Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-06-03
AMERICAN LEGION
APPROVES CHANGES
IN BONUS MEASURE
Speech-Making Certain to Be
Feature of Passage but No
Attempt at FiIibuster Is
Expected
BY DAVID LAWRENCE
(Leased Wire Service to The Journal.)
(CopyriCht, 1922.

WASHINGTON. June 2.-The
American Legion's executive COM
mittee is thoroughly satisfied with
the bonus bill as reported by the
senate finance committee. The
changes made in the house bill are
unobjectionable.
The next step is to insure enough
votes to give the measure rlght-ot-
way over the tariff. This is admit
tedly a hard proposition for while
the legion has enough votes pledged
toy pass the bill itself there's a COM
plication involved in getting the
tariff displaced.
Some members of the senate who
favor the bonus may be found Vot-
ing against a motion to displace the
tariff BY the time the American
Legion's representatives get through
their campaign of persuasion-and
they have been pretty effective
about it thus far-enough votes are
vote on the bonus.
Speech-making on the bonus is
Observation-Disclosures who are to vote
against it being as anxious to tell
their constituents the reason there
for as the senators who favor it
are ANXIOUS to demonstrate how
actively they fought to put the meas
ure through.
But no filibuster is expected. The
of disposing of the issue this ses-
sion one way or the other. Undue
delay IS not for a moment consider
ed, though to be sure there may
be some prolonged argument on
the motion to take the matter up
and lay the tariff aside.
Issue Not Partisan
The issue is not partisan. The
fact that three Democrats voted
with six Republicans to report the
measure to the senate is taken to
mean that the bonus bill will re-
ceive Democratic support. when it
reached votef1 The Democrats will, |
naturally, try to impose all sorts
of amendments which would appear
to be even more favorable to the sol
diers but individually they will not
assume responsibility for defeating
the main bill.
American Legion headquarters
here feels assured of sixty affirma-
tive votes. In response to a ques
tionnaire sent out by the legion.
sixty senators, including Repub,
licans and Democrats stated positive
ly that they would vote for the
pending bill though several reserved
the right to amendments. Only thir-
teen senators have told the legion
that they would vote against The |
bonus. This leaves twenty-three who
have not answered and it is pre-
dictcd by the legion men that a
least a half dozen more will climb the |
bandWagon when the voting be-
gins. To pass the bill itself only
y
needed. To pass it over a president
veto sixty votes are needed.
Curiously enough the legion
representatives are confident Presi |
dent Harding will not veto the bill
Senator James Watson, of Indiana. |
an intimate friend and political ad |
visor of the president, has publicly |
predicted that Mr.. Hading would fe-
hir01Cnlf eic lo
Much significance is attached to the |
fact that although the president |
limited that he would send a letter to |
Chairman McCumber, of the finance
committee, expressing opposition to
the bill he failed tc do so. 1t is con.
tended that if Mr.. Harding intended
TO do anything about the bonus bill |
he would have acted while the meas
ure was in committee.
Passage Appears Likely
The opposite impression is held |
by others who believe Mr.. Harding |
is really anxious to get the measure
out of committee and on the floor of |
the senate where he can again make |
an address urging postponement |
The question is whether Mr.. Har- |
ding, who knows what support the |
measure has, will risk a conspicu- |
GUS rundown by the senate or
whether he will prefer to wait till |
the measure comes to him and ex-
press himself explicitly in a veto
message in which he can put all |
his arguments and depend upon the
effect of the communication to pre-
vent congress from overriding the
veto.
The danger in such a course from |
the viewpoint of those who want to |
se5 the measure fail of passage is |
that on the first vote probably |
enough senators will become COM
mittcd affirmatively as to make inn |
possible a reversal on later vote.
All indications now point to the |
passage of the measure despite the |
efforts made by interpreters of re-
cent elections to persuade members |
Of congress that the bonus is I'M
popula" and vote against it will |
help them next autumn as much as
it will hurt. Reporting the bill out
of the finance committee is a step
forward in the slow but steady
march of the bonus through both |
houses of congress.