Evening star., 1921-07-12
PRESIDENT TELLS SENATE
BONUS FOR VETERANS NOW
WOULD MPERn TREASURY
TEXT OF SPEECH
OF PRESIDENT TO
SENATE ON BONUS

. PKESlDENl ~
SENATE ON BONUS
The Presidents address to the
Senate follows:
Mr.. President and Gentlemen of the
Senate:
There has come to my attention
the pending unfinished business be-
fore the Senate. and it is an inn
perative duty to convey to you the
probable effect of the passage at
this time of the proposed act pro-
viding for adjusted compensation
to our service men in the world
war. If this measure could be
made effective at the present time
without disaster to the nations
fHances and without hindrance to
imperative readjustment of our
taxes 1t would present 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.
I have commended the policy of
generous treatment of the nations
defenders, not as part of any
contract, not as the payment of a
debt which is owing. but as a mark
of the nations gratitude. Every
obligation is to the disabled and
dependent. In such reference as
has been made to general compen-
sation there has been a reserva-
tion as to the earliest consistent
time for such action If 1t is taken.
Even without such reservation.
however. a modified view would be
wholly justifiable at the present
moment. because the enactment of
the compensation bill in the midst
Of the struggle for readjustment
and restoration would hinder every
effort and greatly imperil the
financial stability Of our country.
More, this menacing effort to ex-
pend billions in gratuities will i'm
peril our capacity to discharge our
first obligations to those We must
not fail to aid.
Favors Frank Statement.
1 am addressing the Senate di-
. rectly because the problem is i'm
mediately yours, as your unfinished
business. but the executive branch
of the government owes it to both
houses of Congress and to the
country frankly to state the diff
culties we daily are called upon to
meet. and the added peril this
measure would bring. t-
Our land has its share Of the
financial chaos and the industrial
depression Of the world. We little
needed the growth of Indebtedness
or the limits of expenditure 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. We
borrowed and loaned-individuals
to the nation and the government
to other governments, and to those
who served the nation. with little
thought of settlement. 1t was
relatively easy then, because ma
tional life was at stake. In the
sober aftermath 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 before. There can be
no solution unless we face the
grim truths and seek to solve
them in resolute devotion to duty.
After a survey of more than four
months, contemplating conditions
which would stagger all of US
were 1t not for our abiding faith in
America, am fully persuaded that
three things are essential to the
very beginning Of the restored
order Of things. These are the re-
vision, including reduction, Of our
internal 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 contemplated in
the pending bill.
Taxes Must BE Reduced,
It Is unthinkable to expect a
business revival and the resump-
tion Of the normal ways of peace
while maintaining the excessive
taxes Of war. 1t is quite as unthink-
able to reduce our tax burdens
while committing our Treasury to
an additional obligation which
ranges from three to five billions
Of dollars. The precise figures no
one can give. II it is conceivably
true that only two hundred mill
lions a year will be drawn annually
from the Treasury in the few years
Immediately 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 depression in finance
and industry would be SO marked
that vastly more harm than good
would attend.
Our government must undertake
no obligation which it does not in
tend to meet. No government fat
will pay our bills. The exchanges
Of the world testify today to that
erroneous theory. We may rely on
the sacrifices of patriotism in war,