The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1919-11-14
AGAINST PEDDLERS
nv Il. S. UNIFORMS
War Department VIII Do All 1t Can to
Prevent Practice in New
York City.

All the backing that the war de-
partment can give II will be behind
the New York City drive against ped.
dlers in the uniform of the army or
navy, who are found selling things in
public places Hundreds Of letters Of
protest have reached the city's police
department, and it is announced that
men in uniform will no longer be al
lowed to peddle or beg
Secretary of War Baker, in letter
recently made public, called attention
TO this nuisance which had sprung up
in many of the larger cities. Major
General William g. Ham, now in
charge of soldier employment for the
war department, is determined to use
every means possible to uphold the
sanctity Of the army and navy uni
forms throughout the country. There
are practically no laws against such
misuse, save in isolated communities,
and Secretary Baker and General Ham
hope to achieve their end by calling
on the general public to cease patroniz.
ing such offenders.
In statement issued from the of
fee Of the assistant to the secretary
Of war, General HAN declares:
"a man in uniform seeking aims or
trying to peddle worthless trinkets or
booklets is living witness to the as
sumption that the United States gov
eminent has neglected its fighting men,
leaving them to shift for themselves.
"ln the minds of the people of the
United States and in the minds Of some
Of the discharged soldiers during the
first few months after rehabilitation
started there appeared to be ground for
the belief that the government was
neglecting It's ex soldiers. This was
only apparent, however The Congress
desired that the soldiers be properly
cared for. It created machinery to look
after disabled men by authorizing the
organization Of the federal board for
vocational training and appropriating
considerable sums Of money 1t has
taken some little time for this board to
get into operation. II is now, however,
beginning to do effective work
''1'he secretary Of war on his own
account organized in his Office a service
which has looked after discharged en-.
listed men out Of pobs has put them in
touch with employers and has enlisted
the service of the welfare organizations
the American Legion and other bodies
in assisting them to get in touch with
employers and other activities anxious
to look out for their welfare and give
them employment. This bureau, now
known as the service and information
! branch, has done a tremendous amount
of work by its agencies all over the
United States for the discharged sol
diers and at the present time it may
be said that it should not be necessary
for single able bodied service man
in the United States to be loafng or
to be without a job
| "a discharged soldier who appears
in public in uniform for the purpose of
advertising the uniform or perhaps bet
ter for advertising himself in order to
collect without adequate work funds
for his own benefit, is prostrtuting the
| good name of the service of which once
he formed a part, and in which the
American people feel a Just pride"
| Chief Magistrate McAdoo, in launch
ing New York's campaign, has advised
the police to bring in all persons who
use military attire as means Of aims
getting from a sympathetic public. He
also denounces the persons who have
commercialized the army olive drab
and the navy blue by sending out their
statesmen in uniform to solicit trade.
81 request the public to refuse to
patronize any concern that puts dol
lar mark on the soldier garb, exact
ing a profit from patriotism" he says.