SOCIAL WELFARE OF AMERICA

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25953, 5 November 1949, Page 7

SOCIAL WELFARE OF AMERICA

Mr Truman’s Ten-Point Programme (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 8.30 p.m.) * NEW YORK, November 3. President Truman to-day strongly criticised groups opposing his policies, and laid down a 10-point programme for the American people’s welfare. Speaking at St. Paul on the hundredth anniversary of the creation of Minnesota as a territory of the United States, Mr Truman said reactionaries held that Government policies should be designed for the special benefit of small groups of people who occupied positions of wealth and influence. It was the Government’s obligation under the Constitution to promote the general welfare of all the people, not just a privileged few.

The points of Mr Truman’s welfare rogramme were as follows: — (1) Farmers, like businessmen, tiould receive a fair price for the roducts they sold. (2) Workers were entitled to good rages and equality of bargaining ower with their employers.

(3) Small businesses and co-opera-tive undertakings should have a fair opportunity to achieve success, and should not be smothered by monopolies. . , X X 1 (4) Americas great natural resources should be protected and developed for the benefit of all the people, and not exploited for private (5) ' Old people and the disabled should have assured incomes to keep them from being dependent on charge) Families should have protection against loss of income resulting from accident, illness or unemployment. (7) Citizens should have decent housing at prices they could. afford. (8) Educational opportunities should be assured for all young people, so that they might be an enlightened Clt (9 an There should be better health and medical care for everyone. (10) All Americans were entitled to equal rights and equal opportunities under the law and to equal participation in American national life, free from the fear of discrimination. Mr Truman added: These are policies that spell progress for all our people: they are the best assurance of prosperity for everyone, including the very people who attack them most bitterly. These policies mean more democracy in this country, and mL less. They are our staunch shield against Communism and every other form of totalitarianism. They are the means whereby we will achieve the better world we are seeking.”