The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-07-13
Textof Presidents Message In Opposition to Bonus Bill

address to the Senate on the soldier bonus question:
 MT. President and Gentlemen of the
 Senate:
 There has come to my attention the pending unfinished business before the Senate. and it is an imperative duty to convey to you the probable effect of the passage of the proposed act providing for adjusted compensa- ton of our service men in the World war. If this measure could be made effective at the present time without disaster to the nations finances and without hindrance to imperative read justment of our taxes 1t would pre- sent an entirely different question than that which is before you.
 In a personal. as well as public manner, which ought to be plight of good faith, l have commended the policy of generous treatment or the nations defenders, not as part of any contract, nor as the payment Of a debt which is owing, but as mark of the nations gratitude. Every ob- ligation is to the disabled and depend ent.
 SuCn TeItTeHCc dS udS bccH hiaoc to general compensation, there has been a reservation as to the earliest consistent time for such action if it is taken. Even without such reserva- tfon, 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 sta bility of our country.
 Peril Is Pointed Out
 More this menacing effort to ex- pend billions in gratuities, will im- peril our capacity to discharge our first obligations to those we must not fail to aid.
 am addressing the Senate directly because the problem is immediately yours as your unfinished business but the executive branch of the gov ernment owes it to both houses or Congress and to the country frankly to state the difficulties we are daily called upon to meet and the added peril this measure would bring.
 Our land has it's share of the finan- cial chaos and the industrial depres- sion 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 sur vival of the nation. We borrowed and loaned-individuals of the nation and the government to other govern ments, and to those who served the nation with little thought of settle ment
 It was relatively easy then, because national 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 Amer ica, I am fully persuaded that three things are essential to the very be- ginning of the restored order Of things. These are the revision, in- cluding reduction, of our internal taxation; the refunding of our war debt and the adjustment of our for eigp loans It is vitally necessary to settle these problems before add ing to our treasury any such burden as is contemplated in the pending bill.
 It is unthinkable to expect busi- ness revival and the resumption of the normal ways of peace while main- taining the excessive taxes of war. It is as quite unthinkable to think of reducing our tax burdens while com hitting our treasury to another addi- ( ok fAv 4.L three to five billions of dollars. The precise figures no one can give.
 More Harm Than Good If it is conceivably true that only $200, 100000 year will be drawn an- nually from the treasury in the few years immediately before us, the be- stowal is to inconsequential to be of real value to the nations defenders, and if the exercise of the, option should call for cash running into bil- lions, 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 intend to meet. No government fiat will pay our bills. The exchanges of the world testify today to that erroneous theory. We may rely on the sacri- fees of patriotism in war, but to- day we face markets and the effects of supply and demand, and the inex- orable laws of credits in the time of peace.
 At the very moment we are obliged to pay 5A per cent interest for gov ernment short time loans to care for our floating indebtedness. a rate on government borrowing in spite of x- f,H vail in private transactions for the normal interest charges in financing our industry and commerce.
 Government Obligations Definite obligations amounting to $7,500, ,000, ,000 in war savings certifi- cates, Victory bonds and certificates covering floating indebtedness are to mature in the two years immediately following, and the overburdening of the treasury now means positive dis-s aster in the years immediately be- fore us. Merest prudence calls out in warning.
 Our greatest necessity is return to the normal ways of peace activi- ties. A modest offering to the mil lions of servicemen is a poor pa1lia- tive to more millions who may be out of employment. Stabilized finance and we'll established confidence are both essential to restored industry and commerce.
 The slump which is now upon us is an inevitable part of wars after math It has followed in the wake of war since the world began. There was the unavoidable readjustment. the inevitable charge-off. the un- failing attendance of losses in the wake of high prices: the memorable deflation which imitation had pre- ceded. It has been wholly proper to seek to apply government relief to