The Camden chronicle. (Camden, S.C.) 1888-1981, January 10, 1936, Page PAGE SIX, Image 6
New Era Here
With Job Insurance
Four 1s one of the most powerful J
motive* influencing human action. It
Ih hufe to say that fear* ?named and |
unnamed' are today the moat ueri>
ouh menace to the future welfare of
the race. We huve everything else
but confidence. Everybody 1* afraid
of something -or afraid of nothing (
and 1t ts Jnat a* bad to be afraid of j
nothing as to t)P afraid of aometUiug. j
The rich are afraid they are going
to have to share their wealth with the f
poor ?and It lodka if thin fear will
he realised. The farmera are ufraid
that their preseut run of good luck
is too good to last. The worker** who
are lucky enough to have jobs are
in fear of lotting them. The millions
who huve no Jobs but who ure managing
to subsist on doles of various
kinds art* In fear tiiat their source
of supply will In* shut off. The great
"middle class" who in the past have .
been the bulwark of society?the hardworking,
home-owning, saving, fore-'
handed class?ure in fear that they
will lose their homes and that the '
savings which they have counted on
to assure them a modest living till >
the end of their days will be reduced j
to the vanishing point at a moment's !
notice. ' j
It is largely to allay these and siml-j
lar fears that the New Deal leglsla- I
tors have adopted the multitude of j
social security and other reform ineas-j
ures which we huve seen put In opera- j
tion in tiie last three years. January 1
1, 1936, marks the beginning of several
of the most important and farreaching
of these sociul reform Iuwh?
notably the "security" luw setting up
a system of job, wage, health uud relief
insurance on a permanent baHis.
CHtles of the United Htates have long
complained because this country "lagged
behind" the European countries
in adopting such drastic social re-j
forms. Hut from now on, the other!
countries will have a hard time keep-1
ing up with the United States, for in
a series of bounds wo have leaped
far ahead of them. They can now be i
denounced as "reactionaries," "old '
dealers," "lories," "mossbacks," "Ne-'
audcrthal men" or what have you.!
Americans can now thumb their noses '
ai those Old World denouncers of
democracy and can hiss buck at them: '
"Now. watch our smoke!" The basic
diflerenre between those countries
and the United Stales is that those
countries have alwuys been poor.
They have never had any "surpluses"
ol any kind?either surpluses of prodnets
or Surpluses of wealth --to weigh
them down and sadden them. Hence,
even when they did adopt very progressive
und revolutionary laws aimed
at dividing up the wealth or tho
good things, these laws were a dead
letter for the reason that there was
so little wealth and so few good thingH
to divide. In this country, as we have
said, the situation is entirely different
Here we have a super abundniice
of wraith, accumulated by three centuries
of work?added to the richest
stores of natural resources possessed
ht any nation. The American domesIk
market Is the plumpest plum in the
world of trade. Even what we call
our poorest people still have what
those Old World people would consider
fortunes. So when we speak of
redistributing the wealth and the fat
jobs and other good tilings in this
couutry. we are talking about something
that reall\ exists in a big way.
In fact, we have plenty and to spare?
and the onl\ question is how to do
tiie actual, physical dividing up or
redistributing.
The numerous "liberal." "progres
Hive" and "socialistic" laws which
have been adopted in the? past have all
helped in this work ?but in the main
they have been,, disappointing. The
income tax law, for instance, was hulled
us the magic wand which was to
tax the "haves" and use the money
for the benefit of the "have-nots."
But it doesn't produce enough to even
oil the social machinery, lot alone pay
for It. Other and far more fundamental
means will have to be adopted
if the transfer of a substantial share
of the nation's wealth to those who!
need it most is to be accomplished.
Taxes on gifts, bequests and huge for
t titles sound good but they are so stowacting
that it would be foolish to count
on them for much relief. A good
many people are still looking back at
the national income in tho boom period
back in 1929?and ure figuring
their share on flint basis. The national
income now is far below what it
was in (lie boom times. This is admitted
-but the; national jncome lias
made h big Hlucu tixe New
Deal went Into effect In March, 1983, |
und if everybody would only go ahead
ttud would produce an much uh they |
were producing in thoae times, the
total would not only equal 1939 but
It could go far above the level. Ho
It Ih a fact that there la no ahortage
Of national income und no lack of
the wealth to be divided up. What
!h lacking la the quickarting reme*
die* which will thaw out the "fro/en
UHHet*," draw upon the "*oclul credit'
and force tlu? mouuy to actually
circulate, Apparently,, the tremendouh
effort* which have *o fur beeu
made to bring about thi* much needed
condition huve not met with the
Huccea* expected. The government
blame* bu*lne*a, and btiHineH* blame*
the government, Ho there you are.
The government ha* tried It* be?t to
get production and wage* buck to
normal by uettlng an example In
"upending" but the private lntere*t*
have not followed thl* exumplo uud
In fact huve leaned back and *at Idle
while waiting for the government to
*pend more und more. The figures
allow, however, that even if the government
wpent all It could get hold
of. It could Btiii not reach-the goal
Met- for the grand total of what the
government could do Jm still only a
small fraction of wbut private Industry
und buslneHs Is ulwuys doing. It
Is this Htute of things which ha* set
the green "do" light* und opened the
wuy for the Townaend old age pension
plan giving $200 a month to everyone
00 yours of age or older--and ulso
such other plan* as the payment of
the two billion dollar bonus 'to the
soldier*.
The new federal "social security'!- and
old-age pension law which went
into effect January 1 luys a tax on all
pay rolls,.lor the benefit of the unemployed.
However, It will not apply
to farm labor, domestic service,
religious, charitable, educational or
other non-profit projects nor to the
office-holder, federal, state of local.
In a general way It will benefit about
25,000,000 workers, since it will provide
payments to them when they are
unable to secure Jobs. The tax on employers
sturted Junuury 1. with one
per cent on all pay rolls. This money
will be paid into a central fund, and
It Is from a general fund accumulated
in tlits wuy tlint benefit payments are
eventually to be made. Hut no benefits
will start until the nvstem gets
well to going and there is money to
pay out, which will not be before
1942. The tax on employers starts
With this January, at one per cent of
the pay rolls, and it will be gradually
Increased until It reaches three
per cent after 1937. Some experts
figure that the total tax on pay rolls
will be upwards or six per cent when
both the unemployment and old-age
annuities and all social reliof and benefit
plans get into full operation. The
New York Times, speaking on "Social
Security Cost." quotes estimates of
statisticians who have boon busy with
their pencils ever since this reform
was first proposed, and who have not
done figuring yet. The fund will be
about two billions by 1937. it is believed?five
billions by 1949 and 50
billions by 1980, after which, it is
stated, "the totals become so fantastic*
as to appear, from our present
standpoint, mere statistical abstractions.
Some of the pussyfoots are
already beginning to worry what the
officeholders will do with such a
vast amount or money, and the Times
article says: "Large reserves are always
in danger of being usuyped by
politicians for other purposes, as experience
with other funds amply testifies.
The freezing of so much sorely
needed purchasing power cannot but
hamper recovery." However, the millions
of people who are expecting to
benefit from these various forms of
relief are not wasting any time worrying
about what the ofTicial Job holders
a generation or two from now will do
with the money or with the "sorely
needed purchasing power" of the people.
1 he security law also provides for
a complicated system of pensions for
retired workers, and those who are
unable to work. Under this part of
the plan the employers and the employed
workers are to contribute In
equal parts to the fund. Hut the work
I era do not have to start contributing
Until 19,i i . * naudi WOrkoFa do iiot
have to contribute at all. When the
regular workers reaches the age of.
(>.? he will be entitled to a monthly
payment of from $10 to $85. dependi
lug on the number of years he has
I made contributions to the fund after
| 1936 and his total wages during that
I period. Most of the states have pro|
gressive relief and benefit laws of
BOIIMJ sort but there Ik iltuie uniformity
In these law*. The federal government
Ik now at work with tb? state
authorities ironing out the differenced,
sine? tb? hiw require?.that each mate
inuHt "match" the federal grunt by
coutributiuK an equal amount. About
que fourth of (lie social Mecurity ?li?
glbioH are already receiving beneiltK
from the MtatuH. The federal beuetliH
will alao be extended to the blind,
to cripples, to mother*, to needy children
and other*. The detail* of the
hew systqjrju Of course Will require
| ttme *9 work outt specially u tbil
whole Idea is something new to the
United Htate* and there are very few
person* who have training and experience
in collecting and handling ?uch
fund*. While the federal government
for the present limit* it* social benefit
payments to $16 a month for each
person, the states can, if they choose,
chip in a larger amount, thua "fattening
the kitty," as some people call It.
All those rather vugue promiucs of
possible benefit* ut some time in the
future Hoem to huve only whetted the
appetite* of the populace?a* the recent
Hpeclal congressional election in
Michigan hIiowh. Vomer W. Main, a
Republican, whh elected by a vote of
over two to one over the New Deal
nominee?the clean-cut issue being
the Townsend old-age pension plan.
The vote in this Michigan district
very closely follows the various "straw
votes" which huve been conducted.
This Is taken to indicate that the
Townsend plan will go through with
a rush as soon as Congress can be
brought to face the issue.
As the Pathfinder lias already explained,
the Townsend plan is the
inspiration of Dr. Francis W. Townsend,
a California doctor whose pity
had been excited by seeing the great
number of old people who are helpless
and without any means of support.
He thought of the Idea of giving
each and every one or these old
people $200 a month in spending money.
And when he said "spending" he
meant spending?not hoarding or inventing
In stock or city lots. The
mainspring of the Townsend plan in
short Is the requirement that each
person receiving this casli must spend
It within the same month. And if the
person had a job, lie would have to
give up that Job if lie wanted to share
in the spending money. The first
effect of tills plan would be that upwards
of 4,000,000 elderly people
who are now working would retire.
This would help in two ways. It
would give these superannuated workers
a chance to enjoy u little of the
leisure and rest and recreation which
seems to be the main occupation of
the younger generation at present.
And they would have plenty to spend.
At the same time it would give the
younger people a chance to get jobs
and get paid for their work?instead
of being a drag on society, as they
are now. The purchasing power generated
by giving each of the old folks
$200 every month to spend?and making
them spend it?would soon absorb
all the surpluses and would take
up the big gap of nearly 40 billion
dollars in the national income which
now exists, according to our chart. ~~
All thiH, it is declared, would not
only solve all our money troubles at
one stroke, keep the factories and
sales forces going at full speed and
wipe out the bills for relief but at
the same time would put an end to
most of the crime and vice and drinking
and carousing. The Townsend
leaders estimate the present cost of
charity as three billions of dollars a
month and the cost of crime at hnlf
that much, so that 54 billions a year
could easily be so-ved on Just these
two items alone. And this alone is
more than the dreaded "gap" in the
national income.
The pensions are to be paid out of
a "revolving fund," which is to be
speeded up just enough to provide tor
all the money that will be needed.
Since all the money would have to be
spent and put back in circulation
within the month, there could be no
hoarding and some of the "frozen"
funds which seem to vex our great
leaders so much at present. The
prtntnlg presses in the Bureau of Engraving
and Printing at Washington
are now all oiled up and ready to run
24 hours u day in the effort to provide
enough money to meet all purposes.
The new biiis are juHt beginning
to emerge at the "delivery end"of
the presses, and what we have seen
of them look mighty good. They are
not old fashioned promises to pay in
gold, silver, tin, nickel, copper, lead,
iron or any other metals but are plain
everyday "legal tender" money, with
both sides of the United States seal
on it. for the first time. This new
money of course was not intended to
he used for the Townsend old age pension
payments or the soldiers' bonus'
but is for any and all purposes. The
_ I nw nsend plan --till has to receive^
the blessing of Congress before it can
go in to-effect?ami we know how slow
Congress sometimes is. So it will
bo wiso for those who expect to benefit
by these pensions not to start
- spending their money until they get
it.?The Pathfinder.
Thomas Calvin, 70, capitalist and
former mayor of Memphis. Tenn . who
began his business life as a telegraph
i operator, died Monday.
I J. c. cox
Sanitary Plumbing and Heating
TELEPHONE 433-J
Estimates Furnished on Short Notice
ELECTROL OIL BURNERS
WMMMMMMM????????mmtJ
.
Nobody's Business
Written for The Chronicle by'Geo
MoGee, Copyright, 1928.
READ MIKE'S NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS'
doer mr; eddltor:-?
yore corry spondent, inr. mike
Clark, rfd, has made the followuring
ressolutlons for the new year of 1986,
and he will begin observing the eame
on januwary the 4, to witt: ?
1?reaolvod, that i will newer ex-,
my nabora. associate^ friend^
and feller-citizens to think verry much
of me.
2?resolved, that i will make verry
few promises, but will carry out them
that 1 do make.
3?resolved, that 1 won't expert the
other feller to give anny more of the
road than 1 give.
?
4?resolved, that 1 won't buy aunyihing
on cred dick that i won't pay
for when It is due to be paid for.
5?resolved, that i won't tote or
repeat scandal even If 1 find out that
It Ih the truth ubout a person who
mought do better If he or she has a
chance.
' t
6?resolved, that i will give John
doe the right to believe as he pleases
about religion, polllticks, and signs
of an ill-omen nature, the moon, furrinstance.
i
7?resolved, that i won't ask for
anny more sugar in my cofTee than
the other feller has in his?and certainly
not more than i am entitled to.
8?resolved, that i will do the best
i can betwixt green and red lights,
and that i won't cut corners, or leave
my row unhoed otherwise.
9?resolved, that i will realize that
i have done no more than a good
citizon should do after i have done
my hole duty as a m^n.
yores trulie,
mike Clark, rfd,
corry spondent.
MIKE VOCIFERATES ON THE AUTOMOBILE
SLAUGHTER
deer mr. eddltor:'?
a great manny of my add-miring
friends have rote and foamed to me
asking me to give my views on the
large number of deaths and injuries
that are caused now-a-days by otter-1
mobeels, and say, in my opinion, what
is the cause of everthing, and i will
do so. the followering is a list of
the rail and direct reasons for the
groat increase in hurts and hommicides
from the gassolene vehickle,
vizzly:?
1?good roads.
2?good roads.
3?good roads.
4?good roads.
5?speed.
6?speed.
7?plain ftols.
8?simple fools.
9??&** ??cc:-:) * ( fools.
11?hugging at 60 m. p. h.
12?trying to hug at 40 m. p. h.
13?one drink. 'T
14?two drinks.
1 16?three drinks.
16?boneheads.
17?punkin-heads.
18?guessing.
19?not thinking.
20?showing off.
21?passing the other fool.
22?looking at the speedommetor.
23?lighting cigarettes.
24?shaking ashes off.
26?dodging a bug.
26?letting wlfy see things.
27?blowouts.
28?smart aleckness.
29?pulling for yore rights.
30?talking to back-seaters.
31?listenning instld of looking.
32?making curves at 75 m. p. h.
33?not dimming his lights.
34?making bumpers kiss.
35?iddy otic stunting.
36?extry good brakes, (i thought).
31?no brakes a-tall.
38 ^desire to Bee the pearly gates. 1
39?goods roads.
40?good roads,
yores trulie,
mike Clark, rfd,
corry spondent.
Deiayea Funeral Held
- Marlon, S. C., Dec.-31.?H. L. Jackson,
colored undertaker of this city,
seems to hold the record for delayed
funorals.
On December 23. 1934, Jackson embalmed
the body of ono Mary Baker,
negro woman, and her husband, Jim
Baker, said he would get the money
to p'ay the funeral expenses.
Jackson said he waited on the man,
who went around to the business men
of the city and begged enough to pay
tor the funeral, hut instead of paying
the undertaker, he himself
some clothes. i
So Jackson still waited. Near
Christmas this year, Jackson became
tired of the body so he decided to
bury it, after keeping it out for one
year and throe days.
The funeral was held December 26.
A seat on the New York Stock Exchange
was sold Monday for $146,000,
a $10,000 increase since the last previous
sale on December 23.
_*= WEEKLY BULLETIN IHTT
S.C.Game cJish Association
HI8T0RY AND MYTHOLOGY OF
FISH
??
(By Chas. K. Jack too)
When man first fished, no one
fcoows. He did not ihre long In this'
world before he was afTllcted with the
pangs of hunger and with the coming'
of those pangs, was born the Instinct}
to hunt and flsh. Pictorial records
dating back 2,000 years before Christ!
are In existence showing flsh and flsh-'
Ing. ^ *
"Which came first as un Implement
for catching flsh?the net, spear, or j
line?" All three of these have their'
proponents with possibly the spear |
ranking first and the line last. You
might agree with those f who insist!
the spear was first, because man could !
euBily sharpen a stick, but how could '
he make a line or especially a net? i
As you go into the subject you will j
discover that even today the natives
of New Guinea use nets which are'
objingingly woven by spiders. The |
natives simply bend u long bamboo!
pole Into a loop about six feet in diameter,
places It where a certain spec
ies of spider is weaving webs, and
leaves it to the industrious spider to
fill in the bamboo loop with a web
which is water resistant and will lift
flsh weighing as much as a pound out
of the water.
Such ancient writers as Homer,
Herodotus, Plato, Aristotle, Theocritus,
the two Plinys, and Plutarch, all
,dwelt upon the subject of Ashing, and
even Cicero managed to inject some
of his sarcastic remarks. The Bomans
in particular had a wealth of
literature on Ashing. They reared
them; imported them; and built lavish
tanks to keep them in. They even
went so far as to bedeck them with
Jewels and to forget that the primary }
reason for their existence and main- j
tenance was a ready supply of fresh
fish in a hot climate. Imagine if you
will, a situation developing to where
an historian records: "HortenBius so
looks after his mullet as to forget his
men, a sick slave has less chance of |
getting a druught of cold water in a !
fever than these favored flsh of being i
kept cool In their stews in mid-summer."
Both the Romans ana the Greeks allowed
flsh to enter their medical practices,
and certain fishes, or the various
parts of their anatomies, we^e ad-'
vocated as cures for certain ailments. J
Inasmuch as flsh caused the rise and
fall of seacoast cities common depicting
flsh or fishing were quite common.
Little wonder, then with fishing of'
such ancient and honorable origin
that we find today fish occupying an
honored place on the festive board of
many people. Thousands of carp are
fattened annually and shipped alive
In tank cars to New York to furnish
the Polish and Jewish people their
holiday season meal. On the 4th of
July, no right thinking New Englander
should be without his boiled ealmon
and green peas, and nearly 500,000
pounds of eels are Imported annually
at Christmas time to gladden the festive
tables of the Italians. The Greeks I
in Tarpon Springs, Florida, celebrate |
one of their holidays with octopus
cooked in olive oil. Oriental settlements
on our West Coast insist on
having red snappers for the proper
celebration of some of their holidays.
And in foreign lands, we find luteflsh
as the important dish of the Scandinavians
at New Years, while salted salmon
is considered a most acceptable
New Year's gift by the Japanese.
Just when angling entered the field
of fishing for the sport side only Is
not known but, it, too, is of very ancient
origin. For many centuries in
certain sections of the world the octopus
has been used by the natives to
catch flsh. The octopus is securely
tied on a string, and lowered Into the
water over the flsh. As Mr. Octopus
detests the sensation of being suspended,
the moment he touches anything,
be it flshstone< or bottom, he
grapples it with all his might. Having
seized a flsh, the native merely
retrieves the octopus and relieves fiftn
of his catch.
The Chinese have a method of taking
flsh by using a bird?the cormorant
to make the catch. One fisherman
may have as many as 20 or 30
of these birds fishing at a time. The
cormorants fly out over the water
diving down to seize their prey, and
, .1 I -I..J
then return with It to their master*.
No mutter bow many dshermen ace
Asblug, each bird returns unerringly
to his owner. A ring around the bird's
neck keeps it from appropriating the
catch for itself. Iu Anile patience and
these birds were properly trained.
Throughout all this past history of ?
fishing, man had little cause to pay
attention to the conditions ofHhe supply
of Ash. Nature was always most
genehOus. It was not until the last
centuries that man commenced to
question as to probably depletion;
and in reality, the real alarm has
come in the last half century. In
keeping up with Increasing demands
made by progressively expanding populations,
Nature Is being taxed to the
limit, and beyond, to maintain the
supply.
In the rqalm of sport Ashing, man's
inventive genius has raised more havoc
than It has In the commercial Asherles.
Our lakes and streams are not
as boundless as is the ocean, consequently
the effects of Intensive Ashing
are more easily noticed. Methods
of Ashing are Improved yearly, automobiles
have entered the picture to
whisk the Asherman miles where before
he only went yards, roadB have
been built to speed that auto on its
way,# and more important still, man
lias acquired the leisure time In which
to purse his favorite sport. The development
of aircraft, outboard motors,
and the automobile has been so
rapid that within the last 10 or 15
years, millions of acres of water areas
that had been natural refuges for Ash
for centuries, have been opened up
for the pleasure of the sportsmen. All
the combined efforts and funds of the
Federal and State Governments are
insufficient to even In a small( degree
compensate for his rapid encroachment
on the natural haven of Ash and
acquatics.
In another way, the life of the Ash __
has been made more precarious
through man's efforts. He has so
changed the streams and lakes in his
industrial and agricultural rush, that
no self respecting Ash of 100 years
ago would consider them At places
in which to live. Today if a Ash cau
get over the dams or through the
turbine wheels, or does not go astray -*
ipto an Irrigation ditch; If he can hold
his nose long enough to pass the opj
enihg of some offensive sewer, if no
one dumps a load of sawdust on him,
if he can live without oxygen; if he
is not burled In a mud bank during
a torrential rain; and if he can And
just a little food that has managed
to survive also, then he may possibly
give some sportsman a few minutes
of pleasure, and grace some table.
The Bureau of Fisheries looks at
It from the sportsman's standpoint
and propagates AbK to aid nature.
Then the Bureau looks at it from the
Ashes' standpoint and is Aghting to
make the Ashes' home what it should
be," the home that nature provided.
The two standpoints may seem far
apart but In reality they are the same.
Both mean "Better Fishing" for food
and sport.
Ford Announces New Finance Plan
Detroit, Jan. 3.?The Ford Motor
Company announced today a |25 a
month deferred payment plan. The
plan reduces the interest rate on unpaid
balances and provides broader
insurance coverage for purchasers, ofAcials
said.
Dr. Kirby Page, religious writer,
told 5,000 young Methodists in Memphis,
Tenn., that as Christians they
cannot go to war. "Christians," he
said, "are obliged to follow God rather
than man and to say to our government
that we are unable to sactlon
or to participate in war." *
drayage]
a *?*"> . j
niiu
STORAGE
F. R. CURETON
Telephone 233-J
FIRE?AUTOMOBILE?BURGLARY?BONDS I fc I
a*
? DeKALB INSURANCE AND REAL ESTATE CO ft)
o "INSURANCE HEADQUARTERS" 111
H CROCKER BUILDING?TBLKPHONET ~T Hi
5 M. G. MULLER ELIZABETH CLARKE, Mffti Si
* 1H
ALL?FORMS ?OF?INSURANCE | g J|