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Show California Votes on Ham-and-Eggs NEXT Tuesday California votes once more on its famous (or Infamous, if you prefer) ham-and-eggs or $30-every-Thursday plan. ' What California voters do is directly no concern con-cern of Utah. But Indirectly it affects us considerably. con-siderably. State lines in this nation are rather hazy barriers and abrupt changes in the economic eco-nomic and social status of another state, particularly particu-larly one as close as California, are bound to have repercussions on our own economic and social structure. If the ham-and-eggs schema should bankrupt bank-rupt California, as has been widely forecast, the poison would be certain to spill over into Utah. If the plan should seem successful at" first glance, it would be bound to encourage the promotion of some similar cure-all for Utah. So it's proper for us to consider this get-rich-Cjulck scheme. The ham-and-eggs plan provides for the payment pay-ment of $30 every week to every resident over 80 years of age who either lacks or gives up regular employment Inasmuch, as very w- persons over SO would prefer to work when they can get $1560 year for being idle, ust about every resident of California ever SO will be on the pension payroll, pay-roll, one-fifth of the state's population. Of the four-fifths remaining about half are under ?l years of age. Half of those between 21 and 50 are women. So each of the remaining one-fifth, Destituting the adult males not eligible for the pension, will have to provide $1560 a year to support one pensioner, of course in addition to supporting himself, and his dependents. Obviously there's something wrong with thst picture. The average male worker in Califor-. aia probably doesn't earn more than $1560 a year. Either he's going to have to make immediately im-mediately $3000 yesr (in which event California Cali-fornia business and industry would blow up like a busted balloon because it couldn't meet competition from other states) or else the wsge earner ia going to suffer terrible' hardships as a result of the new pension tax load he has to bear. But let's leave the figures go. They've been explained thousand times to California's ham-nd-eggers without the slightest effect because they don't believe that two and two make four. Let's look at the history of various pension panaceas to date. In our neighboring state of Colorado, it was decided to pay pensioners Just $43 a month Bot $130 as in California but only $43. They've ever gotten it The highest pensioners actually actual-ly received was $40.09 on the average. But that was just the first month, while the state still had money in the bank. Now it'a down to about $28, compared to $27.50 before the $45 scheme was put into effect In the meantime the state's financial affairs have been disorganized, essen-tial essen-tial state services and schools have, been cur-toiled, cur-toiled, and relief clients and other dependents have suffered. In fact, Colorado relief clients received an average in July of only $10 per case In contrast to $24 for the national average. So to Colorado the state, schools and relief clients Buffered, and aged receive today only SO cents snore a month. In Texas the legislature a few months sgo enacted a liberalized old age pension system. Every person over 85 was promised $30 a month. Before the law-was enacted Texas pensioners received an average of $14.24 per month. But now they receive only $8.24. Furthermore, eligible) aged are being dropped from the rolls aad no new applicants are being accepted. So the experience of pension panaceas, or liberalised payments not supported by adequate and fair taxation, has been sad for the aged. They have been the suckers in the game played by the "greedy and vainglorious nostrum peddlers who fatten on the gullibility of their krtieas," as the American Association for Social Security puts it Probably a terrible fiasco would awaken us to the danger of these panacea peddlers. But ' St is wishing a bit too much bad luck to a grand stotc to hope that California will set the horrible aasarapla for the rest of the country. |