Milford chronicle., 1945-12-21
NATIONAL NEWS ITEMS
Public Welfare Hrtterment
By ]. +. JONES
Wa>hinetnn. y {. In the int

lUbilc Nt1IAft Heltefmtnl
Wa~hingt"n, y {. In the inter
tstS of economy and GOOD govern
itrnt. New York States legislature
will consider u thorough overhaul
ing OF rhe States welfare system.
V hen il Conlcncs next month
As in many another State. New
York. welfare system has develop
"a piccemrul through the Years.
without regard for overall cffcc-
tiVcneSs. IS result. in Il typical
county Of the State. there are tOdu,
=. public welfare AGENCIES Opcrat-
under u governmental units, adj
ninistorin2 eleven different types
Of a@sl4tHnccS. Some types of as
@i~tanCe are raid for locally: some
with local and State monies, and
ON" with local. state and Federal
iaonirS. Small wonder that Cover
Lon Dewey called the system a
"ratchWorh" ana recommended it's
rcNi ion.
Tahin@ ADVANTAGE OF the relative
lN sunny economic weather. New
NOrE's Joint Legislative COMMITTEES
en- Interstate Cooperation. under
the Craftsmanship OF AsSemhlyman
Harold 6. CStprta9. has drawn up
llans for intcGration and simplifi-
cation of the system. The plans
,all Tor elimination of the C0mp"ti--
tive. conflicting and oyprlapping
ASPECTS OF welfare administration,
ynd for the Development of admin-
istrative units which viii hc lar&e
enough and financially sound
cnOuGh to administer all the public
welfare programs. One major cain.
il til" plans are adopted. will be
that crSonS in need Of help can get
i after application at a single office
and after a single Investigation.
whereas at present they may laNr
to 90 from agency to agency and
undergo numerous Investigations,
before getting tie help for Whici.
they are eligible
Speaking last week to the Amori-
can Public Welfare Association in
{ hica&o. Assenblyman O,tedtag
voiced a timely injunction to other
states to chcCk over ami coordinate
thcir welfare machinery now while
the load is light. or run the risk 0i
seeing ii SUpplantcd. under ecunu-
mic stress. He called for welfare
uaChiner! which will be rcSpon-
sive both to those who bear its
costs and those who are it's bcnpfi-
Charles. Welfare concepts. he point
ed out, are slowly being absorbed
liz the broader concepts of social
security, and the trend in that di-
rection will probably accelerate in
the next few years. Unless State
and local governments strengthen
and atrcHHline their administers
tive machinery. he warned, our
dreams of social security will van
iSh in the Cynicism and mdiffer-
ence of an unwieldy bureaucracy. "
"Big Stick" Rareaining
Thirty per cent. or else
This is the ultimatum ON which
leaders of the United Automobile
Workers WIO) base their EaralvZ-
in& nationwide strike a2ainst Gene
raj Motors, the nations largest
producer OF passenger ears ana
trucks.
The JAW hue and cry was -
EourS' pay for 40 hours work. or n
cripplinS strike, even before re-
conversion was completed. that is
now costing General Motors wa2a
carncrs nearly $1,000 .0G0 daily ana
atttctinS Indirectly every phase of
the nations economy.
Widespread strikes such as thi,
ut purchasing power, hurt the
butcher, the baker. the little store
keeHcr and the biz st0rckecpcr. nc
farmer all of lis. all over the
country.
Why do We have strike at n
time when the country needs FUN
production and peacetimc iohs e
only because General Motors
which always has paid hish wages,
""Gld not get i'll step under th,
AN a Biz stick"
In its Negotiations with TAU.
c"muittce GM offered ~ per cent
r"lsc. rlus whatever additional
n l@ht be necessary to balance cos,-
"i-livin9 increases since january /
'"ll. Here's what this means.
During the war GAI worker
whose hourly rate was $1.l5 earn
CO %o3.i9 working an average ass
hours weekly At the increase rate,
proposed by GN and with time-and-
"-halt for overtime. this same
worker would earn just as nue.,
as this, in postwar take-home pay.
IN three hours less time.
This offer more weekly take
hum" pay than GM workers receiy-
rd during war was tlatly rejected
by union leaders who, from the be-
ginning were bound and determine
ed to have a strike. General Motor;
! plants IN many parts Of the coun-