Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-09-27
TOO Idttlc Aid.

-EtEZSslE$ .aAOO 1AIl1C hAUs EgG4EG aN5f9
ThesArst oficiai act ofSthis admin
tstration after the close Of the conyen-
ton was to call. a conference in Wash
ington to consider the. deplorAbles
condition Of the disabledf man. AL
though the war has8been over mores
than a year. government cornpensa-s
ton to disabled men was so Inadequate
that many mel were objects Of private
charity. At this conference practice
ally every state in~the union was rep.
resented and work begun one Monday
morning in actual legislation passing
both the senate and. the house before
the end Of the same week. As q re-
suit OF that legislation there is now
being distributed to disabled men one
hundred million, dollars more each
year. And the reason this legislation
was passed was because the Ameri-l
can Legion put IT'D requests before
them 50 plainly and so forcibly that;
congress knew that our requests weres
Just and had the hacking Of not only
ex-service men but the public as we'll,
The bureau Of waF risk Insurance;
vocational training board and public
health service as. it affects the kex-s.
service man all are maintatned by the:
government for the benefit of ex-.
service persons-practically all three
belong to us-and the service we re-
ceive from these three departments
will be exactly what we insist upon.
II our organisation remains strong
and always presents a uniform front,
we may always expect efficient, serv-
ice, otherwise the e1-service person.
will necessarily have to accept what
those at Washington feel like, giving
him. -
AFTER having locked after those,
physically disabled and while still.
working TOR further Improvement In
their Condition. your national officers.
and executive committee took up the
question Of adjustment Of compensa-
tion. to those who had suffered finan-,
cially because of their service. The
last convention fully recognized this
obligation on the part of the country
toward the ex-service man but adopted
a policy Of watchful waiting on the
implied promise that congress would
act. The national executive commit
nothing had been done nor vas con-
gress likely to do anything. They,
Therefore abandoned the policy. Of.
watchful waiting and worked out the.
four-fold optional plan covering land
settlement, home aid. vocational
training and adjustment Of compen-'
sation. In presenting this suggested
plan to congress it was requested that
each feature be made as liberal. as
was. consistent with the welfare of the
country. AS a result Of the most &C
tive work on the part Of your national
officers and state officers, this four.
fold optional plan was finally en-
bodied in a bill which passed the
house a few days before adjournment
the< senate. = 1t. is for you to determ-,
inc at this convention the necessary.
steps to be taken by your next ad-3
ministratton to secure its passage,
through the senate this coming De-
cember.
Our great success has been due. as
I have said. to the fact that our ideals
have proven right. and actuated by
these ideals there has developed a
great organization presenting a
united front and extending from the
individual member up through. the
local post and state organization to
national headquarters through which
national unity is secured. And $50
|your responsibility during these next
three days is to keep these ideals
pure, interpret them and still further
g%anization to the nj that It may cons
tinue to still more unselfshly serve
ourgcountry and our comrades.
ITO the American Legion there Is
no east or west. no north or south, no
Jew or Gentle, nc Protestant or
Catholic, no capital or laoor. no en-
ployer or eniploye, no Republican or
Democrat. The American Legion is
the only organization in which is ep-
resented every good element in the
entire country. It is the nearest at
tempt at organizing public opinion
and we all know that when public
opinion speaks, it speaks with au-
thority. And 81 during this past
year. you haze p:aXed fair with eyerys
element in3the.L Legion and have thus
gained. the support of public opinions
and so the closer we stick to sound
public opinion. the greater will be/opr
service to our country and the better
able we will be to look after our !,
rades needing our help.
This. therefore, is my simple re-
port. This past year I have tried to
serve you faithfully and to the best of
my ability. trying at all times to keep
both feet on the ground by insisting
upon fair play for. every element that
played fair and like a good soldier
trying always to keep my of
h1mpr. sHf!' ,.. ~