Says William James: "The man who daily inures himself to habits of concentrated attention, energetic volition and self-denial in unnecessary things, will stand like a tower when everything rocks around him and when his softer fellow-mortals are winnowed like chaff in the blast." Such a one also will resist the decay of powers and be able to keep young when the years tell of many birthdays.
To go over these points with greater detail: The first requirement, namely, to make sure that all possible financial provision is made for grandparents while they are yet young and capable enough in their work to save, is one that is more and more recognized.

Moreover, the tendency in every country is increasingly toward state recognition of the duty of society toward its aged members.

The proposition of Victor Berger, then the solitary socialistic member of the Congress of the United States, to pension every person over the age of sixty is one that will hardly be carried into effect.

The objection, however, to much existing pensioning by the state which this blanket proposition was intended to offset is that its benefits are mostly for those near the poverty line or below it and hence may be and often is a discouragement to thrift and self-dependence rather than an aid to individual effort.
=Pension Laws.=--For example, in Great Britain, the pension law made all eligible to state aid who were over seventy years of age and whose personal income did not exceed one hundred and five dollars per year.
Such were entitled to aid to the extent of $1.25 a week, and those having incomes above that sum were entitled to receive a graduated series of state benefits.

This aid from the state has doubtless made the condition of many aged persons far more tolerable and even happy in families where, previous to the passage of that Act, the extra expense involved in caring for the grandparents was the last straw that broke the back of independency.