The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-07-25
BONUS MIGHT
BE PASSED IF
ENGLISH PAY
Politicians See Little Likeli.
hood of Payment Other.
wise Harding Veto Awaits
Passage Of Act.
STATUS is UNCHANGED
az MARK suLLIvAN

dier's bonus is not really in any po- |
sition different from where it has
been at any time in fhe last six |
months. With the exception of one
distant possibility. nothing is TO be |
said of it that adds anything to what |
your correspondent has said in the
past
There is not any reason to suppose
that President Harding has changed ,
the position which he took in his let
Ter to Representative Fordney in Feb
ruary-namely. that no bonus bill
should be passed unless it contained
as an integral part some specific
means of raising the necessary rev.
enue, and that the only expedient the
president could see to raise the money
in addition to existing forms of taxa
tion for the other expenses of the gov
ernment, was the sales tax.
Since there never has been, and is
not now any likelihood of congress
passing the sales tax, it follows that
there is nothing ii sight to infer any
change of position by the president.
The only possible inference from all
this is that, if the senate insists on
passing the soldiers bonus bill in the
idelt will veto it.
AS to the senate, it is on this sub
ject, to an even greater degree than
on most other grounds, conspicuously
anu painfully between the devil and
the deep blue sea
Senate to Pass Bill.
There isn't any doubt that If the
bonus bill in its present form is
brought up in the senate 1t Will De
passed by large majority.
OF those who would vote for It,
by no means all believe in it. Some
of those who would vote for it would
do so because the conditions IN their
home districts make it more to their
personal interest to vote for the bonus
than TO vote against 1t.
But to state the situation as starkly
as that does an injustice to many SEN
ators With many of them the real
difficulty is that several months ago,
and in some cases as long ago as the
campaign of 1920, they made pubic
utterances in favor of the broad loea
of a bonus for the soldiers.
In many cases they did this off-hand
In the course of casual campaign
speeches, and without much thought
either of the principal involved or OF
the amount of money that would be
} necessary. One of the best men IN
the senate, who regards himself as
committed to the bill by reason OF
such an off-hand utterance along time
ago, says now that at the time he had
no notion of the billions of money IN
volved in such a measure when ap
piled to all the ex-soldiers.
Not To Pass over Veto.
II is because of the aggregate o
senators who have got themselves into
positions like this that the bill viii
certainly pass if it is brought up II
the senate There then arises tht
question of what is to happen next.
BY far the best guess is that Presl
dent Harding would veto it. To dt
otherwise would put him in yer!
euuivocal position Most of the sen
ators fully expect he will veto it, bu
don't care much, because all they wan
is an opportunity to go on record II
fulfillment of their pledges to thei
local communities.
This aspect of the matter, however
has a bearing on the possibility o
passing the bill over the president
veto. Some senators who will vot'
for the bill when it first comes up vii
regard themselves as having by tha
act fulfilled their pledge and discharg
refuse to help pass the bill over tn
presidents veto. Just how many ser
ators there are in this particular pos
ton cannot be said definitely. Som
who have thought over the bonus sitr
alton closely believe that it would b
passed over the presidents veto.
Stronp In House.
The present write Aieves in tn
lower house the ST sngth of the aC
\ vocates of the bill Is enough to prc
vide the two-thirds vote necessary I
overcome the veto. As to the senate
however. probably the best judgmen
although far from an assured one.
that this hody would not pass the bi
over Harding's veto. The one ne
element in the situation is the poss
bility in the near future of the pa,
ment by Great Britain to the Unite
States Of a part of Great Britain
debt TO this country.
If Great Britain should actuall
pay US a considerable sum before tn
bonus bill comes up for final actio'
or if it should have become clearl
evident that Great Britain is going I
paw, the advocates of the bonus woul
Immediately seize upon that. The
would say that this money would pr
vide enough for at least first install
ment in paying the bonus and thi
subsequent receipts of cash from Gre;
Britain, or from our other Europea
debtors, would take care of future i
stallments on the bonus.
Advocates of the bill would say thi
this unexpected appearance of ne
cash in the treasury would meet NJ
Hardings objection that the bill mu
not be passed unless the cash to ps
it is available.
Attitude Not Known
How the president would feel abo
this, nobody but himself can te
Probably much would depend on Il
amount of cash that Great Brita
might pay US. If Great Britain's ca:
Z installment on her Indebtedness
, merely a hundred million dollars
SO that would only be small pc
centage of the total amount involv'
in the bonus, and to say that such
small amount would justify goil
ahead with the proposal would n
Continued on Page Eleyen)