The Wilmington morning star., 1944-09-20
Family Allowance
BY RICHARD L, sTROIrT

Canada has just passed a piece OF social
legislation beyond anything in the United
States. 1t sets up system of family allow
ances, at so much Child en- direct gov
ernmental cash-donation basis. If you have
four children under Is, you get so much
money month for each one, whether you are
a oank president or a stone cutter In the
case of the bank president, however.
the amount given for the children is can.
celled out of income tax abatement for de-
pendents; so the new provision means little
But the stone cutter other lower-income
Canadian family will get governmental bene-
fits for having children and these will be
given not as charity, but as a matter
of right.
This new legislation will take effect next
July l. 1t was passed August l and has sol
far received little American attention. Prime
Minister Mackenzie King explained some of
the reasons for the measure. For thing
it would spread the burden of child main
tenance among the people of Canada. For
another, he said it would contribute to
healthy redistribution of the country's
wealth" On the economic side, he argued, it
would distribute mass purchasing power and
thereby help prevent depression
These arguments, you will note are ex-
actly the ones which seem to stir up so much
controversy in Washington. 1t is strange for
correspondent to travel from nation to ma
tion and catch the contrasting atmosphere
OF different countries In this space recently
noted the leftWard swing of Britain which
found in London, exemplifed in the
recently approved white paper on unemploy-
ment.
found in Canada in the King Govern
ment, which has moved left Gf that is the
world, this revolutionary piece of social legis-
lation. Without taking sides l think it is fair
to say that the atmosphere is just the opposite
today in Washington. 1t is just the type of
'paternalstic'' legislation which is anathema
to the careful watchdogs of the Treasury, Tyd-
lngs, George, Byrd Taft, and the majority of
both Houses. Yet if am any judge this sweep
| to the left Gf by that we mean increasing
centralized control, governmental planning
and greater State assistance) is almost world
wide in scope among other belligerents. How
long it will last is anybodys guess.
The Canadian bill will cost about $780,
100000 annually, it is estimated, which would
be equivalent for the United States, on popu-
| lation basis of around So billions. There are
three and half million Canadian children
under 49, contained in some one and half
million families Over half of these families
now benefit from income tax deductions IN
some degree But the lower-ncome families
with most children do not benefit.
The proposed Canadian cash donation will
amount to SIS per month per child under 6,
rising to So for children of 10 to is. The
rate descends after the fourth child, 81 a
month being deducted from the fifth child's
allowance and SO for the eighth child and any
beyond that. A considerable argument has
been made that the new program benefits
the Quebec French Canadians with their large
families at the expense of Ontario and other
Provinces. The laws defenders deny this
and it may be significant that not single
vote was cast against the measure when it
finally passed last month.
l recall my equal surprise at watching
the radical British unemployment measure
pass in London few months ago. also with
out single opposing voice. Neither of these
measures would, I believe, have chance of
passage in the present mood OF the Ameri-
can Congress, where features of each would
he termed "socialistic.''
we live in fast-moving and various world
where the measures that satisfy country
do not satisfy the next and, in fact. may
be very unsuitable. AT first glance, London
and Ottawa now seem to be going one way
and Washington another. Yet experience has
shown that in the long run the English speak
ing countries understood one another pretty
well, and have an aptitude for profiting
by each others successes and mistakes.
Christian Science Monitor.
-V-
For me, the greatest coach either on off
the track is Jesus Christ Christ in the heart
| hoy thai will