The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1921-04-15
Am e riCan
ID Ls99ri11eer

A salon, traffic cop, first se.'-
geant, an assistant provost marshal
and a patient in Army hospitals for
almost two years, Albert E. Ham, new.
ly- appointed head of the American
Legion's national service division,
knows service when he sees 1t. Mr..
Ham gained the rank of captain on
the battlefield and was severely
wounded while in action with the
Walter Reed Hospital, he studied the
plans the Government had made for
the wounded, and upon his discharge
last fall, was made special repre-
sentative of the bureau OF war risk
insurance. In army and navy camps,
he was instrumental in causing the
reinstatement or conversion OF $5,-
000,0 900 in war risk insurance. After
obtaining 100000 in community war
funds for the relief OF Michigan dis
abled veterans, he made a study Of
the Michigan state prison and insane
asylum to see how eX-service men
Jared The result of his investiga
ton was the parole of 40 men with the
Mr.. Ham served four years on the
U. S. S. Idaho, being discharged as Il
Guartermaster, second class. He was
first sergeant of Michigan Infantry
on the Mexican border, traffic cop
in Grand Rapids, Mich, and before
entertaining the lines. an assistant
provost marshal at st. Nazaire,
France He is twenty eight years old.
The decision of the bureau of war
risk insurance that the more than
half a million eX- service men and
women carrying war risk term insur-
ance must convert their policies into
one of the permanent forms of inSur-
ance before March 3. 1926. or lose
their insurance, is meeting with some
degree OF opposition, particularly
from posts OF the American Legion.
The bureaus ruling is based upon the
declaring that for the purpose of GER
tain wartime legislation, the war with
Germany was to be considered at an
end The legislation specified in
Guided the war risk act and its
amendments. 1t was provided in the
war risk act itself that term insurance
might be carried until five years af-
ter the lend of the war" and it was
further provided that 1.-The words END
deemed to mean the date of proclama-
ton of exchange of ratification of the
treaty of peace. unless the. president
shall, by proclamation, declare a prior
date, in which case the date so pro-
claimed shall be deemed to be the
end of the war within the meaning
of this act" There is wide differ
ence of opinion among officials in the
Bureau of war risk assurances as TO
whether the congressional resolution
justifies the ruling that the war risk
bureau war ended on March 3. 1921.
The national legislative committee of
the American Legion has asked the
comptroller of the currency for re-
view of the bureaus ruling.
Activity of fthe American Legion in
pushing legislation for justice for dis
abled ex-service men will not inter
compensation, as embodied in the
Fordney bill, according to Colonel F.
w. Galbraith Jr.. national commander
of the ex- service mems organization.
Colonel Galbraith said that the Legion
had recognized that its first duty is
to the disabled veteran that he is
confident that the Legion's corrective
program will be speedily enacted IN
to law by the sixty seventh congress.
the Legion will advance actively its
measure for an adjustment to com
pepsation ito all who served in an eff
fort to strike an economic balance be-
tween those who went to war and
those who did not 1.-The American
Legion has never receded from it's or
iginal stand on tn matter of compen-
sation. 1t holds that an adjustment
OF compensation along the lines OF the
five fold optional bill is just and SIM
1y represents fair play to those who
have played fair with their country.
And in this stand the Legion knows
it has the endorsement of the people
The Fordney bill has passed the House
of Representatives and was reported
favorably by the Senate Finance Com
mittee. In every State where the
matter of adjusted compensation has
been left to decision by popular vote
the result has been an overwhelming
Endorsement of stand of the Ameri
can Legion"