Home Ownership af Highesf Level ... an Editorial

Three out of every five households in the United States, or approximately 33 million, own their own homes, according to results of the 1960 Housing Census just announced by the Bureau of the Census. This is the highest level of home ,ownership reported since 1890, the earliest year for which such census data are available.

In 1950, the last preceding census year, about 23.6 million, or 55 percent of all households owned their own homes. At the turn of the century only 47 percent owned their own homes, and the rate of home ownership remained relatively stable until 1940. Then some 44 percent owned their own homes. Dramatic increases in home ownership followed World War II, reaching 62 percent of all households in 1960.

For Tsble of Contents, See Page 57

The Congress of the United States has passed and made into the law a so-called "minimum wage" bill, which does two things of vast importance to the employers of the natron.

First, it increases the minimum wages which the employer must pay his employees. Second, it brings under the terms of the law several million workers not heretofore covered by its provisions.

It would require the seventh son of a seventh son to try to predict in advance the undoubtedly heavy effects of this law on industry, generally. Of course it will be more potent on some industries than on others.

Employers who are already operating under the law as it has been must look at the situation from a different viewpoint from employers coming under the law for the first time.

Employers coming under the law for the first time would seem to face more difficult problems even than those who have been paying the minimum up to the present time. The wisest position to take right now would seem to be to just wait and see, hope for the best, and keep our fingers crossed,

President Kennedy has asked Congress to declare a S-year federal war on juvenile delinquency. That would seem to emphasize in the strongest possible fashion how big this problem has become.

Thinking men have been frequently quoted in recent years as declaring that there is no such thing as delinguent children-only delinquenj pa;enti.

In the Golden Days of Greece there lived a philosopher by the name of Diogenes. History says that he used to walk the streets of Corinth, his home city, in broad daylight with a lighted lantern, explaining that he was looking for an honest man' x< rr *

Diogenes, according to history, was not only a philo-

BY JACKDIONNE

gopher but a teacher. He taught a class of young men. And history says that when one of his pupils went *rong, Diogenes slapped the boy's father. He apparently agreed with the above-quoted suggestion that there are no -delinquent children, just delinquent*parents.

flowever, his methods would hardly have fitted into conditions in th,is country today. Slapping the fathers of all the juvenile delinquents that President Kennedy indicates, by his recent declaration, are apparently active in this country today, would be a really*over-sized job.

President Kennedy suggests assistance of various sorts: to states, communities, agencies and institutions which aim at preventing juvenile delinquency. He also suggests grants to train probation officers, police, social workers and youth workers who are active in the handling of the juvenile delinquency nroltel. *

It's a sad state of afiairs when, with all the trouble this country is having with outside forces, we have to take time and money and effort to handle a bunch of irresponsible kids. And it must be a very large bunch if we are to judge by President Kennedy's ultimatum.

It might not be a bad idea with this opportunity to talk a little more about this fellow Diogenes. History says that he was a great friend of the world-renowned thinker, Aristotle. And Aristotle was the teacher of Alexander the Great.

Aristotle told his pupil Alexander about his friend Diogenes, and after Alexander had conquered the world and sighed for more worlds to conquer, he was one day in Corinth. So he decided to look up Diogenes.

He found the old philosopher sitting in the sun at the city dump, dressed like a bum as usual. The emperor of all the world said to the old philosopher, "I am Alexander. What can I do for Diogenes?" And Diogenes replied, "You can move over and let the sun shine on me."

Somewhat of an independent, that Diogenes