemployed young people
has made no dent on the laws of the
4S states as they pertain to the ages
at which youth may leave school and
go to work, it is asserted in a survey
made by Youth Today, magazine for
high school age boys and girls, and
published in it's current number.
So far as could be learned, about
the only pertinent legislative changes
took place in Louisiana, which named
a commission to investigate the cost
of lengthening the school course by
one year; in Rhode Island and Texas,
which set 16 as the new age for leav-
ing school; and in Vermont, which
actually reduced the age limit for
leaving school.
x
The picture revealed by the survey
is far from pretty, comments Youth
Today. Sixteen states allow the
young person to quit school when he
has completed the eighth grade.
Fourteen ask only that he be able to
read and write. Eight set up no edu-
cational goal at all for the youngster
to hurdle before he can take job.
One single state, Wisconsin, insists
that the boy or girl attend vocational
school if he or she is under 16 and
has not finished high school.
The survey also showed that al
though most of the states require the
young person to hold a labor permit
if under 16 and at work, 10 have made
no provision whatever for the educa-
tion of the youths who have the per-
mits. Only the laws of II states read
to the effect that with labor permit
the youngster must carry on at his
studies towards high school diploma
even for four hours a week.