The daily times., 1919-10-16
THE LANE SOLDIERS LAND BILL

| casts passage of the Lane Soldiers
land bill, popularity known as the
Mondell land mbill, are beginning
to emanate from the committee on
Publict lands of the House of Rep
| resentatives. This bill, considered
so good by the Republicans that it
| had to be introduced early IN the
present extra session, by the Repub-
lican floor leader, Mondell, from
whom it now takes it's name, has
been allowed to lie in committee for
| months because the Republican
| leaders were suffering from what
, is known in slang as "colod feet
or plain political fear. Questions
have been raised about it, hearings
| running into months have been held
on it, but it has been allowed to
| lie dormant until some positive
political advantage could be seen in
| its passage.
Although it is generally claimed
that the city booy is more interested
IN the bonus than in an opportunity
| Tor obtaining land, the sentiment of
| the exservice men fro mthe rural
districts is now beginning to make
itself felt land and renewed effort is
! apparent on the part of the Repub-
| llcan leaders. For awhile those faith
ering the bill, including both Dem
| ocrats and Republicans began, Ito
| fell that it was foredoomed to defeat
| because the adverse sentiment Great
| ed against agreement said to have
/ been reached in the committee, it
| is now predicted that the bill will
| pass and give to the boy interested
! in land and farm projects and who
| fought for his country an opportun-
| lty to develop his future in an ex-
soldiers farming community.
Opponents of the bill, who were
| chiefly those who feared that it
would minimize the chances of a bo-
nus being granted to all ex-ser-
! vice men, at first brought up the OBJ
/ lection that the measure was really
| a protective to develop certain sec
/ tional areas for the advantage of
| land profiteers, and certain sections
such as the South and West The bill
| was never intended for this pur-
pose, and to overcome this wrong
impression it is reported that the
committee has practically agreed to
/ amend the bill so as to make such
/ a project impossible.
/
be divided into four sections of twelve
| States each with a provision that
| not more than one-fourth of any
/ appropriation for the development
of these soldier lands will be spent
; in any one section, and each fourth
to be divided in turn among the
projects in each of the twelve States.
In this way, instead of being a sec
| tional deve1opmnt it is asurred of
| becoming an opportunity carried to
men living in rural communities and
| who want to take up farming in
| their own section of the country
Instead of being a hindrance to
| the soldiers, sailors and marines
1
on it's own feet as an added advan-
| tage to the men who served their
country during the war. 1t will re-
| quire no actual expenditure of mon
ey out of the Federal Treasury ex-
cept in the form of a loan for fin
ancing the men who go into the land
project, plus of course the admins
trative expenditures. Where the
i first halt came in the bill on this
score actually was that the Rep
ublican majority, casting about
in the early days of the present Con-
gress for an inexpensive way of COM
pensating the soldier, tried to play
q this bill up as the great soldiers
relief measure. That it did not fill
/ that bill and that it was not intend
4 ed to fill that bill was seen by even
some of the Republican leaders, and
u because it was not complete in that
sense it was argued that it was no
boon to the soldier.
y When after more than six months
sentiment forced the Republican
majority into open on what it in
tended to do for the men who had
been in service they began to give
their attention to some of the meas.
D ures that had been introduced early
!, in the session. Although there is
} still procrastination waiting on the
. turn or political sentiment and the
/ political advantages they can predic-
for themselves in doing anything fol
) the soldier, they are at last up agains
: the proposition Of whether they in
! tend to do anything.
Il On the other hand, no longel