Dole

"Old uns," widows between the ages of 65 and 70, crowded into British branch post offices, last week, in piteous, hopeful, halting ranks, numbering some 450,000. Sympathetic post people registered the widows' names and proofs of age and widowhood in mossy ledgers. Then to each bona fide applicant they passed out "ten bob" (10 shillings: $2.43).

Until Death comes these saving driblets will continue weekly. They commenced, last week, when there came automatically into effect Section Three of the Widows, Orphans and Old Age Contributory Pensions Act of 1925.

At present no less than 15,000,000 Britons of the wage earning class are "covered" by ill-health, unemployment, accident, old age, or life insurance imposed or furnished by the State. Each week more than 1,250,000 old age pensions are paid --this in the face of a national budgetary deficit exceeding $830,000,000 for the past twelvemonth.