The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1921-08-05
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The Boston Herald, last week
had an able editorial on the sol
dier's bonus bill, which the Pres
dent wishes to have postponed or
financial and economic grounds
which we are reprinting that al
sides may be presented to our
readers. 1t should always be
borne in mind that this subject
of soldiers bonus does not have
anything to do with the matter
of taking care of our sick and
disabled veterans or with the
care of widows and orphans made
so by the war. The Herald says.
Republican leaders and others who
fear that ex-service men will seek
reprisals against the Republican party
at the elections in 1922 because OF
President Harding's opposition to the
enactment of the soldier bonus bill
at this time, should be treasured by
the discovery that President Grant,
in March, 1875, took exactly similar
action on a similar bill which pro-
posed to distribute bonuses among
the survivors of the civil war. As
explained in the Washington dispatch
in last Sundays Herald, this dis
covery was made through Brig-Gen.
Snifin, former paymaster-general OF
the army, and one of Grants secre-
taries at the White House, who not
only recalled the incident, but gave
the text of Grants veto anessage.
The act which President Grant
found it necessary to veto provided
that every civil war soldier should
receive a bonus of 500 for every
year of his service, after deducting
from the amount whatever bounties
he had received. There was con-
fusion then as now in the estimates
of the cost of the proposed bonus,
which ranged from S20,000,000 to
$3.50, 100000. No executive could
have had a keener appreciation of
the claims of the civil war veterans
than the man who led them to final
victory. But Grant was not the man
to shirk a distasteful duty; and he
vetoed the measure on the simple
grounds that there were not funds in
the treasury to meet the required
outlay. As he expressed it in his
message: "The passage of this bill at
this time is inconsistent with the
measures of economy now demanded
by the necessities of the country"
These words are as true now of the
soldier bonus bill, for the postpone
ment of which President Harding
asked, as they were of the civil war
bonus act which President Grant
vetoed. But the bonus act of 1875
would have cost millions only, while
the staggering burden of the soldier
bonus bill could be measured only in
billions.
We cannot do better often
times than to go back to the
great brains of past generations
to find out where we stand or
the way we are going for each
generation travels much the
same road, only the scenery
a bit. Here is what
Daniel Webster said of the "con.
stitution" and it hits the present
day drift toward paternalism:
"The constitution was made to |
guard the people against the dangers
Of good intentions, real or pretended.
When bad intentions are boldly an
the people will promptly
take care of themselves. On the
~ hnV- hon1 4havv II 81, L. l
Why they should resist or question
hat exercise of power which is so
'air in its object, so plausible and
patriotic in appearance, and which
las the public good alone confessedly
n view. Human beings, we may be
will generally exercise power
When they can get it, and they will
exercise il most undoubtedly in
popular governments under pretense
# public safety or high public in
crest. 1t may be very possible that
-ood intentions do really sometimes
xist where constitutional restraints
re disregarded. There are men in
III ages who mean to exercise power
lsefully, but who mean to exercise
I. They mean to govern well, but
hey mean to govern. They promise
o be kind masters, but they mean to
e masters. They think there need (
e but little restraint upon them
elves. Their notion of public in :
crest is apt to be quite closely !
with their own exercise of !
They may not, indeed. al
rays understand their own motives.
he love of power may sink too deep {
n their own hearts even for their !
wn scrutiny and may pass with {
for mere patriotism and
{
The Soviet doesn't like the I
Ioover telegram, which demands
he release of American prisoners
efore we send help to starving I
.ussia. The soviet officials say $
nat we are weighing seven or 9
Ight prisoners. against a million :
ves.' Perhaps this is a high t
alto, but the way they are act
lg, we should say that one good i