be like myself, but now I know that I carry a burden and I thank my God every day that I am able to carry this burden. I hope I have said something in favor of the old people here in this Commonwealth and throughout the country. I thank you.

Senator SMITH. Thank you very much. Are there any other witnesses who wish to be heard at this time?

STATEMENT OF ROBERT R. RICH, ATTORNEY, LOYAL PROTECTIVE LIFE INSURANCE CO., BOSTON, MASS.

Mr. RICH. Senator Smith, I did not come here prepared to talk today but I want to correct something on the record. My name is Robert R. Rich and I am in the insurance industry.

A previous speaker indicated that the insurance industry had already spoken to you here this afternoon. As far as I know that is not correct. That individual indicated that the insurance industry consistently attacks the social security system. I think as a Member of the Congress you know that that is not true. Over the years the insurance industry has supported the basic social security law and a great many amendments to it.

We in the industry have been behind the Kerr-Mills bill. We in our various capacities have supported numbers of bills in the State legislatures and elsewhere which would help the aged. We are totally cognizant of the problems of the aged and we are doing our best to find solutions to help them. We do not want them to be indigent, we want to help them as much as we can.

We do not in most cases believe that the King-Anderson bill is the solution to the problem. I call to your attention that last year in Connecticut there was a bill passed which provides the major medical care for the aged under the sponsorship of the insurance companies of that State. We hope that something like that will soon be enacted in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We are doing our best as an industry to help the aged.

Senator SMITH. Thank you very much.

STATEMENT OF MARGARET T. C. MURPHY, NEW BEDFORD, AREA VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL RETIRED TEACHERS ASSOCIATION

Miss MURPHY. My name is Margaret T. C. Murphy, of New Bedford, Mass. I am area vice president of the National Retired Teachers Association, consequently I am speaking on perhaps an entirely different viewpoint. Retired teachers in Massachusetts do not have social security. We have about 6,000 retired teachers in Massachusetts. Those who have retired previous to 1952 have very low pensions; in fact, most of them are below $2,500 and many more are receiving about $1,600.

We have no minimum pension, we have no maximum pension. Our pension is computed on age, years of service, and a percentage. Consequently, you see, no one throughout the State has the same pension. When we are sick, when we have prolonged illness, we have to rely on the rest home. When you pay anywhere from $65 to $85 in a rest home, your pension check does not go far. Consequently, my plea

would be for adequate rest homes that would be to our advantage. Thank you.

Senator SMITH. Thank you very much.

ADDITIONAL STATEMENT OF DR. MARY C. MULVEY, ADMINISTRATOR, DIVISION OF AGING, PROVIDENCE, R.I.

Dr. MULVEY. All I want to say is that I addressed my remarks to the gentleman that made the attack on the social security system and I was of the opinion that he was speaking for an insurance company. I did not get his identification at the time but I did not attack insurance companies. I rebutted what the other gentleman had said about the social security system.

Senator SMITH. Thank you very much. The record will show that. STATEMENT OF ERNEST D. HOWE, PRESIDENT, COUNCIL FOR THE AGED OF LEOMINSTER, LEOMINSTER, MASS.

Mr. HowE. Senator Smith, my name is Ernest D. Howe and I am president of the Council for the Aged of Leominster which was organized in 1957 by the mayor who was very much interested in the elderly people of Leominster. We have over 2,200 elderly people in Leom

inster.

I was a past president of the Golden Age Club and another Golden Age Club past president was put on the committee. I was elected chairman and am still chairman now. I do not want to take too much of your time. I have some other things I would want to speak about but I am going to confine my remarks to the four articles that I think should be taken up.

The first is more housing. We have two units in London, very good ones. We want more.

The second is some way to reduce excessive prices on drugs for the aged. You know how high those are. I know myself because I have to pay for them.

Third, for the Nation or the State to provide some kind of insurance for the aged, such as reasonable prices that they can pay to help pay the extensive costs of sickness when it comes to them.

As an example of that, just for a second, I was taken sick a year ago. The doctor said that I could stay in the house if my wife wanted to take care of me until I got better and I would not need to go to the hospital. I have two sickness and accident insurance policies. I found out after I had been in the house for 3 months, confined most of the time, that neither of the insurance policies covered me because I was not in the hospital.

Now that is my point. I think we should have insurance for the aged that covers them either in the home, in the rest home or in the hospital because many of them when they are taken ill only need to be in the hospital possibly 2 or 3 days or a week and then they can go to the rest home or to their own home. If they have the kind of insurance that I have, it is cut off completely. The insurance policies of the insurance companies should be arranged by the Nation or the State in some way that they can cover both the home and the housing project or the rest home where they are confined, and that would help all of the aged people in many ways.

The fourth thing, as has been said here this afternoon, I think more work should be provided for the disabled who are willing to work to earn what they can, to help pay their bills and help the city hall to help them get along themselves. Many of them are willing to work but can't get jobs.

I would like to say that we have a Golden Age Club which was established 10 years ago in Gloucester, one of the first ones in that locality. We have seven or eight Golden Age Clubs and our Council for the Aged was established 5 years ago, one of the first ones in that section. Thank you.

Senator SMITH. Thank you very much. You are certainly to be congratulated for the fine work you have done in the Golden Age group in London.

STATEMENT OF NICK MAGLIANO, BUSINESS AGENT, AMALGAMATED CLOTHING WORKERS, BOSTON, MASS.

Mr. MAGLIANO. Senator Smith, my name is Nick Magliano. I am a business agent of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, Boston. In addition to social security payments that they receive, they also receive $50 a month which we know even both combined they are not enough, and how many people here do not have the $50 supplement. In 1941 my parents were sent a letter saying, Mr. and Mrs. Magliano, we need a son for the Army, and they sent my brother Tony. In 1942 they said, Mr. and Mrs. Magliano, we need another son, and we sent my brother Veno. In 1944 we sent another one, my brother Eddy. At the time the Government needed my parents, my parents responded. My mother is 73 years old. My father has bronchitis, he is 82 years old.

When the Government needed my parents, they said "Yes." Now my parents need the Government. Are we going to say "No?" Senator SMITH. Thank you very much.

Are there any other witnesses this afternoon?

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM WATSON, PRESIDENT, GOLDEN AGE CLUB, LEOMINSTER, MASS.

Mr. WATSON. My name is William Watson. I am present president of the Golden Age Club in Leominster which has between four and five hundred members. We have been going for 11 years and the people there in our community are very interested in this social security medical aid which is before the Senate at this time.

I tried to keep the people in the rest homes and hospitals as happy as I could by taking my car, and others were doing the same, and visiting them in the rest homes and the hospitals to give the people that are in these places who have no friends and no relatives a little comfort, and they are always glad to see us. I think that other Golden Age Clubs could do the same thing by visiting these different people that have nobody only themselves.

I believe that is all. Thank you, Senator Smith.
Senator SMITH. Thank you very much.

Are there any other witnesses this afternoon?

STATEMENT OF FLORENCE H. DOE, BOSTON, MASS.

Miss DOE. Senator Smith, my name is Florence H. Doe. I am 76 years old next week. I live in Boston in a depressed neighborhood but the State is not able to cover my rent which is very small. I would like to make a couple of points that have not been made this afternoon. One is that the Congress has increased the amount of social security several times. I happen to be receiving $75 a month for social security which is not much to live on, as you all know, in the city. Because it is not enough to live on, it is necessary to have supplement, and the only supplement we have is the old age assistance for which we are all grateful in the Commonwealth. But still I repeat that the Commonwealth is not able to cover my rent because of the rules that they have made themselves.

Now with reference to the increases in social security which we have been given by the Federal Congress, we hear a great deal about it all the time in the papers and everybody thinks that the people on social security are getting more money, but the fact is the people who are on an old-age assistance budget in this State do not get any more money to live on although we need it. So I would like to ask you and the other Members of the Senate to see if something can't be done so that when the amount of social security is increased by the Congress that the recipients of social security will receive that money and have their budgets increased instead of having our State budget so stationary that we never can have anything more to live on.

That is something that I have tried to find out who is responsible for. I have been here and there attempting to do some research on the subject. Wherever I go I get a run around and everybody says that somebody else is responsible. The State planning board said that the Federal Government is responsible because they have made certain restrictions which make it impossible for the State to give any more money to recipients of social security, and it was given to people that never did a stroke of work in their lives. You know what I mean. So then I went to the Federal Government and the Federal Government said that it is the State that has the responsibility of this. So I have not been able to find out who is responsible and I do not have any money to hire a lawyer to look into it myself. I would like to have my Senators look into this matter and find out who is responsible that the members of social security do not receive the increase that the Government claims to give to them.

The other point that I would like to make is that it would be economical nationally for the country and the State to keep the old people in their homes; that is, to see to it that these people are given enough to live on so that they will not have to break down. Now I happen to know that most old people break down because they do not know how to eat. I personally know how to eat because I studied the subject.

I recently was in the hospital for a major operation, the second one I have had within 3 years. The first house doctors that we had told me that I am one of the healthiest women that he ever saw. So there is nothing the matter with me, ordinarily there is nothing the matter with me. All I want is enough to live on in my home.

How can I live in my home and keep my home when I do not have enough money to pay my rent? I am not the only one that does not have enough money to pay the rent. My rent is reasonable.

Not only that, but in order to keep our morale, to keep alive, to keep our personality, we need some money for social business and especially to get around the city. Anybody that knows anything about the transportation in Boston knows that it is getting worse and worse, and they also know that you cannot get very far on the amount of money that is allowed for transportation to the old people.

Senator SMITH. Thank you very much. I think you have touched on certainly some very pertinent aspects of the problem and we appreciate your testimony very much.

Miss DoE. Thank you.

Senator SMITH. At this point I would like to say that I have had the privilege of conducting three of these hearings in our committee's nationwide study this fall. Two weeks ago we heard expert witnesses and heard the public speak in Hartford, Conn. This week we have taken testimony in Springfield and now here in Boston.

I want to say that I am very happy to have had the fine audience we had here today in Boston. This is the largest turnout that we have had, and you have made a real contribution to the success of our hearing. I am certainly impressed with the interest shown by you people who have come from other cities, from Maine and Rhode Island. The opportunity to listen to you and people like you in these town meetings has been an impressive experience to me. The fact that has come through to me so strongly is the spirit and interest shown by the statements the people have made to us, and these statements certainly have come from the heart.

It is clear that the older people desire not charity or a protected existence, but to live independently as much and as long as they can, and to have the means to take care of themselves. These are legitimate desires of older people to which we must address ourselves and find really adequate answers. I certainly shall do my part in this effort, and I look forward to serving the people of this State and Nation in this very important field.

Thank you very much for your testimony. At this point I will insert various communications received by me. (The communications follow :)

Senator "BEN" SMITH:

448 PARK DRIVE,

Boston, Mass., December 4, 1961.

When you were at the statehouse last week, I (unfortunately) could not attend-I was working.

However, as you were dealing with old-age problems, it seems to me that something should be done about our earnings after 65.

I am on compulsory retirement since July 1. I don't want to be retired-I want to work-also with my social security of $115 per month (plus a tremendous pension of $72 gross, less taxes due, after being back with my organization for 29 years of unbroken service), shows that whether or not I felt like working I would have to.

I know a great many people I have worked with are looking forward to retirement and that's fine, if that's what they want, and can afford it. But my case is different-I want to work-but if I do get work, I can only make $22 per week, gross, and stay within my social security figures. I know I can make more than $1,200 and forfeit some portion of it. But it seems to me that if you have worked from 12 years of age-until 65-you have earned the right to be able to make more than $22 a week.

78681-62-pt. 4-10