Evening Star Newspaper, September 22, 1936, Page 8

r'A-8 = living and discontent. Does the fact that many nations in Europe “went haywire,” although THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, was $24.03 per share, a decline of 20.6 per cent. To this Austin noted the selling cost of the stock in the mean- D.- C, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1936. been in charge since the institution was declared insolvent, ‘The change was of & routine nature, be made in this matter, Nasi-ism, reflects the same funda- 1926, amounted to $30.28 each while Pidelity Bullding and Loan Associa- | first to determine the exaci extent of S.IIAB"-I]'Y UNE AIM mental condition—a low standard of INVESTMENT TR the liquidating value last December 31 fl N tion to succeed M. L. Barnett, who has | its liabilities before any decision can = OF ECURTY PLAN Support of “Wild” Schemes Pointed to Need, Observer Says | The far-reaching eflects of the mew social security program, now & leading topic in the national politi- cal fleld, are discussed here in the third of a series of articles based on a first-hand survey of the operation of the system in several States, as well as of the central @dministration in Washington. ! BY BLAIR MOODY. One prime objective of the social Security act is to make the average American worker less susceptible to the blandishments of agitators, erackpots and demagogs. The very fact that a $200-a-month pension pipe dream, a share-the- wealth scheme that was “made in YLouisiana,” and a plan for writing off farm mortgages in a light moment | by ruinous inflation successively be- eame menacing political threats is a sure sign that there is something @skew In the economic system. It means that scores of thousands of families, without resources, have reached the state of mind where they're willing to “grasp at a straw.” It means their morale has become #0 low that when some one comes along with a picture of & pot at the end of a rainbow, they're ready to etart after it without waiting to determine whether it's gold or brass. It means that the old “sound” eco- nomic shibboleths have come to mean to them a low standard of living | and discontent. Purpose of Program. The social security act is a broadly eonceived attempt to rebuild that morale. It seeks to chase the specter of insecurity and uncertainty from the minds of the worker and his family and substitute a feeling of safety and a personal stake in the stability of society. By unemployment compensation, it paves the way for a supplementary cushion of income in hard times, which will not only give the indi- vidual wage earner time to look around for another job before his family gets hungry, but will bolster the buying resources of the consuming wage earners in aggregate, so that minor economic disturbance, in- volving a temporary loss of jobs, will not send purchasing power downward in a progressive spiral and engulf the Nation in depression. By old-age annuities, it gives the worker confidence to use his income to buy now, since it guarantees him against a penniless old age. It as- sures him that, so long as he keeps his job, he is putting aside some- thing out of every pay check to build up a monthly income on which he can retire at 65. Duties of Government. Now it is true that, to provide such security on a mass scale, the Govern- ment must enter the private financial life of the individual and “force” him to save. It must set up a vast d inevitably bureaucratic Federal d State machinery. It must find a way to take all sorts of confusing hurdles, and finance and administer with the States a system that involves figures that sound like the distance between a couple of far-away stars. All this has been criticized as Gov= ernment paternalism, as unconstitu- tional assumption of power by Wash- ington, and as a reckless venture into the economic stratosphere. But its advocates point out that, while social security is new in this country, it's an old story in Europe. Bismarck was the first statesman to try to combat the sink holes of modern industrial economy and throw back the growing Socialist movement by insuring German workers against the loss of their jobs. Conservative England entered the field.of pensions in 1908 and enacted unemployment nsurance in 1911. Program in England. ‘Today, England protects 62 per cent of its population by unemployment dnsurance. In 1933, 42 foreign coun- tries with an aggregate population of more than 600,000,000 workers had established pension systems covering all or some of their citizens. Of these, 31 call for a contribution by the worker. In most countries, the worker, the employer and the govern- ment all contribute. Approximately 42,000,000 workers are covered by un- employment insurance in a dozen ecountries including England, Ger- many, Italy, Poland, Austria, Bul- garia, Ireland, Switzerland and Aus- tralia. “As a people we've got to recog- nize, as Europe has, developed into a new sociological and #conomic world,” says John Pearson, director of social security for the New England region. ““The political strength of the Town- send movement is bedded much deeper than those who scoff at it realize. The old folks of the country could not be fooled by anything so silly unless many of them were in real 'ant, broke and grasping at any straw. “We are just waking up to the fact that an economic order which, on occasion, suddenly tosses its human units out into the street must have some balance wheel to take care of them properly. The number of fami- lies in this country that have no re- sources is appalling. It is a gigantic and complex subject and we don't know much about it. We need our best brains to solve it.” Figures Support Statement. The figures bear Mr. Pearson out. A quarter of & million families each with incomes of $50,000 or more a year have piled up savings of six and one-half billion dollars. But sixteen and one-quarter million families with incomes of less than $2,000 each have saved a total of only three-quarters of a billion. And of this group, five and three-quarter million families ve incomes below $1,000 and have saved virtually nothing. Radical waves like the Townsend movement parallel what has happened more drastically in Europe, The spread of dictatorship under its vari- ous guises, fascism, commuism and that we have |. they had gone much further than America in collective security schemes, prove that such a program is futile? Those who think so miss the point. In the countries which handled their insurance and pensions ms bad- ly, like Germany, they did little to check popular discontent. But in England, where the program was care- fully conceived and sensibly executed, it has helped bring the nation out of depression first and furthest. In other words, if this country makes a good job of its program, and if it does not prove ruinously expen- sive, it should steady the whole eco- nomic structure and serve to satisfy the feeling, springing from & new so- cial consciousness born of the de- pression, that people who are willing to work should have a right to share in the country’s goods. But if & probe lem of such gigantic proportions is handled in a slip-shod, snap-judg- ment, political manner it will cost plenty and accomplish little. “When the morale of the people is low,” says Mrs. Anna M. Rosen- berg, New York regional director of security, “they become fertile fleld for agitators. Unconsciously they are groping for ‘something’ and when some one comes along with a scheme that sounds plausible and promises them the world with a fence around it, they are inclined to think ‘per- haps this is it “We hope that the program will give the American people a sufficient sense of security so they will recog- nize the false economic prophets when they hear them.” (Copyright 1936 by the Nortn American Newspaper Alliance, Inc.) Westinghouse Pensions Up. PITTSBURGH, September 22 (#).— The Westinghouse Electric & Man- ufacturing Co. announced yesterday payment of annuities totaling $386,. 195 to 1179 pensioned employes during 1935. The company said the number of annuities paid increased by 57 during the year, and average annual payments amounted to $227. gan— HOLDINES SHRIK Securities Commission Told of 25 Per Cent Drop to’ Individuals. By the Associated Press. A net shrinkage of 25 per cent in the ‘“permanent” investors' holdings of the Massachusetts Investors’ Trust between January 1, 1927, and De- cember 31, 1935, was disclosed yester- day before the Securities and Ex- change Commission. Merrill Griswold, chairman of and attorney for the Boston Investment Trust, made the disclosure under ques- tioning by James Austin, commission counsel, as the commission resumed its study of investment trusts. Net Asset Value. Griswold said the net asset value of the trust’s shares on December 31, SURE, ! SELL M. time was $5,900,000 incident to selling s total of $83,600,000. To this he added $1,500,000 of operating expenses. 25 Per Cent Decline. “The experience of the individual investor who didn't add to his invest- ments, nor liquidated them, but simply ‘rode’ with it would show a decline cf about 25 per cent,” said Austin. “Isn’t that 502" he asked. “That is correct,” Griswold replied. He hastened to note, h::vever, that later profits had accrued to investors who bought at low prices and still re- tained their shares. The Washington & Suburban Com- panies, which controls the Washing- ton Gas Light Co., is an affliate of the Massachusetts Investors' Trust, ac. cording to the Public Utilities Com- mission. Recently the Washington & Suburban applied to the Securities and Exchange Commission for permission to sell about 109,000 shares of Wash- ington Gas common, which represents about 85 per cent of the common stock. .C. TOILET TISSUE. 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Bureau has curved front; dressing table concave front; twin beds with effective short posts and deli- cately turned urn-shaped finials. 8 § 400 Courtesy P/.rhlug While shopping here, park in the Osapitol Garage aé our expense. W &J SLOANE Distriet 7262 NAMED RECEIVER Succeeds M. L. Barnett in Charge of Fidelity Loan Association Affairs. James H. Nolan, formerly of the In- solvent Division of the Office of the Controller of the Currency, has been made receiver for the recently-closed €, BE {t was learned today, because Barnett, & bank examiner who examined the Fidelity before it closed, was said to be needed for regular examjnation work in the fifth Pederal Reserve dis- trict, to which he has been assigned for many years. 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