* * * Social Security in the U.S.A.
The last week may well be described as one of the most significant in the whole history of the United States. On Monday the Supreme Court upheld the clauses of the Social Security Act which give Congress powers to establish an unemployment insurance scheme for 15,00o,000 workers and an old age pension scheme for 25,000,000. It is only necessary to read some of the dissenting justices' opinions to realise how great a victory this is over some of the traditional conceptions of American political thought. "No appeals to feelings of humanity can expand the powers of Congress," said Justice McReynolds ; in fact, however, the Court's decision expanded these powers so that Congress can now protect the worker against two of the greatest evils to which he is exposed, unemployment and a penniless old age. At the same time Mr. Roosevelt was sending a message to Congress demanding the establishment of a maximum working week, a minimum wage and the abolition of child labour under 16, in the manufacture of goods that enter into inter-state commerce ; and a Bill to this purpose, which covers some 18,500,000 workers, was immediately introduced.
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