The New York herald., 1922-08-29

compared with tho allowance made to
American soldiers In the wars Of the
past. think 1t was none too much con-
sidering the conditions which our men
had to confront. especially when re-
moved so far from home as were those
who went to France and approximately
SO per cent of our men went to France
and the other so per cent. stayed in
this country
when the men were mustered out
again the Congress believed that the
question Of pocket money and the fa-
cility with which the soldier should have
in tiding over that period of time between
his discharge and his resumption Of
civilian employment should be taken care
OF and the Congress appropriated a sum
of money which. under the statute
passed at the time, gave to each soldier
upon discharge $50. That has not been
mentioned here"
Mr.. Warren: "Mr. President, the Sen
ator from New York will perhaps re-
member that that amounted to $780,
100000 Great Britain has given $6,-
900. 900 10 her soldiers"
Mr.. Wadsworth: II have not the Brit
fish figures at hand. but my recollection
Is that the $50 given to the men Of
the army and navy Of the United States
upon discharge amounted to about the
same sum Of money given for similar
purposes by the British Government to
the British soldier. That again was an
effort Of the Congress- to see to 1t that
the mon wero comfortable in the transi-
ton stage. It was not compensation. 1t
was never intended to be compensation
In fact there Ii no possible way of esti-
mating It as such-
View outAts Given.
Another matter Of far less impor-
tance but worthy Of mention was the
provision made by the Congress that
each soldier upon discharge should re-
ceive and be permitted to take home and
use as he saw fit an entirely new out
fit Of clothing. Under that provision
each man was entitled to take, and did
take. upon his own application, as I
recollect II, the following articles: A pair
OF shoes, pair OF olive drab breeches
an olive drab shirt. an olive drab coat
felt cap and his choice OF an overcoat
or slicker.
mo time limit was stated as to the
date upon which application should come
in from the men. Some of them drew
the clothing. II the clothing was avail
able, at the camp from which they were
discharged. At many of those camps
OF course such a great reserve of cloth
ing was not In existence. but the men
were permitted to write to the Quarter
master-Genera1 after they reached their
homes and they asked that this allow
ance of new clothing be sent to them.
Thousands and tens of thousands did
$3.50 much SO that not only was the
MT otrcf fI.3t 1.. ITO, - IL
hands of the War Department and the
cloth of the war exhausted but for near
ly two years thereafter the Quartermas-
ter-General had to continue to manufac-
ture new clothing to meet the applica-
lions that were still coming In.
so. Mr.. President, In the matter OF
the comfort provided for the men by
Congress In the enactment OF the
statutes which have recited, I do not
think 1t can be said that the American
Government or the American people
were remiss.
Efforts Of Relief Organization.
when we add to the efforts Of the
Government the efforts OF the great as
soclations which were organized on
semi-religious lines. in some cases on
civic lines. to bring further and addi-
tional comforts and relief to the sol
ders--I mean by that the American
Red Cross the Y. M. c. A., the Knights
OF Columbus, the Salvation Army, the
Jewish Welfare Society and such as
they-adding their hundreds OF mil
lions, literally / do not think II can be
charged by any Senator or any citizen,
and / have never heard II charged by
any soldier. that the American people
as a whole were remiss In endeavoring
Ats& ..snt IL e. 60
their men in time Of war.
II myself rejoiced at 1t. I think all
those sums were wisely spent. They
meant a greater degree OF contentmcnt
for the men, a higher morale which
means better fighting qualities. They
meant a better health rate. There was
far less sickness In our army than In
any army we have ever raised. / think
there was also far less discomfort, there
was less homesickness.
THE efforts that were made toward
entertainment providing comforts both
BY the Government and outside agencies
were worth every penny that was ex-
pended and more. too. All those things
may be measured In dollars and cents,
but none of them have tho slightest re-
Iation to compensation for duty per-
formed. This bill Is the FIRST effort In
the history OF the American Congress,
as ! read history, to Ak compensation
for duty performed and to measure IL
by dollars and cents
THE Senator from Minnesota (Mr
Nelson) reminds me that II should be
stated for the record that the Govern
ment also supplied some allowances for
the soldiers who left dependents behind
them, either a wife or dependent chill
drcn.
Allowance for Dependents.
MY recollection Is that the allow
ance was so much for dependent wife
and think SIS for every dependent
child up to a certain maximum. that II
was SIS for a wife and IS for each
child up to an aggregate of s2b or per-
haps $40. ] never liked that. l criti-
cized Il several times previously when
a Il