kfc*r?t IT-lW!? "IT*
Social Security Need
Of Low-Income Farmers
Amazingly Smalt Cash Marketings of Large
Group Leaves Little to Be Put Aside;
State Units Carry Relief Burdens.
By BAUKHAGE
N?tc$ A rialyU mtA Corrmenlator.
WNtJ Service. 1(1* Eye Street. N.W.,
Washington, D. C.
(Tkii U the fir Ml of M vticim en "So
ci?i Security far the Fermert~)
When the navy announced Ita plan
for the biggest postwar boom in
history ? its intention to blow a
97-ship fleet skyhigh with the atom
bomb?I couldn't help recalling the
answer which a little girl gave to a
reporter before the war ended. He
asked her: "What do you want to be
when you grow upT" The youngster
replied, "Alive."
In this atomic era, it's pleasant
to note, then, that there are at
least two groups of people in this
country who not only assume that
most of us will stay alive for a rea
sonable period, but who are making
plans based on that assumption.
One group comprises the radar
experts who earnestly promise we'll
be rocketing to the moon and back
by 1B96?stopping to refuel along the
lunar skyway at filler-up stations
suspended in space and perhaps
plucking moonflowers in a hanging
garden.
The second group is the National
Planning association ? specifically
its agriculture committee?which
expects the farmer not only to grow
up, but to live at leaat to the age
of 89, at which time he will want to
retire. Making that retirement pos
sible is the subject of a new NPA
bulletin by Murray R. Benedict,
professor of agricultural economics
at the University of California.
Why is the farmer so favored? Is
he the only worker who wants to re
tire and live out his old age in rea
sonable financial security? What
about the tired-out typists? Isn't
the weary welder worthy?
Ba that as it may, Mr. Benedict's
retirement plan is based solely
on bringing the farmer into the fed
eral social security system. Most
industrial and white collar workers
like typists, welders and butchers,
are already covered by social secu
rity. When the tima comes for
there to quit work for good, they
can count on a small, but regular
monthly ^income from social secu
rity benefits.
Not so the farmer. When ba can
work no longer, he has to liva off
what he's saved or by selling the
south forty?and if he hasn't saved
anything, that's his hard luck?or
whoever has to take care of him.
A d ministration
Prows Problem *
The farmer! were not Included In
the eocial security setup when it
was inaugurated in 1935. because
the lawmakers and administrators
felt they couldn't cope with his pe
culiar problems at the time. For
the same reason, they passed over
the self-employed worker, the do
mestic employee, the government
and railroad worker, the employee
in non-proflt organizations. Such
workers posed too much of an ad
ministrative problem, the legisla
tors felt, so they left them out, as
far as social security was concerned.
Now, however, the system has
been operating for more than 10
years, and it's high time, Mr. Bene
dict thinks, to ring farmers in on
its benefits. He feels the other un
insured groups mentioned above
should be included, too, but he con
centrates on the case ot the farmer.
The farmer, like everyone else,
faces the grim prospect of depend
ency and want in old age. Like
everyone else, he strives to guard
against such contingency by work
ing bard and trying to save money.
But in 1939, more than half the farm
owners of the country marketed less
than $75 worth of products from
their land. Deduct from that the
products the farmer's wife used at
the table, the farm equipment be
has to buy, shoes for the children,
and an occasional Saturday night
trip to the big city?and it's plain
there Is going to be precious little
money left to stow away under the
mattress or in the sock.
Hired farm workers fare no bet
ter in this matter of saving money
than does the man who owns the
farm. The hired man may earn
$37.90 a month if he eats "in." If
he boards out, bis monthly wage
may be $98.33?when he works. It's
quite possible he's a seasonal work
er?shifting from Job to Job as crops
mature and orchards blossom,
wMoh means his annual Income is
far from fixed or steady.
So the farmer and the hired farm
j worker, no matter bow hard they
work, may find It impossible to save
money toward the time when they
can no longer wield the scythe and
hay fork. Nor Is the farmer able,
in many cases, to put by a little
money to provide for his wife and
family, should he die prematurely or
be disabled.
Consequently there are more and
more aged persons in rural areas
who have to be cared for by county
and state on a charity basis?a pro
cedure which is not only expensive
but unfair, since it treats thrifty
and thriftless exactly alike. The
charity or "old age assistance"
as it's called, lumps together the
persons who strove to take care of
themselves during their working
years but failed, with those who
squandered their earnings.
Mr. Benedict guesses there'd be
fewer such charity cases and few
er farmers haunted by the spectre
of becoming such charity cases
were workers in agriculture allowed
to participate in the social security
system. As everyone knows, the
system is really a huge mutual in
surance company. Each person
makes a regular compulsory pay
ment which is geared to his ability
to pay.
Eoolvo Plan
For Paymanlt
It the farmers were covered by
social security (and Mr. Benedict
isn't the only one who thinks they
should be, most of the important
farm organizations have okayed the
idea: both presidential candidates in
the last election endorsed it, and the
social security board on January
28 once again importuned congress
to include farmers in), it would
work something like this:
Farmer Jake Duncan adds up his
year's sale of farm products and
finds he has marketed less than
875 worth. That's his gross cash
income. Under Mr. Benedict's plan,
Jake would be brought into the so
cial security system as a self-em
ployed worker on sn assumed net
income of 8400 a year.
Now Jake is "self-emoloved"?
and at the present time there is no
provision in the social security act
for insuring the self - employed,
either in agriculture or in private
business. The way it works now,
the employed worker who IS cov
ered pays into the trust fund Ijftt
cent of his wages; his employer con
tributes 1 per cent in his behalf.
Since Jake has no employer, Mr.
Benedict suggests that Jake contrib
ute both the employer and em
ployee share, in other words, 2 per
cent of his net income.
And his net income, as stated ear
lier, is $400. So Jake would pay $8
a year. If he makes these payments
continuously for 30 years, be will
have paid into the social security
fund $240. At retirement, he would
be entitled to approximately $13 a
month. Not a munificent sum by
any means, but perhaps Just the
little bit extra which, added to what
ever other assets he has, may keep
him from going to the poorhouse in
later years. And his social secu
rity contributions pay off rapidly.
In a little more than two years aft
er he has retired, Jake will have
received back every cent he paid
in, plus interest. Not only that but
during the 30 years he will have
had the protection of survivor
ship insurance. That is, if be should
die prematurely, his widow would
not be left completely penniless. She
would get three-fourths of the
monthly sum to which he was en
titled at the time he died.
Suppose Jake finds it hard to
scrape together eight dollars at one
specific time? In that case be might
use a stamp book. A book perhaps
similar to war stamp books. Jake's
social security stamp book would
probably be issued by the post of
fice or by the social security board.
Whenever he had a little extra mon
ey, he could buy stamps to paste in
it When the time came for him to
make his annual eight dollar pay
ment, he would turn in the stamp
book plus whatever cash was need
ed to make up the balance.
Jake would have a social security
account number and he'd have to
report his yearly earnings but the
report would be very simple. All
he'd have to do would be to state
how much gross cash income he
received for the year, sign his name,
and that's all there'd be to it
I BARBS ... fey Baukhagt
At tha rata ara ara demobilizing,
va ought to ba on an aqua) toot
ing with Nicaragua befora long?
and at equal In finance in intarnatioo
al affairs.
Turucigalpa, capital at Honduras,
la the only city In the world with
out any raUroad^ BM
The Triple "A" says that land
ing ahlpa which ooc? dropped tank*
on tar away enemy beaches may
be need as auto terries. They could
cany a hundred autos per trip
end still skippers wouldn't be afraid
at bursting peanut shells.
? ? ?
Poor Richard would probably say
tab?jraka off price controls and
WINTER IN FLORIDA OR NEW HAMPSHIRE . . . Regardless of the weather, the younger generation finds
plenty of amusement and body-bnlldlng activities. At North Conway, N. H? the Eastern Slope Ski school,
give more than tt,Qtt ski lessons annually to youngsters who contribute $2 annually and write a school compo
sition on skiing. At a cabana elub pool In Miami. Mary Jane Coucel, New York, goes overboard, while Kent \
Merkle, Waahington, and Mary Jane's sister, Shirley, watch in their "donghnnts." ]
1
PARIS . . . Look out
your window in a mod
ern Paris hotel and
this is what yon win
see. Houses of eras;
architecture and mul
titudinous chimney
pots. George Alexan
der, Los Angeles, was
so much in lose with
Paris that he repro
duced It and brought
it home in miniature.
Entire streets and
bloeks of the pic
turesque quarters of
the French capital are
included in his collec
tion. He Sed Paris in
1936 without Us "baby"
which, by underground
routes, Snally caught
up with him in Los An
geles.
BANDY WRENCH ... WeifhJac MS
pounds, this wrench has keen de
clared sarphu by the D. 8. army at
the Lordstown (Ohio) ordnance
plant. Ed Deiaa of Warren, stand
lac by the wrench, Is six feet tall.
Ctrlliaas may purchase inch radfets
as these Is Ix their watches.
MORE POWER TO THE DRAGON .. . Chin* is to pomp new We Into the
oM dragon by building the biggest concrete dam, irrigation project and
power plant ever known. Yangtze gorge project, with co-operation of;
the V. 8- bureau aI reclamation, bailder of Boulder and Grand Coulee
dams, is drafting overall plans. The mechanical lock facilities are shown
above. They are capable of hoisting a loaded vessel of several thousand
tons displacement capacity. John La elan Ravage is consulting engineer.
OtM H. HackwertV R, Chary
Chua, M4.. Im hmmm ilnitil m ?*
14 ?nHM? kr UNO. A ?????
irXrjt^kTiufJ^7''IUetwert*
HOME RACK PICKET LINE . . . Dsk| tka strike at the Lm Jta|da
Vwtm Stock yards, the pickets ihiiIH to tree Weston style to piekst
the eatraace to the yaito Moated picket Mae, left to right: Margie
Tarra, "Jag" Harrtoea, Tea Gtorcr aad Bessie Ermas. This eniea was
AMERICA'S OIL TWINS
WASHINGTON. ? Many senators
>elieve that the confirmation row
iver charming Ed Pauley as under
lecretary of the navy has taken on
lew significance now that Sec.
iarold Ickes has offered Ralph Da
nes the job of under secretary of
he interior.
It happens that Davies and Ed
'auley are bosom friends. Both are
>il men. Both have followed the
policy of "scratch - my - back - I'll -
icratch-yours." This is important.
Recently. Secretary Ickes, who
las a crusading record for guarding
he nation's resources, recommend
sd to President Truman that naval
>11 reserves be transferred from the
lavy to the interior department. It
was just such a transfer by Al
bert K. Fall in the Harding admin
stration that resulted in the teapot
iome oil scandal.
No motive is attributed to the
Ickes proposal except that of
safeguarding off. In fact, some
people consider it significant
that his proposal happened to
coincide, by lnck or otherwise,
with the nomination of Oil Man
Pauley to be under secretary of
the navy.
But what senators consider impor
tant is that, with Pauley's friend
Ralph Davies offered the job of
under secretary of the interior, the
navy's oil lands, no matter where
they are located ? in interior or
navy?will be partially under Pauley
Dr a friend of his.
MEXICAN OIL DEAL
Relationship between Da vies and
Pauley has been extremely close.
Davies was executive vice president
of Standard Oil of California. Pauley
sold him his own independent oil
company. Later Pauley brought
Davies to Washington, introduced
him to Ickes, following which
Davies became Ickes' deputy oil
administrator. He did a good job.
However, state department offi
cials say he continued to look out
for Ed Pauley.
When Pauley was trying to lobby
his high-octane Mexican gasoline
plant through the government, it
had to pass the hurdle of Secretary
Ickes' petroleum administration.
Davies okayed it ? not only okayed
it, but pushed it vigorously. At
first Ickes also gave it his blessing.
The state department, however, was
vigorously opposed.
Showdown came in a secret ses
sion between Ickes, Davies, a Da
vies aid, and the Assistant Secre
tary of State Dean Acheson. The
full story of this session was never
really told at the senate hearing.
Acheson opened by giving Ickes a
very careful diagnosis of why the
Mexican high-octane gasoline plant
should not be built by Pauley. He
took up point after point, his main
argument being that the Mexican
government would have to pay such
a high price to Pauley that it
would sour U. S.-Mexican relations.
After Acheson had finished, Ickes
turned to Pauley's friend; Ralph
Davies and naked!
"Why didn't yon tell me these
things?"
"I didn't know them either,"
replied the red-faced Davies.
Then, turning to his aid, he
alibied: "Why didn't yon tell me
. these things?"
Ickes immediately reversed him
self, threw his weight against Paul
ey. That is the real inside of how
the Pauley octane plant for Mexico
was stopped. Davies, of course, is
an able, intelligent operator, too in
telligent not to have known the
main points of the Pauley plan.
Pauley is equally able. He would be
a good executive almost anywhere.
But some senators want to think
twice before putting these oil twins
near the head of two departments
controlling the oil reserves of the
nation.
PRESIDENTIAL HUMOR
President Truman has been tak
ing recent criticism In excellent hu
mor. The other day he was talk
ing with a group of friends and said:
"Apparently, no matter what I do
I'm always in the middle. I say
something about Palestine, and the
Jews and the Arabs boiler. Labor
and capital get in a fight, and I am
in the middle. The Russians and the
British have an argument, and I am
in the middle."
Suddenly the President paused,
walked over to the door of his office,
which connects with that of his sec
retary, Matthew Connelly, and
called out:
"Hey, Matt, where eaa I bay
a copy of Dale Carnegie's 'How
to Win Friends and Influence
People'?"
CAPITAL CHAFF
Assistant Sec. of State Spruille
Braden is being muzzled by the cau
tious pink-tea diplomats regarding
some sensational documents seized
in Germany showing how certain
Latin-American diplomats aided the
Nazis during the war. . . . Forty
five small steel companies have now
increased steel wages, thus sending
more than 80,000 steel workers back
to work.... Southern senators seem
to like the filibuster method. Last
week Senator Bilbo served notice he
intends to use it against the Briti*
Mgh Energy tonic
A fib Older people I If you br?1 the
iirf. tUalns should?because
your diet Ucks the natural AAD
V W food-Uttimi, Scott's Emulsion
ttVf \ belpe bw&d ttamimm. euerpir and
111 J\ r??iiUn?i to cold*. See thie
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CAN7 YOU
SLEEP?
WHEN the street of modern
living gets "on your serves"
? good sedative can do a lot to
lessen nervous tension, to make
you more comfortable, to permit
restful sleep.
(? Next time a day's work and
. worry or a night's wakefulness.,
makes you Irritable, Restless or
Jumpy?gives you Nervous Head
ache or Nervous Indigestion, try
Dr. Miles Nsrvin
[(Liquid or Effervescent Tablets),
Dr. Miles Nervine is a time-' *
tested sedative that has been
bringing relief from Functional
Nervous Disturbances for sixty
years yet is as up-to-date as this
morning's newspaper. Liquid 25*
and 51.00. Effervescent tablets 55*
and 75*. CAUTION?Take only
as directed.
PAZO IN T II B If I
Millions of peopl* suffering from
simple Piles, has* found prompt
relief with PAZO ointment. Herrt
wh?: Pint, PAZO ointment soothes
inflamed sress?relieves potn end
Itching. Second, PAZO ointment
lubricates hardened, dried porta
helps prevent cracking and sore
ness. Third, PAZO ointment tends
to reduce swelling and check minor
bleeding. Fourth. It's easy to use.
PAZO ointment's perforated Pile
Pipe makes application simple,
thorough. Your doctor con tell
you about PAZO ointment.
? UPPOSIVOKIIS TOOI
Some persons, end many doctors,
prefer to use suppositories, so PAZO
comes In handy suppositories also.
The same soothing relief chat
PAZO always gives.
BUILDUP RED BUM
TO GET MORE
STRCN6TH
If yrar blood LACKS IRON!
You girls and women who suffer so from
simple anemia that you're pale, weak,
"dragged out"?this may be due to lack
of blood-Iron. 80 try Lydla K. Plnkham's
TABLETS?one of the beat home ways
to build up red blood?In such cases.
Plnkham's Tablets are one of the great
eat blood-Iron tonics you can buyl At
all drugstores. Worth trylngl
'6 6 6
COLD PREPARATIONS
LIQUID, TASLIT5, SALVE. NOM OMT%
CAUTION?USE ONLY AS DMCTBI
WNU?4 08?-At
For Too To Fool WeU
S4 how* mry day, T days mrf
If man paopU??r? awwrf Wf tfcft
Si^?drsLi*!Ss,iLrss*wis?
?atlv that f?at tar In tha Woo4
?Ithaot injury to kaat, that vaw
ha hot tar gadarataadiai of aftf tho
D?dat. aaaaiyoc too fragaaat aha
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