The evening world., 1920-04-05

- tluey u.u gOdng 70 paEs It ont I'li 10
right there cor my elnare. I'D Be .
boob not 30 take H."
The UaRsage Of the bonus BIN win
nnaFk the wrecltaEe Of the woFk Of
Gha men who prepared tha 81ectve
Draft Bpil. The main object q the
BeieCtivo Draft Bill, aside from, OF
course, that % raising an army TO
nght GOEvnany, was to prevent any
@Ich legislation as that which Con-
gross is about 70 write into the laws
Of the taEFd
IT was planned 10 pay the soldiers
a doAar = day, with extra allowances
for foreign service, to provide them
with life insurance at a low rate and
10 adequately caro- for the sick and
wounded. The makers Of the Selec-
tive DRAFT Law particularly sought TO
avoid future pension legislation.
And the terms OF the law were de-
signed to excuse from service men
who had dependents who might Blf-
fer. The inside object OF the Sel0ctive
Draft Law was to raise an army OF
men who could afford 20 go TO war.
However, the Government did not
carry out its promise to care for the
sirs, and wounded. The treatment
the MANNED veterans of the war have
received Il diagracobul TO the Gov
ernment. Thousands OF them are
suffering for lack OF hospital accom-
mDdations, although Congress recent
w passed q. deficiency appropriation
for hospital purposes, and the vOca-
tional training system has proved to
be O nat failure thus far. These con-
ditions were Of great aid to the poll
ticians. who saw advantage In To-
menting a demand for q Bonus Law.
For purposes OF uniformity the i'm
pending bonus legislation must apply
alike to all who wore the UNIFORM
Those who served overseas Will De
paid on the same basis as those VINO
remained at home, except that those
who served overseas naturally have
longer terms to their credit and will
receive proportionately larger re-
turns.
The average term Of service was
eiuht months. The form OF reliet
most favored in Congress pro-
vides for the payment Of $50 for
each month OF service. This will
make the average payment $500.
Red Cross nurses are figured in on
the bonus plan. Some Congressman
have received hints that Y M. c. A.
workers and X. of e. workers and
others who did their bit" should be
remembered while the remembering
is good.
Hidden away in Congress is a bill
providing for increasing the pay of
the enlisted men and officers of the
army and navy. Off1cers are leaving
the military and naval service be-
cause they cannot live on their pay,
and their places cannoot be filled.
The difficulty of getting recruits for
the army and navy is increasing
daily. The cost of the wage and sal
airy increases probably would not
amount to much more than the new
Government bureaus TO handle the
bonus will cost, but the chances are
that the bill win not pass this ses-
sion. Soldiers and sailors have no
votes.
There is before Congress law re-
classifying Government clerks and
raising their pay. The cost Of getting
ND this rccIassifica ton list was close
to $3.50, 900. 1t will be sidetracked by
the Soldiers Bonus Bin, and the Gov
eminent employees will receive a
bonus OF $40 apiece to meet the high
cost Of living. Government clerks in
Washington have no votes either, but
they have a union; hence the S940
bonus.
Few protests Will be heard against
paying the soldiers who served in the
World War n bonus, even though
many Of them do not want it. That is
the reason why the practical pohti-
clans are so strong for the Bonus
Bnl. 1t is popular legislation, pro-
vocauve OF publicity and large enough
to obscure ISSUES and questions which
are not so popular and contain politi-
cal elements Of danger.