The Republican., 1921-07-14
YHE PRESIDENTS ADDRESS
ON BONUS To THE SOLDIERS
at Would Mean Paralysis to the Ma
tiOnal Treasury" He Said

afe Tuesday afternoon, in which he
sat forth the Administration objec-
tions to the enactment Of the Soldiers
Bonus bill:
There has come to my attention the
bending unfinished business before the
Senate, and it is an imperative duty
N convey to you the probable effect of
the passage at this time of the pro-
posed act providing for adjusted COM
Tss1sation to our service men in the
&YorId War.
Il this measure could be made efrec-
Eive at the present time without dis
astpr to the nations finances and
without hindrance to imperative read
.3ustment of our taxes, it would pre-
sent an entirely different question
than that which is before you. In a
personal as we'll as a public manner,
which ought to be a plight of good
faith, have commended the policy of
,lssnerOus treatment of the nations de-
EeBders, not as part of any contract,
EaGt as the payment of debt which is
owing, but as a mark of the nations
gratitude.
Every obligation is to the disabled
s8nd dependent. In such references as
have been made to general compensa.
lon there has been a reservation as
10 the earliest consistent time for such
action if it is taken. Even without
sUch reservation, however, a modified
view would be wholly justifable at the
E7gesent moment, because the enact
ulent of the compensation bill in the
Gvldst of the struggle for readiust
rEent and restoration would hinder ev-
cry effort and greatly imneril the
financial stability of our country
More, this menacing effort to expend
EHilions in gratuities will imperil our
capacity to discharge our first obliga-
E1ons to those we must not fail to aid
I am addressing the Senate directly
because the problem is Immediately
yours, as your unfinished business, but
Gne executive branch of the Govern
1nenr owes it to both houses of Con-
sEtess and to the country frankly to
state the difficulties we daily are call
ed upon to meet, and the added peril
WINS measure would bring.
Our land has its share of the fnan-
Gial chaos and the industrial depres-
SION Of the world. We little needed the
@grcwth of indebtedness or the limits
VT expenditure during the war because
q'u could not stop to count the cost.
&rQr one thought then was the winning
0f the war and the survival of the
ration.
We borrowed and loaned-individ-
Cals TO the nation, and the Govern
EAent to other governments, and to
chose who served the nation-with lit
RE thought of settlement. 1t was rel
sailyely easy then, because national
life was at stake. In the sober after
rhath we face the order of reason,
rather than act amid the passions of
war, and our own land and the world
are facing problems never solved be-
fore. There can be no solution unless
gVe face the grim truths and seek to
solve them in resolute devotion to
g3uty.
After a survey of more than four
months, contemplating conditions
which would stagger all of US were it
gfot for our abiding faith in America,
2 am fully persuaded that three things
are essential to the very beginning of
che restored order of things. These
are the revision, including reduction,
or our internal taxation; the refund
ing Of our war debt and the adjust
unent of our foreign loans. 1t is Wit
ally necessary to settle these prob
8eIns before adding to our treasury
any such burden as is contemplated in
che pending bill.
1t is unthinkable to expect a bust
TIEss revival and the resumption of the
movmal ways of peace while maintain
z1g the excessive taxes of war. 1t is
cIaise as unthinkable to reduce our
sax burdens while committing our
treasury to an additional obligation
(Which ranges from three to billions
of dollars. The precise figures no one
ccan give.
If it is conceivably true that only
$500 100000 would be drawn from the
Treasury in the few years immedi-
sately before US, the bestowal is too in
consequential to be of real value to the
nations defenders; and if the exercise
s5E the option should call for cash run
zIing into billions, the depression in
finance and industry would be so
marked that vastly more harm than
a9Od would attend.
Our Government must undertake no
obligation which it does not intend to
meet. No Government fiat will pay
7Gr bills. The exchanges of the world
>yestify today to that erroneous theory.
We may rely on the sacrifices of pat