The Cordova daily times., 1922-05-22
CONGRESS AND THE SOLDIERS

Pending the decision of Congress and the President on the bonus question, It IS well to glance at the record of the government III US treatment of soldeirs and sailors of the late war. if it appears that the government mas Eccu ;t eral and thoughtful lfi its care ot these men. there will be less dispo2ition> on the part of any one to sl ~@est that thr oelay II bonus legislation is due to disregard of right of JUS ticc in dealing y. tt' former srlNlce men,
 A statement compiled by the government authorities, made public, throws much hght moon the governments attitude toward its de- fenders The figures are brought up to April 1. and show that a total of $1,996, ,26O,634 has been appropriated for the welfare or sololerS and sailors of the late war, in such items as family allowances, insurance, hospitals, Voca- tional training etc. The appropriations for the fiscal year 1923 are $4O6,O3o,o42 TOT tnese nurnoses. Thus the United States is expendlng more than $1, ,O00,000 day for the welfare ot "the boys" The expenditures to April l, specified, are as follows: Military and naVal family allowances, $298, ,OOO; Military ana naval compensation, $557 ,15O,OOO; Insurance $23OO0 GOO; Administration, $o3,o96,ooO; Hos pitalization, $224, ,402; Hospital construc- ton. $47,O95,OO0; Vocational tralnng, S4o9 123 37O; Disposition of remains, S5o,4' o''oz' Bonus allowance, $248, ,602,2OO; Payments to beneficiaries of army men and officers, 4lo' 4950 00O
 The number of former service men recelv ing vocational training is lOo,2OO. Ihe aver are received per month by each man IS Sllo This includes compensation winch goes to 1aln- flies. In addition the government supplies the men with books, tools, medical care, tfanspor-
 
 tation tuition in schools, etc.
 Other fioures on wounded and disabled men are as follows:
 Approximately 3o,00o are now in hos pitfalls a,
 The total number wounded IS 2Oo,o2o.
 The total number discharged for dlsa- blity is 251, ,916
 The government is paying compensation on 5O420 death claims and l56,o39 dlsa- bility cases.
 The amount paid last month for this com pensation was $1O,34O,000.
 The government is paying insurance on 134,55O death claims and 6,299 disability claims
 The amount paid in war risk term 1nsur- ance last month was $8,454, ,O69.l7.
 The commuted value of war risk term ln- surance allowed by the government IS $1,326, ,985 ,8357O.
 If there is any duty which lies upon the heart of President Harding more constantly than all others, it is that of providing for the disabled men who fought for the United States during the late war. He has emphasized his sense of responsibility many times, and has more than performed all that duty re- quired in impressng upon Congress the need of forethought and iberality in providing for these men. As for Congress- it is sufficient to say that every dollar estimated for by the ex ecutive departments has been appropriated In no other branch of governmental activity IS this the case It is only in dealing with former service men that Congress has met the esti mates without cutting off single dollar.
 Soon the country will have before it the proposal for bonus as worked out by the