The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1922-03-23
Light on Bonus Question.

Congress from Massachusetts, (Sixtf
District) former Assistant Secretary
United States Treasury; former Di.
rector United States Mint; former
Professor of Economics cf Harvard.
Several years ago, in Harvard
examination, the question was ask
ed, What is meant by the pclariza-
tion of light" And one of the stu
dents, with unwilling wisdom, replied,
"The polarization of light: as l un-
derstand it, is very little understood y
With equal truth similar reply
might be made concerning the bonus
by many of the financial writer's who
are opposing it.
One hears extraordinary statements
about the probable expense involved,
and estimates varying all the way
from one to fifty or seventy-five bill
lions of dollars. have received
many circular letters from broking
houses, protesting to explain the ad-
justed compensation bill and to esti-
mate the burden which it will place
upon the business of the country, but
I have yet to read one ouch circular
letter, or to read any fnan:ial let
ter in any important newspaper Of
the country, which gives anything but
grossly exaggerated statement Of
the probable cost involved. 1n a re-
cent market letter of Jules Bache &
Co., it was stated that It would place
upon the taxpayers of the country
a burden of one billion dollars an
nually; in a financial article from
the Public Ledger which was sent
me the other day, it was stated that
the soldiers bonus will require two
billions of dollars initially; and in
the last circular letter by the Irving
National Bank, Of New York, one
reads that it will divert some three
billions, three hundred millions OF
dollars of tax funds. This seemed
bad enough, but Washington Star last
week sisted the total cost would not
improbably range somewhere between
fifty billion and seventy-ive billion
dollars.
What are facts?
If the bill were adopted in the
form in which it was introduced in
the house by Mr.. Fordney, and in
the senate by Mr.. McCumber, it
might, in case all veterans choose
cash compensation, cost 81 SOC, 100000
in the course of the next three years,
ard that would be all that it would
ever cost. If on the other land all
veterans were to select rs their option
TIE alternative Of paid up insurance,
Il might cost little over $5O,0OO,-
100000 at the end of twenty years,
when the insurance natures. Those
are the maximum and minimum costs
involved in the present bill, and the
actual cost will depend upon the choice
Of the veterans as between the diff
ferent alternatives. According to the
estimates made by Secretary Mellon,
based on the supposition that half
the veterans would take cash and
half insurance, it would cost about
s40O, O,0O0, 900 for each of the first two
years, and very little thereafter un-
til the expiration of the insurance.
These are indeed formidable sums,
but taking the maximum payments
for the next three years, Of $780,
100000 on the assumption of every
soldier choosing cash, the total would
not amount to half as much per
capita for our people as the bonus
which Canada paid to her soldiers
involved for her population.
How, you may ask, is this great
sum to be paid?
It should be noted in passing that
the suggestion CT levying special
tsxes to meet a special expenditure
has never been raised before in con-
nection with the adjustment Of COM
pensation for any other war claim
ants. When the Dent Act was pass
ed, which arranged for settling claims
O: war contractors, no particular
revenue measure was provided, al
though the actual compensation paid
under that act amounted to nearly
SO 900 100000. No prejudice was
created against these claimants and
there was little protest against them,
because they were paid out of the
general sources of the treasury, and
no definite taxes were assigned for
their settlement. The same is true
Of the adjustment of the compensa-
ton of the railroads amounting to
100000 for the losses incurred
under war administration. 1t is true
also of the s4O,OOO,0OO voted to COM