Evening star., 1948-01-07


age, or the death of wage earners.
Yet our system has gaps and incon-
sistencies; it is only half finished.
We should now extend unemploy-
.nent compensation, old age benefits,
and survivors benefits to millions
who are not now protected. We
should also raise the level OF bene-
fits.
Gap Exists In Health.
The greatest gap in our social
security structure is the lack Of ade-
quate provision for the Nations
health. We are rightly proud Of the
high standards Of medical care we
know how to provide In the United
States. The fact is, however, that
most OF our people cannot afford to
pay for the care they need.
I have often and strongly urged
that this condition demands a ma
tional health program. The heart
Of the program must be a national
system Of payment for medical care
based on well-tried insurance prtn-
ciples. This great Nation cannot
afford to allow its citizens to suffer
needlessly from the lack Of proper
medical care.
: Our ultimate aim must be q COM
prehensive insurance system to pro-
tect all our people equally against
insecurity and i'll health.
Another fundamental aim of our
democracy is to provide an adequate
education for every person.
Our educational systems face .
financial crisis. 1t is deplorable
that in a Nation as rich as ours
there are millions Of children who do
not have adequate schoolhouses or
enough teachers for a good element
ary or secondary education. II
there are educational inadequacies
in any State, the whole Nation suf-
fers. The Federal Government has
a responsibility for providing finan-
cial aid to meet this crisis.
In addition, we must make pos
sible greater equality of opportunity
to all our citizens for an education.
Only by 50 doing can we insure that
our citizens will be capable Of under
standing and sharing the RESPONSE
bilities OF democracy.
The Governments programs for
health, education and security are
Of such great importance to our
democracy that we should now es-
tablish an executive department for
their administration.
Health and education have their
beginning in the home. No matter
what our hospitals or schools are
like, the youth of our Nation are
handicapped when millions of them
live in city slums and country
shacks. Within the next decade, we
must see that every American family
has a decent home. As an imme-
diate step we need the long-range
housing program which I have rec
commended on many occasions. This
should include financial aids de-
signed to yield more housing at
lower prices. It should provide pub
lie housing for low-income families
and vigorous development of new
techniques to lower the cost OF
building.
Must Extend Rent Control.
Until We can overcome the pres
ent drastic housing shortages, we
must extend and strengthen rent
control.
We have had, and shall continue
to have, a special interest in the
welfare Of our veterans. Over H.
000, 900 men and women who served
in the armed forces in World War II
have now returned to civilian life
Over 100000 veterans are being
helped through school. Millions
have been aided while finding jobs,
apd have been helped in buying
homes, in obtaining medical care
and in adjusting themselves to
physical handicaps.
All but few veterans have sue
cessfully made the transition from
military life to their home COM
munities. The success of our vet
erans' program is proved by this
fact. This Nation is proud of the
eagerness shown by our veterans to
become self-reliant and self-sup-
porting citizens.
Our third goal is to conserve and
use our natural resources so that
they can contribute most effec-
lively to the welfare of our people.
The resources given by nature to
this country are rich and exten-
sive. The material foundations Of
our growth and economic develop
ment are the bounty of our fields,
the wealth of our mines and for
ests, and the energy of our waters.
AS a Nation, we are coming to
appreciate more each day the close
relationship between the conserva-
tion of these resources and the
preservation of our national
strength.
Yet we are doing far less than
we know how to do to make use
of our resources without destroy
ing them. Both the public and
private use of these resources must
have the primary objective of main
tanning and increasing these basic
supports for an expanding future.
We must continue to take spe-
cific steps toward this goal. We must
vigorously defend our natural
wealth. against those who would
misuse it for selfish gain.
We need accurate and compre-
hensive knowledge of our mineral
resources and must intensity our
efforts to develop new supplies and
to acquire stockpiles of scarce ma
terials.
Land Protection Needed.
We need to protect and restore
our land-public and private
through combating erosion and
rebuilding the fertility of the soil.
We must expand our reclamation
program to bring millions of acres
of arid land into production, and to
improve water supplies for addi-
tional millions Of acres. This will
provide new opportunities for vet
Grams and others, particularly in
the West, and aid in providing ris-
ing living standard for. growing
a