The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1920-05-27

heroic sacrifice are of the past; the
days when men rushed to throw
themselves against the enemy of
their country, with never a thought
but to give all.
flee? The privilege to give was glori-
Of gain or loss; with never a thought
pensation, Of disadvantage, of sacri-
Gus. We trooped from village and city
from farm and workshop and desk.
And America stood back of us and
lent encouragement, as if any en-
enlargement were required. She
called: go in and fight! will
see to it that there will be no grating
and profiteering, as in other wars
that no class will wax rich and strong
by acquiring, while you grow lean and
drawn by giving. / will guard your
home fires that your loved ones shall
not suffer"
The system that sent the fit to
fight and sacrifice and the less fit to
work and profit cannot be just. So,
now that the fine days of impulse are
over, now that men have proved they
were patriots, it is high time to see
to it tina tthe wrongs of the old system
are redressed and the inequalities
made level. Now is the time for
facts.
The strongest arguments put forth
bp opponents of compensation are
these three: That the service man is
not justly entitled to- compensation;
that he is entitled to so much that
there is no use attempting to pay him;
that to pay him, even in part, would
hurt the country's financial system.
We have answered these, in consider
able detail in other articles of this
series. We have said that a great
many men of means advanced such
arguments. But there is the opinion
of one man of financial standing that
answers the foregoing arguments very
clearly and concisely.
Frederick NJ. Alger of Detroit was
asked what he thought of compensa-
ton. NJ Alger is director and treas
urer of Alger, Smith and Company;
director of the Packard Motor Car
Company; director and president
of the Jefferson Forge Products Com
pany; director of the National Bank
of Commerce and of the Union Trust
Company, of Detroit.
ut seems to me the country at
large has taken a mistaken view of
what this compensation really maens,"
said Mr.. Alger. 81 further believe
that this mistaken view is largely due
to the misuse of the word bonus A
bonus generally means a gift for mer-
ltorlous service, over and above
wages earned. Those of us who are
supporting service compensation
maintain that we are asking for some
thing the exact reverse of bonus.
We are asking that the Government
shall return to tn eservice man money,
or its equivalent, in an amount APP
prOximately equal to the difference
between the gay that he received and
the wages he would have received had
he stayed at home and not gone into
the military or naval service of the
United States. We are asking that
the service man be given only the
same opportunity to establish a saw
Iings account with his companion who
occupied civil poston during the war
This 81 not request fir charity. 1t is
a fair demand for equalization.
THE country cannot, of course
pay men with money for the service!
these men rendered.
"On August 81, 1919, when it il
fair to say the vast majority of ser
vice men could not have participated
209,800 savings accounts in Detriot
averaged $423.S4 apiece. On the
date of the Armistice, the payroll OF
one industry in Detroit, which by nc
means paid the highest wages, aver.
aged $3.50 a month for each of its
$4,000 employees. believe data of
this sort can be gathered in all parts
of the country to show the real diff
ference between army and navy pay
and civil wages.
ga great many objections can, of
course, be raised against compensa-
ton on the ground of the financial
difficulties involved. Most of these
objections are really technical in ma
ture. No objections should be per-
mitted to stand in the way of this
country's paying its debts.
THE country cannot, believe,
make a better investment than to
render to more than 100000 of its
men and women conviction that their
work is recognized and that they have
received fair pay"
This fair play is all the service man
asks. He does not wish to be compen-
stated to an extent that will do harm
to the nation.
1t is realized that the cash com
pensation feature is perhaps the least
valuable of the four propositions; but
it has been this feature that has drawn
the incessant burden of the enemy
attack, so that the general advantages
to the soldier and the whole country
of the home aid, land settlement and
vocational training projects have been
lost sight of. Cash compensation was
designed for those who could nat take
advantage of the other htree forms
Of compensation.
Enemies of all compensation pro
fess to see only the cash feature and,
while they are calling for some plan
that will be of permanent value, re-
fuse to recognize the existence of the
home aid, vocational training or land
settlement plans.
We believe the case of the service
man can rest, then, when he has prov
ed he is entitled to Just compensation
We do not think it is necessary to
fI1rt hpr dafand bic action in ockipO