The New York herald., 1921-07-08
FRIDAY. JULY 8. 1921.
The Bogus Bonus Bill.

,. fought so gallantly and altogether
: conducted themselves to the enhanced
: glory of the Stars and Stripes TIL
r. NEW YORK HERALD wishes to say that
i none would rejoice more than it to
see our valiant soldiers receive an
70 adequate reward, if such were pos
sible, through a money payment
: through some other preferment or in
any way that would make the reward
measure up to the splendid service
~ they performed. But no reward
could thus measure UP.
= To the Congress of the United
States THE NEW YORK HERALD wishes
!. to say that the bonus bill, or so-called
adjusted compensation measure, now
- before the Senate is the most repre-
II hensible piece Of deceptive, hypocrit
- ical legislation It would be possible to
3 foist on the veterans of the war
= Dressed up as it is the bill is calcu
lated to make the former service men
~ believe they are going to receive
= clean and clear payment for having
y performed their duty. But they are
ar going to receive nothing of the sort.
On June Z last THE New YORK
i HERALD recorded it's belief that I'll
the war veterans and the public at
20 large fully understood the fallacies
of bonus raid on the Treasury
s which would increase the nat1ona
:. debt, run up taxes for the next quar-
= ter century or more, increase the
: cost of living, further depress the
RI price of Liberty bonds and invite
:, general national hardship, they would
2 not for a moment think of sanction
r. ing it."
~ ~ We have now the letter OF the
. Secretary of the Treasury submit
ting to the Senate his opinions oi
70 what the bonus bill would mean tc
the country. He confirms everything
.; .; that was said by this newspaper or
June and shows that with the adop
~ tion of the bonus bill all hope fol
Government economy, lower taxes
vs easier living conditions for the whole
!. people and a settled state of Gov
/, ernment finance would disappear. In
70 its place would have to come addi
tional taxes on top of those already
q collected, more imitation Of the cur
rency, renewed Government borrow
ing and the grave danger Of wide
- spread economic disturbance.
y In all sincerity nobody can doubt
that IL this bonus bill causes only
~ half the evils cited by the Secretary
of the Treasury the public will have
y. paid vastly more in higher living
- costs, in decreased production ant
y. business depression, in unemploy
y ment suffering, than it would be able
TO transfer over to the soldiers in the
!. payments provided by the bill.
~ A paltry' $500 or 5000 apiece viii
: not enable the soldiers themselves t
/, escape the effects of these hardships
!, and they would find that the bonus
. or adjusted compensation was moth
!. ing but sleeping powder admins
~ tered to quiet them, which after
, brief interval would leave them
worse off than before.
In any event, the sponsors of this
bill have had to recognize the imme
diate realities. They have seen that
~ Il would be impossible, despite the
bedlam they have raised, to pay the
soldiers anything this year or next
% year. The closest date at which even
the most ardent advocates of the bonus
" can see any chance for the Treasury
'swto raise the money for payments In
Z. small instalments is in 1928. And
\. then they, like blind men. have had
i...t TO shut their eyes to the five billions
". or more of national debt which falls
- due in that same year and must bt
.e repaid or refunded.
But. granted that by the year 1925
there may be some chance of raising
bonus money by selling bonus bonds
'hand increasing taxes, is there any cal
for pushing through the bonus legis
lation at this early date, after which
il will lie dormant for two years.
The only apparent reason discernible
4.on the surface or beneath it for such
precipitate action is the unworthy
land cowardly hope of getting votes
s-in the national Congress elections Of
1922.
- When all the danger signals are sci
-,against further national extrava
gance, when the mass of the people
.including the ex-soldiers, already are
,otriDpcd Of their hard earned savings