The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-01-25
SIMMONS BRINGS BONUS QUESTION
 BEFORE SENATE
Ranking Democrat of Finance Committee Introduces an Amendment to Allied
 Debt Refunding Bill
By Associated Press

Washington, January 24.-The question of bonus for former ser vice men again was formally pre- sented to the Senate today through the introduction by Senator Simmons democrat, North Carolina, of the five-way adjusted compensation plan as an amendment to the pending measure providing for refunding of the wartime loans to the allied pow CTS.
 With the exception Of provisions for payment of the bonus, the simmons amendment is identical with the bonus bill which was taken up by the Sen ate last summer only to be recon mitted to the finance committee after President Harding addressed the Sen ate on the subject.
 The provisions for payment of the bonus call for the issuance of short term treasury certificates, until in terest on the debt can be collected to retire them and, later, the use oi the principal of the debt, if and when such becomes available, through the issuance and sale of the foreign bonds
 simmons In Earnest
 In offering the amendment Mir. Sim mons assured the Senate that he was in earnest and declared that he was bringing the subject up because for mer service men deserved the bonus and because the finance committee of which he is the ranking democratic member, had given serious consider ation" to attaching 1t to the funding bill before the latter was reported to the Senate.
 It was said that as a result of in- formal conferences among democrats MT. Simmons had been assured thai his colleagues would support his ef- forts to have the amendment at tached to the funding measure.
 Senator walsh, democrat, Massa- chusetts, also submitted an amend ment to the bill, proposing that any agreement resulting from negotia tions from the proposed committed for funding the debt and the foreign representatives should not be binding on the American government until the consent of the Senate had been obtained. Such provisions previously were pressed before the finance com mittee, but were not accepted, 1t was said, because of objections of the treasury.
 International speculators
 Mir. Simmons in the course of his speech declared that when the Sen ate committee agreed 10 strike out the provision for flat per cent interest rate, it left the way open for "the international spectators to gather the fruit"
 The republican majority, in his opinion, had in mind that a reduction of the interest rates be demanded oi the foreign governments in the future
 Senator Watson, republican. In diana. interrupted to say that he as a majority member had felt that the flat rate provision was unnecessary isasmuch as your party" addressing MT Simmons, when in power wrote into the liberty loan acts the pro. visions which have governed interest rates on the loans up to this time He declared that the provisions re. quiring afrate from the foreign gov. ernment approximately equal to thal paid by the United States on it's owr bonds was the only rational way-tt dispose of the question.
 Contemplated Reduction
 "As for the contemplated reduc tion," MT. Watson continued, "I hay, always had such views both as to tn. interest on our own bonds and oi those of the foreign governments, bu l do not know that they are shared by anyone. Why should our govern ment pay per cent if in IS years i should decide to fund its bonds ant could borrow all of the money i needs at per cent? Where would this government be If the per cen rate were In the law and we reduced our own rate when this governmen IS morally bound to ask no more O the foreign governments than 1t pay. on it's own borrowings?"