The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1921-07-15
PRESIDENT ASKS
DELAY ON BONUS
Financial Stability Of Nation Is
Declared Imperfect by Pro-
posed Outlay. n
TREASURY is MENACED
Harding Reiterates Before Senate His
Desire to Fulfill Every Obligation
to the Disabled and Dependent
Service Men.

Washington Enactment at the pres
ent moment of adjusted compensation
legislation for veterans Of the World
war would greatly imperil the finan-
cial stability of our country" Presi-
dent Harding told the Senate in the
second address he has made to that
body during his administration.
Every obligation is to the disabled
and dependent, the President said, and
the executive branch owed it to the
country frankly to state the difficult
ties we daily are called upon to meet,
and the added peril this measure
would bring"
This menacing effort to expend bill
lions in gratuities will imperil our ca
pacity to discharge our first obliga-
lions to those we must not fail to
aid," he said.
"Our nation has its share of the
| financial chaos and industrial depres-
sion of the world" the President said.
1--WE little needed the growth of in
| debtedness or the limits of expendi-
lures during the war because we could
not stop to count the cost. Our one
thought then was the winning of the
war and the survival of the nation"
Three Essentials Shown.
After a four months survey of con-
ditions, which would stagger all of us
were it not for our abiding faith in
America, the President said, he was
fully persuaded that three things were
essential to restoration.
these are" he continued, "the revi-
sion, including reduction, of our inter-
nal taxation, the refunding of our war
debt and the adjustment of our foreign
loans.
1T is vitality necessary to settle
these problems before adding to our
Treasury any such burden as is con-
templated in the pending soldier bonus
bill"
Mr.. Harding said it was "unthink-
able" to expect business revival while
maintaining "the excessive taxes of
war; and quite as unthinkable" to re-
duce tax burdens while committing the
Treasury to additional obligations
ranging from three to five billion dol
Jars"
Great Harm Possible.
"The precise figures no one can
give" he said, "if it is conceivably
true and that only two hundred mil
lions a year will be drawns annually
from the treasury in the few years i'm
mediately before us, the bestowal is
too inconsequential to be of real value
to the nations defenders; and, if the
exercise of the option should call for
cash running into billions, the depres-
sion in finance and industry would be
so marked that vastly more harm than
good would attend.
mo government fiat will pay our
bills" the President said "The ex-
changes of the world testify today to
that erroneous theory"
Aim of Executive Branch.
The executive branch, he said, was
driving toward that decreased expendi-
ture which is the most practical assur-
ance of diminished taxation.
Il can make you no definite promise
in figures today" he said, "but l can
pledge you most conscientious drive
to reduce government cost by many
millions. 1t would be most discourage
ing to those who are bending their en-
ergies to save millions to have Con-
gress add billions to our burdens at
the very beginning"