Evening star., 1944-06-14
BY WENDELL WILLKIE.

A free economy, by its nature,
ton and risk. AS matter of fact,
much of its strength and its very
freedoms are directly related to its
risks. But one cannot enjoy the
freedoms of such a society without
q minimum of economic security
Therefore the risks must be spread
sufficiently to guarantee that all
members of society are protected
against the final economic disaster
of going without the bare necas-
stiles of life. This is the function
of the social assurances.
We have too often been led to
regard the social insurances as
the opposite rather than the sup
nlement of our enterprise system.
We have been presented with them
as alternatives. Do you want Sc
curitv or initiative? Do you want
nrotection or adventure? This is
fictitious issue. We need both.
indeed we cannot have one with
out the others. We cannot nave
security in terms of an advancing
standard of living without enter
nrise. We cannot have the lnltl-
ative and energy we need for an
expending economy without pre-
serving and increasing the vlgor OF
;. our human resources.
Present Laws Inadequate.
\Our present social security laws
inadequate for this purpose. The
%oposed Wagner Murray Dingell
Phill contains some of the essentials
of an inclusive social security pro-
gram. But unfortunately it IS IN
many respects poorly conceived ana
perpetuates the inequities OF the
present law. Taxes still fall most
heavily upon the lowest-paid work
ers. while benefits are largest to the
most highly paid Coverage is still
incomplete and eligibility rules are
complicated.
Need knows no rules of eligibility
or coverage. Protection against Old
age. illness and economic misfortune
must be right for every one. Bene-
fits must be adequate to provide a
minimum sustenance in health and
decency, regardless of a mans pre-
vious earnings. This is important
not alone to the individual, but to
assure the relative stability of our
consumer industries and agricultural
production and the well-being of
our whole society.
Medical Care Basic.
Complete medical care should be
available to all. But any plan
adopted today should be sufficiently
flexible to allow for experimentation
and growth and in any program of
public medicine the value of the
practicing physicians relationship
to his patient must be recognized.
Adequate provision must be made
for building facilities where none
now exist, for developing health and
diagnostic centers and for funds for
research and medical education.
Another form of insurance that
Is of outstanding Importance for the
relatively stable functioning of our
free economy is an adequate and
uniform system of Federal unem-
ployment insurance. Today, we have
81 separate laws governing unem-
ployment compensation. Our econ
omy is too interdependent to al
low this division of responsibility
to continue. The present tax col
lection machinery, Federal for some
assurances, State for others. with
duplication of records, is wasteful, |
costly and time-consuming. And
benefit rates vary widely and are
inadequate.
Need Uniform Procedures.
The postwar reconversion strain
will fall unevenly on the States. In
this crucial period we shall need
the stabilizing influence of uniform
standards and procedures, and of
adequate benefits fixed, not accord
ing to former wages, but on the
basis of regional cost of living, to
cover bare necessities.
For a long time our society left
the education of children 70 the
individual parents ability to pay
Then it made decision which
changed civilization. 1t decided that
all children should be educated,
regardless of their parents income.
We are now faced with another