The log cabin Democrat., 1920-03-23
OVERSEAS VETERAN
 OPPOSED 10 BONUS
FORMER LIEUT.. THOMPSO
Advances Three Grounds for Objection to Proposed Cash Distribution
 to Soldiers.

| The following communication from former Lieut.. Vernon L. Thompson, 2 Faulkner county young man who saw service on the fighting line in France i will be read with much interest by his friends here. Due probably to delay 1 in the mail the communication did not reach the Log Cabin Democrat in time l for publication prior to the meeting of the legion here recently, but the ar guments against the cash bonus for soldiers are so well represented by Mr. Thompson that this paper is glad to publish the communication in full.
 Editor Log Cabin Democrat:
 Because the ex-service men of Con- are about to vote on the matter of the bonus, and because am keenly inter ested that the Conway post shall take a credtable stand on that proposition l would like to present briefly, through the Log Cabin Democrat, what ap- pears to me to be a reasonable case against the bonus.
 In forming an intelligent opinion on the merits of the proposed cash bonus of $50 for each month of ser vice, I believe there are three neces- sary considerations, i. e., CD the wei fare of the country, CD the welfare of the ex-service men and (3) the prin- ciple involved.
 CD The welfare of the country might be vtally affected in several ways. In the first place the granting of such bonus would cost the country approximately two billions of dollars which amount would have to be paid out of taxation ultimately The issu- suance of bonds for the immediate payment would only postpone tho pay ment by taxation and this bond issue would have the effect of lowering the price of government paper because at least 50 per cent of the recipients of such bonds would turn them into cash immediately.
 I know it is argued in that connac- tion that the payment of such a sum is justified by the fact that while the soldiers were in the training camps and in Europe there were certain per sons in this country making fortunes off of excess profits and excess war-wages. Now if it were by any means possible for the government to get at those war profits and to see to it that the soldier got just share of them, I should be most heartily for such a move, but the proposed cash such profits. It would be paid for the most part by two classes: CD those who did not go to war because they had families dependent on their daily labor for support and CD those who did go to war The only way in which the matter could affect our army O professional profiteers is in the fact that the flood of bonds on the market would offer them an opportunity for further profiteering.
 Again, this bonus would endanger the welfare of the country by increas- ing suddenly and enormously the spending power of the country. It is an unqucstonable fact that the vol ume of spending would be abnormally large for the next few months and that certainly would not operate to- ward the lowering of prices and re- turn to the normal market conditions
 And there is another even greater danger than these; out of the four million men who would receive ths money, it is very conservative estl- mate to say that one million would leave their present employment either for better jobs or for vacations or tc 20 into independent business. To take a million men out of an already i'm poverishcd labor supply, cannot but complicatc tho labor problem which has bafled the government for the past twelve months.
 (2) Any scheme that is to help tho ex-seryice man permanently must ot fer h'm an opportunity and an incon- tive to employ and his talent proflta- bly,. The men who were in the service for more than a year might receive enough to enable them to better the'r opportunity for profitable employ mcnt, especially if they were disposed to spend the money for training, but whether the granting of few hun drcd dollars in cash to the average man would increase his incentive to work is extremely questionable. Any body who knows the class of farm la- bor that the south is dependent upon knows that to give the average farm laborer, either white or negro, an amount of money that would make him independen. of his daily wage, would render him entirely undcpond- able as a worker in the approaching crop season,
 Congress has under consideration other provisions for the benefit of eX- service men, to take advantage of