New Britain herald., 1922-02-15
NEW BRITAIN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY l5 1922

are influenced by their desire to get
 the soldier vote, IL must be said, however, that there are many who are | in favor of it because they believe that it Is just to the men who served that II is no more than just, and
 who would be in favor of the bonus
 whether they were in politics or not,
 If this is granted-the desire to get the soldier yotc-it must D" granted also that those who oppose the bonus are influenced by desire for the sup port Of others who arc against the bonus,
 The people against the bonus arc the men of big interests, as II rule,
 Possibly such men are not influenced by the fact that they were above the lighting age and cannot understand the feeling Of those who would re- ceipe the bonus. Possibly they arc influenced solely by what they believe
 Is best for the country. They may feel that the ex-scrvicc men would he better off if the bonus were not to he granted because the failure 10 im- pose this debt upon the country would make for better business. they feel, and there would be more work for everyone including the ex-service man. Possibly they feel that the im- position Of this burden would so handicap business that the best Of times would be longer delayed in coming and that not only they, but the former service men themselves, would suffer.
 Be these things as they may. Pres ident Harding and his advisors arc confronted by the necessity of mak- ing a choice, when they consider the bonus from q political viewpoint. There is no force to the statement that the majority of former service men do not want the bonus. The ma jority of service men do want it. and those who do not want it, as service men, would not be inclined to punish politicians for granting the bonus to them and their former comrades.
 Thus the President and his ad- ,jc oil would be politically wiser to please the former soldiers or to please the business and financial interests. It is safe to say that if the decision is made to please the former soldiers it will be because it is believed the sup port of the interests would not be lost even if the bonus were to be granted, while the support of the former serv ice men would be lost were the bonus not to be granted
 There is another aspect to the mat ter. It is belived firmly that the granting of a bonus is inevitable some day It would be possible for the administration to shift the re- sponsibility to a later administration. It has been said that it would take | one hundred years to pay off the in- debtedness created by the bonus. Of course there may come a time in a few years when the business and in- dustrial condition of the country would make it seem more fitting to grant the aid sought, but that condi- ton existed q couple of years ago. If postponement is made it will be be- cause the present administration does not care to make the gamble attend ant upon deciding between the two opposing forces at present. For, it is repeated, a decision to grant the bonus, viewed politically, would be an attempt to please the <ermer sol diers and their supporters, a decision | not to grant the bonus would be a decision in favor of the powerful in- teTtSlS Ol lHc WHICH would not be made if there were danger of losing the interests sup port. And when the interests" are referred to in this way it does not mean necessarily that the interests" are selfish in this matter. The inter ests" may believe honestly that the !! former service man will be better off in a more quickly prosperous country l than he would be with his bonus in a country which, say the interests" would be under the handicap of this additional burden
 The administration faces the loss of the soldier support if the bonus is not granted. It does not face the loss of the support of the interests if | the bonus is granted--for the Fin terests' would overlook this known to- be political act because of other advantages to come from the ad-