The Washington herald., 1920-04-05
SOLDIERS BONUS
OPPOSED BY TAFT
AS TOO BIG DRAIN


CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE.
will be no opposition to making the
provision for them as complete as
possible. -.
A Different Questien.
But the question Of measuring the
loss or sacrifice made by soldiers
who return home, sturdy and in
good health, with all the vim and
energy of young American man
hood. and with the added benefit Of
the discipline and strength of char
acter. which most Of them acquired
in the army. Is quite a different one.
The effect Of the interruption In
their progress to success in trade
or business or profession will be
soon minimized. They have been
out Of the army now Tor more than
a year. Never in the history of the
country was the demand for serv-
Ice. such as they can render, so exi-
gent. and never was compensation
for such service higher.
Few Are without Work.
Individual instances of hardship
can be pointed out perhaps, but IL
is not too much to say, as a general
rule. that every discharged soldier
who returned home a year ago. who
has wished to do so, has found en-
ployment at adequate pay. and that
the instances OF enforced idleness
or pinching poverty among the re-
turned men are few and far be-
tween. No successful attempt was
made by the great organizations. the
a ma arfR
Foreign Wars and the Veterans of
The War. to show by statistics or
otherwise that a condition Of want
or a failure of a comfortable liyeli-
hood now obtained among their mem
bers whose physical and mental
health is good. Nor were these ad-
vocates blind to the supreme Joy
these returning soldiers had in the
grand work they had done. The
stress of their argument was on the
contrast between the prosperity of
those who had stayed at home and
those who had gallaAtly donned the
uniform and served. This, IL was
said, had created an unrest and dis
satisfaction among the returned SOL
diers that made them feel neglect
ed by their country and prompted
them to demand the satisfaction and
real assistance to them which q
bonus would give.
Not q Moral Debt.
All admit that the proposed pay
ment is no measure Of the moral
debt owed by the government to
these young men, who offered them
selves and were willing to make the
ultimate sacrifice for their coun-
try. Its advocates would avoid the
term bonus" and call that which is
to be given them soldiers adjust
ed compensation" The point made
is that they should have received
from $50 to $50 a month instead of
from $40 to $40 a month. It was
claimed that the other countries
France. Great Britain, Canada and
Australia-had made larger provi-
sions by way Of back pay or adjust
ed compensation than that ask ed for
here; but the evidence before the
committee seemed to indicate that
this claim was not well founded
when the longer term of service in
the armies Of these countries was
taken into consideration.
Bonus VIII Increase DeAcit.
The issue made in respect to the
bonus cannot turn on the mere ques-
tion whether the country should
measure its debt to soldiers who
fought for it's life in a postwar
payment of dollars. That is impos-
sible and certainly should not be at
tempted in the present critical state
of the countrys finances. We are
now facing a deficit of $4,000, 900. 900
in the current fiscal year. To grant
a.
to at least $1,000, 100000. How Is
this extra $4,000. 100000 to be pro-
vided?
interrogated by the Ways and
Means Committee upon this ques-
tion. The witnesses were inclined
to put that responsibility upon the
committee, but various methods
were suggested. One was that AZ
per cent government bonds should
be f1oated by the government, but
the bonus paid in cash. Another
was that bonds with the same rate
of interest should be issued in
proper denominations and distrib-
uted to the beneficiaries as entitled.
The third was that the amount
should be raised by increased sur
more than $25,ooo.
Against Bond Issue.
Secretary Houston, Assistant Sec
retary Leffingwell, and Mr.. Harding.
chairman of the Federal Reserve
Board. were asked to appear before
the committee and testified that an
attempt of the government to float
$4,000, 100000 more of bonds at ~
per cent interest would fail IL they
were offered at par and that they
must be issued at a high rate or
with greater tax exemption. They
said. moreover, that the attempt to
float so large an issue of bonds at
the same or higher interest would
greatly depress the more than $25,-
900, 100000 of bonds already issued,
and that the Az per cent bonds.
which had been so widely distrib-
uted among people of very mod
crate means, and were now quoted
at 80, might be depressed to some
where near so and that the market
price of all the bonds would suffer
a serious reduction. They said the
effect necessarily would be a reduc-
tion in the value of the dollar and
an increase in the cost of living.
The proposal to distribute the
bonds to the former service men d.
rectly was characterized by them as
a vicious method. because the bonds
would be at once offered for sale by
the beneficiaries and the discount