Book Reviews : The Cost and Financing of Social Security. By LEWIS MERIAM, KARL T. SCHLOTTERBECK and MILDRED MARONEY. (Washington, D. C.: Brookings Institution. 1950. Pp. ix, 193. $3.00.)

• Date: 01 December 1950
• Published date: 01 December 1950
• Author: Emil Kauder
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295000300429
• Subject Matter: Articles

648

turned

to

him

for

criticism,

assistance,

and

information

to

aid

them

in

modifying

their

written

opinions.

Two

chapters

on

the

Pollock

case

explain

that

decision

as

a

sectional

controversy.

This

is

done

by

rationalizing

Justice

Brown’s

place

with

the

dissenters.

To

say

the

least,

there

is

some

artificiality

about

such

an

inter-

pretation.

As

for

the

famous

mystery

of

the

&dquo;Vacillating

Jurist,&dquo;

the

author

vetoes

the

Corwin-Ratner

choice

(Gray)

and

interposes

his

own

candidate

(Brown).

Three

chapters

are

devoted

to

the

friendship

of

Fuller

and

Holmes,

&dquo;one

of

the

most

notable

in

the

history

of

the

Court.&dquo;

In

these

pages

the reader

is

rewarded

with

intimate

glimpses

into

Holmes’

early

years

on

the

bench.

Here

is

one

tidbit-a

plea

from

Holmes

to

Fuller

that

he

be

given

more

opinions:

&dquo;Why

don’t

you

send

me

a

real

stinker

that

will

be

of

some

real

relief

to

you&dquo;

(p.

319).

For

one

strongly

sympathetic

to

his

subject,

the

author’s

concluding

chapter

contains

a

well-balanced

evaluation

of

Fuller.

In

admirable

fashion

Mr.

King

summarizes

the

qualities

which

made

Fuller

a

great

chief

justice,

but

he

also

points

out

his

limitations.

This

biography

has

merit

for

its

readability,

its

use

of

fresh

material,

its

engaging

portraits

of

human

beings

at

work.

It

might

well

be

subtitled:

&dquo;Inside

the

Supreme

Court,

1888-

1910.&dquo;

DAVID

G.

FARRELLY.

University

of

California

at

Los

Angeles.

The

Cost

and

Financing

of

Social

Security.

By

LEWIS

MERIAM,

KARL

T.

SCHLOTTERBECK

and

MILDRED

MARONEY.

(Washington,

D.

C.:

Brook-

ings

Institution.

1950.

Pp.

ix,

193.

$3.00.)

The

three

authors

present

a

clear

survey

of

existing private,

state

and

federal

measures

concerning

old

age,

survivors,

liability

insurance,

unem-

ployment

compensation,

medical

care,

public

assistance,

veterans’

benefits,

etc.

In

addition,

the

main

proposed

changes

are

explained

and

critically

discussed.

The

mainstay

of

this

excellent

book

is

an

analysis

of

the

present

and

estimated

future

costs

of

social

security.

Defenders

and

opponents,

of

security

programs

likewise

will

be

shocked

by

the

huge

future

expen-

diture

computed

thoroughly

and

painstakingly

by

the

authors.

Without

being

able

to

criticize

the

material

and

method

used

in

this

computation,

the

reviewer

believes

that

a

still

more

accurate

forecast

could

have

been

achieved

if

the

authors

had

paid

attention

to

the

vast

critical

and

apologetic

literature

about

German

social

security,

especially

in

the

field

of

medical

care

and

liability

insurance.

It

appears

that

the

authors

are

so

engrossed

in

their

cost

analysis

that

they

forget

the

other

side

of

social

security,

the

possible

benefits

derived

from

it:

better

health,

fewer

labor

conflicts,