TRUMAN’S POLICY OF SOCIAL SECURITY AS GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITY TALLIES LARGELY WITH N.Z. SYSTEM

Grey River Argus, 5 November 1949, Page 5

TRUMAN’S POLICY OF SOCIAL SECURITY AS GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITY TALLIES LARGELY WITH N.Z. SYSTEM

(Received 9.5 p.m.) NEW YORK, November 3 President Truman to-day strongly attacked groups who are opposing his policies, and he also laid down a ten-point programme for the American people’s welfare.

Speaking at St Paul, on the one hundredth anniversary of the creation of Minnesota as a territory of the United States, President Truman said: “The reactionaries held that the Government policies should be designed for the special benefit of small groups of people, groups who occupied the positions of wealth and of influence. It was, however, the Government’s obligation, under the constitution of the United States to promote the general welfare of all of the people, and not just that of the privileged few. President Truman’s ten-point programme is as follows: — (1) The farmers, like the businessmen, should receive a fair price for the products which they sold. (2) The workers were entitled to good wages and also to equality in bargaining power with their employers. (3) The small businesses and the co-operatives should have a fair opportunity to acheive success and they should not be smothered by the monopolies. (4) The country’s natural resources should be protected and be developed for the benefit of all of the people, and not be exploited for private greed. (5) The old people and the disabled should have an assured income

so as to keep them from being dependent on charity. (6) Families should have protection against the loss of income resulting from accident, or illness, or unemployment. (7) The citizens should have decent housing, at prices which they could afford.

(8) Educational opportunities should be assured for all of the young people, so that they might be enlightened citizenry. (9) There should be a better health and better medical care for everyone. (10) All Americans are entitled to equal rights and equal opportunities under the law, and) to an equal participation in American ational life, free from the fear of discrimination. “These are policies that spell' progress for all our people—they are the best assurance of propserity for everyone including those very people who attack them most bitterly,” declared Mr Truman.

“These policies mean more democracy in this country, and not less. They are our staunch shield against Communism and against every other form of totalitarianism. They are the means whereby we will achieve a better world, which we are seeking.”