Social Insurance and the Constitution [Discussion]

Mr. Hobbs' discussion of the decision in Railroad Retirement Board v. Alton and its bearing on the constitutionality of Titles n and VIII of the Social Security Act would be improved if he would show how the points on pooling and due process, in a case where money is collected from A and immediately disbursed as an annuity to B, the amount of the annuity bearing no relation to the contributions, if any, previously made by B, apply to a case where the contributions of A are held and accumulated to be disbursed as an annuity to A, the amount of annuity, generally speaking, bearing a close relation to his previous contributions. In the second case the plan is nothing more than a compulsory savings proposition, on a group basis while in the first case an element of "share-the-wealth" is present.