The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1922-09-21
PRESIDENT vEroEs BoNUs ACT.


However rcmIss in It's clear duty the congress
WAS In checking up 20 the executive the un-
pleasant task Of hating tho bonus raid on the
publc treasury. President Harding has met and
discharged that task In splendid manner
Those who wonder why the prestige ot con-
gross is constantly waning need look no further
for the reason than tho record OF congress In
moving 10 impoach General Dnugherty for one
OF tho most morltorous public acts OF his po-
Utical carcor--an act that prepondcrant ma
iorty OF both houses secretly approve ana ad-
mire: and ia voting for Legislative enactment
the bonus which practically every member OF
both houses secretly disopproycd and COM
dcmned.
Tho veto message of the president leaves 1T
tie TO ne desired. II Is thorough. II cNhansts
tho subject And & oubht 10 bc ii'- finr cur-
tain on n movement that postcrty must have
viewed with checks flushed with humiliation
had Il been successful
Tho argument ot tho president ls convincing
The array OF figures he presents, all taken from
the record. are bcwilderlngy stortllnR. Thoy
prove beyond the possibility OF refutaton that
this government Is now engaged IN expenditures
for It's former soldiers that dwarf into inslsnfi-
cameo anything that any other nation has over
done or ls now doing. and that the OBLIGATIONS
tho government has voluntarily assumed will,
before they have been fully discharged. cost the
governmcnt--that is the taxpayers OF tho ma
tion--billlons Of dollars.
The presidents statement OF the true sltua-
tlon not only discloses the fact that he and his
cabinet advisers, and not the congress- which
enacted the legislation, are tho real friends OF
both the soldier ana the state, but easily justi-
files his thinly velled rcbuke Of class legislation
which he couchcd in these words
ITO add ono-sixth Of the total sum OF our
public debt for ii distribution among less
than five millions out OF 1lOOOeOOo
whether inspired by grateful sentiment or
political cXpcdiency would undermine the
confidence on which our credit ls buildcd,
and establish the precedent OF dIsribut.
ing public funds whenever the proposal ana
the numbers affected make 1t seem po'lt-
ically appealing to do so.
would establish the precedent OF dIstribut-
ing public funds whenever the proposal and the
numbers affected make IT seem politically APP
pcalng to do So"
what an oxcorlatlng period that la And ON
the target at all finest
II was solely because the number affected"
and the bonus grant seemed politically appeal
Ing" that the most insIs,ant lobby that ever be-
set the national capitol at last forced the hill
through This cannot be disputed And none
knew the force of such argument better than
those who acted as lobbyists The only other
spectacle comparable to It was tho labor lobby
which forced supino administration ana
cowardly congress TO enact the Adamson law.
Taking cognlzance OF the argument no often
heard from the lips OF pro bonus advocates, that
tho prontccrs and the labor unions got theirs
during the war. and that therefore the soldiers
should be allowed TO take theirs now. the presi-
dent said:
10 a war necessity there hut one
answer but a peace hestowal on tho eN-
service men as though the supreme offer
ing could he paid for with cash, IL "A pcryer-
sion Of public funds, a reversal or the policy
which exalted public service In the past and
suggests that future defense Is to be in
spircd by compensation rather than con-
scious OF duty 90 flag ana country.
Admirably stated And throughout.
Leadership never proves Itself fully untl It
II required to make decision between self-lnter-
est ana the state, President Harding under
went such a test ia the painful necessity which
congress imposed upon him, and he emergcs
with fly.ng colors His bonus veto is easily the
most outstanding service no has performed for
his country.