The Washington times., 1922-10-10
LEGION WANTS
LABOR DRAF TED
MIXTURE WAR
Would conscript All Resources
Of Nation as Well as Fight
ing Men.
BY j. BART CAMPBELL,
international News Service.

The full weight of the American,
Legion is to be thrown toward Sc
curing the adoption OF construc-
tive legislative program at the next
session OF Congress which will meet
the wants and desires of the coun.
try's ex.service men. Aside from the
so.called soldiers bonus. the fight
over which is expected to be renew.
ed as soon as Congress reconvenes,
two outstanding features Of the pro.
posed program are:
1-Enactment of law which
would draft not only fighting men,
but labor and the rest Of the ma.
tion's man power in national
emergency such as war.
2-Creation of a new committee in
both Senate and House which would
deal exclusively with legislation af.
fecting world war veterans instead
of bills and other measures involving
them being referred to a dozen dif.
ferent committees as Is now the prsc.
tice.
Seek Larger Voice In Affairs.
With the cooperation Of ex.servIce
men like Representative Royal c.
Johnson (R.) of South Dakota. who
are Members of Congress-, leaders Of
the American Legion and other ex-
soldiers organizations hope to see a
program adopted which will give the
f, 4, ,000, 900 men who served in the
United States army during the world
war a larger voice" in the writing
of legislation which directly concerns
them.
They point out that labor. farmers
and other organizations are contin-
uously engaged in efforts to secure
Legislation of direct benefit to them,
and they declare ex-service men 9
organizations have just as much
right to ask Congress to consiier
them collectively without being ac-
cused of seeking "class legislation
The opening of the American
Legion national convention at New
Orleans Monday next will lind the
legislative committees OF that or
ganization already at work upon
the program which II is proposed
to press upon Congress when the
next session gets under way.
While interest in the convention
will center largely about the choice
of a new national commander Who
will take up the bonus fight once
Congress is back on the job. there
are other important questions to be
decided which will also involve the
future of the ex-service men.
Care for the Disabled.
Proper care of the disabled and
dependent world war veterans is
one of them. Some Of those active
in the higher councils Of the Ameri-
can Legion believe that the Vet
Grams Bureau should be directly
answerable to special Congress
sional committee created for that
purpose, so that manned and in
valided fighting men may at all
times have an agency to which they
may appeal for redress instead OF
having to ask individual Senators
or Congressman to intercede for
them in case they have just com.
plants to make.
A clash between organized labor
and those who believe in uni
versal service law instead OF Cne
that only drafts fighting men Is
regarded as inevitable il the move
ment to secure the enactment Of
such a law arrests the attention OF
Congress 1t was organized labor,
headed by Samuel Gompers. presi-
dent of the American Federation OF
Labor. which successfully fought at
tempts to "Conscript" labor at the
outside of this Country's entry into
the world war, but ex-service men
contend that not one but all classes
of citizens should be drafted for
national service in the event Of
war. and that it is economically
wrong for certain men to he sent
to the front, and be compelled to
make great personal sacrifices.
while others remain at home and
reap a harvest of profits and high
wages far from the danger line.