Show THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE SUNDAY MORNING NOVEMBER 8 1939 - An examination of the reasons back A -- r 4 of the old-ag- e pension drive coupled with a survey of some af the dizzy heights to which it has been pushed Wr i IMy V ( M f- - V i ft “"w A THE As a result the federal contribution is less than $15 a month Unless the state constitution is amended at the coming election the state will be legally firced to release all the lunatics in its care turn the criminals in the penitentiary loose and close down its educational institutions I In every state and territory per sons who reach the age of 65 without resources are now cared for by some sort of old-ag- e penIn most states the payment is about one sion dollar a day in many states medical and dental care are provided in some hospital and funeral expenses are paid Under the present setup federal and state governments split the cost of pensions to those over 65 the federal contribution being half the Any state that payment up to $15 a month than month more a or $30 pays pensions those less than 65 must foot the additional costs If a state runs its pension plan in a manner not approved by Washington there will be no fed-rContribution until the state reforms secon- Already although the pension plans have been in operation only a little more than a year a number of states face bankruptcy as a result of too generously "doing right by grandpa" Colorado one of the first states to adopt an e is in the will plan worst mess and pension probably have the hardest time getting out of it old-ag- open-hande- d The cave man never saw his grandfather In those primitive days if a man lived long As livenough to beget children he did well increased man’s and became easier years ing to a certain degree so did his years of prolem -- to support anyone’s political bitions "trapped" 85 per cent of all excise tax money for pensions To top it all they provided that any money left in the pension funddt the end of the year was to be distributed among the pensioners This made it impossible for the state tp build ufka'pensio’h reserve TTiey call TKis last' social security laws have been proposed to care for just such workers who comprise a great part of our population Right now we are having all kinds of trouble with the operation of the various pension plans and at the next election a number of states are going to try revising them Out of the 'various messes that the states have gotten into several definite ideas about First the indigent pensions have grown up be for cared No state has or must aged wiH abolish the pension plans to probably try entirely Nobody wants to starve grandpa Second pensions will only be paid to the needy aged and only in proportion to their need State and federal taxel must not be used to keep up payments on a car or to pay a butler’s salary Taxpayers have pretty definitely decided that their money must not go to everyone over a certain age regardless of need and put into operation al the miners and Traditionally ranchers decided that everyone over 60 was entitled to $45 a month pension They amended the state constitution to that effect and further j usually subscribe to an annuity plan Usually they did well to eat regularly with perhaps enough money left over from their varying incomes to buy a d-hand car Savings for a migratory or intermittent worker no matter how good a workman he is or how hard he works are practically out of the question Within the last few years the various By Ronald L Ives specter of penniless old age hat banished from the United & ' 5 provision "the jackpot" To top it all the $45 monthly pension was the legal minimum not the top limit ! isn’t the only state in hot COLORADO The scheme worked fine jor a little while result of an overgenerous penThe first "jackpot" amounted to about g sion plan but Colorado has the unique diseach happy pensioner an income 'of al- -' tinction of being in the worst pickle of any most $68 from pension sources alone in Janustate since the reconstruction days and ColoThen Colorado woke up with a ary 1938 rado's trouble isn’t the result of dishonest polibeautiful case of financial heebie-jeebiwith a Call it a general aberration on the part tics! deficit of something over $4000000 from the ' of the voters instead firstjrear’s pensions not enough money to keep Oklahoma is currently recovering from a on paying the $45 monthly legal minimum penpension mess that nearly equaled Colorado’s sion and an pefision roll except that the "Sooners" only passed pension “Colorado lias a population" of“a Tittle over”"" laws not amendments to the state constitution 1000000 a per capita income of a little over In one pensioner’s home according to a d $501 and a potential pension list of a bit less tale a pension investigator wai shown than 140000 names! As the minimum legal to his client’s room by a butler! ' As in sevpension payment is about $540 a year and the eral other states the idea grew up that everyfederal government will pay only $15 monthly one was entitled to a pension whether they toward the pensions of those over 65 (he cost needed it or not! to the state taxpayers can be seen The federal government has laid down one Today the pension is less than $30 a month hard and fast rule in regard to old-ag- e penbecause there isn’t money enough to The pension system must not be used sions pay more -- $23-givin- ever-growi- widely-circulate- am- The government means it as several states have 'learned when federal help was cut off Pension costs vary so widely from stats to state- - and even from county to count within a state that accurate figures are hard to get According to thr 1 937 figures pensions cost the people of Colorado $1520 per capita Utah had the next highest cost — $686 followed by California with Mainet by pension bill of J&635 contrast' spent onfy one cent per inhabitant on e pensions in 19371 old-ag- fpHIS great difference isn’t all due to screwy pension plans of to poor admin-- " Some states have a large number of jstration old people among their population others have few aged As medical science and sanitation increase" the number of people who live to or beyond the traditional "threescore and ten" increases and with this increase comes a growing pension problem In 1850 the average age of our population according to census figures was 188 years As the average Today it is about 27 years life span increases so will the potential pensioners — those over 65 — increase in number! Indigent old age is rather a modern prob- - (CoorrUht 1118 ” COCIOLOGISTS and industrialists faced with the increasing taxes caused by the present social security laws are also doing some k--' ductivity In a farming community under conditions of a few years ago every member of a family had a definite job from little Willie aged fif Now with on up to grandpa aged 65 of ill industries and rapid mechanization changes grandpa is Jfedy'ho get left behind in the shuffle' and to find himself without work by the time he reaches 65 or in many industries before he reaches that age What shall we do about grandpa? ' A generation ago the federal government most of the states a number of larger educational institutions and many large businesses adopted pension plans which are still is operation A man working for any of these could be retired at a definite age or when he became too old to work and would receive a definite pension for the rest of his life For the professional worker such as' the engineer the doctor the lawyer and others of his class insurance companies offered various plans by which the worker could pay in a eer- taift sum yearly for a number of years and then retire on a definite life income Both of these plans have worked and worked but they reach only a small part satisfactorily The farm hand the meof the population chanic the ditchdiggcr and others in the low-pa- y intermittent-worgroups could not receive pensions from their employers nor could they k heavy thinking Perhaps they reason they’d better find a place in industry for the skilled worker over their own arbitrary retirement age Perhaps a man of 45 isn’t “through” Some employers have already found that workers over 50 or even 60 ere'strll good for some- -' and that' throwinga man out because of thing -isTium economics! age Until a generation ago we confined our indigent poor cfn “county farms” where they were fed meager rations of eecond-jat- e food clothed in prison-mad- e and finally garments 45or given a very cheap "Christian" burial in potter’s Held at as little expense as possible Now we have gone to the other extreme and in some states the aged lire being supported at public expense in a style which they could never afford while they were working Grandpa literally gets champagne and caviar on his pension when his wages would only buy ham‘ burger and beer Soon and the plans are already made tha voters of the various states will iron out tha kinks in the present pension laws and the pres-ewave of fanaticism hatred political pressure and graft with honest fanaticism tfie chief Then and only theft) difficulty will die down e will the pension machinery run smoothly vith pensions for the needy aged and none fat those that only want a free ride nt old-ag- |