The New York herald., 1922-02-19

Bedridden, lame and limb shattt
right to consideration by Congress ant
told President Harding. This cons
relief of ablebodied ex-service men,
the hospital veterans argue.
Take care OF the incapacitated ex-
service man first" is the way they
put it.
Cripples Explain Position.
Hobbling about the wards of Wal
ter Reed Hospital on crutches. some
with arms or legs in plaster casts
and forced to walk with canes. the
wounded ex-service men explained
their attitude to-day to THE New
York HERALD. At the hospital are
about 1000 men. A very large per-
centage are unable to walk. Some
cannot use their arms. Others can
not leave their beds. Still another
group includes men who must 60
about with one arm strapped to an
apparatus that holds it out at right
angles to the torso.
Are these men partly disabled"
asked John T. Hotel, chairman of the
World War Patients Committee.
"It would appear SO, yet they are
receiving nothing from the Veterans
Bureau under the disability clause Of
their insurance policies. Any insur-
d., n;x I'll iga haf leS5
to meet its obligations in this way
would be regarded as bankrupt
"An amendment to the Soldier In
surance law would settle the Who'll
matter. Not cent would have to
come out Of the Treasury Of the United
States. The money would be paid out
OF the funds of the Veterans Bureau.
which administers the insurance law.
The money is there. The insurance
plan of the great war is solvent. II
is making a profit, so to speak. like
any private insurance company"
Revolt at Charity.
The compensation payments now
Icing made by the Government are
like pensions the veterans explained.
The men who receive them feel as il
they were forced to accept charity.
The compensation payments are made
under a law different from the insur-
ance law. The compensation payments
are really gifts from the Government
to the ex-service men. The law pro-
vides a maximum payment of 800
month for total disability, with the
payments for partial disability scaled
down from that.
1--WE are told that the soldier bonus
bill is holding back the amendment OF
the insurance law" said Albert Henry
Hotter. limping into the ward on a
cane That is why we asked President
Harding to delay passage Of the bonus
bill until our insurance law can be
amended"
Hotter pulled up the right les Of his
trousers to show a leg incased in a
long leather boot strapped to a pair o.
braces that extended from instep to hip.
II got that in the Argonne October
o. 1918" he said. Il have been con-
fined to a hospital every day since,
more than three years. Until six weeks
ago 1 was in bed. / am what you might
call disabled. although can manage
to walk.
"Must Die to Collect"
"To provide against this sort OF thing
took out insurance. 1t cost me s6.16
month and still does. Yet. under the
present Interpretation OF the law. |
must die 10 collect anything on that
insurance The policy specifies that pay
ments OF $3.50 a month will be paid
for total disability. I need the money.
but not bad enough to die to get Il.
II receive $50 month. This is en-
tirely compensation. That is to say---a
pension or gift from the Government. |
receive nothing on my insurance. They
notified me payments would begin Then
got a letter saying they wouldn't be-
gin. It's very confusing. l have been
on the operating table three times in
twelve months.
George l., Walters, formerly OF Albion.
~ Y, and now secretary OF the World
War Patients Committee, has one bad
leg that has kept him out OF ordinary
occupations and in hospitals since he
was wounded on october 13, 1918, in the
ArgOnne.
while the service men who escaped
the hospital were agitsting for the
bonus and getting back their old Jobs"
he said. ~ was in ward having
slx-inch piece of bone transferred from
the good leg TO the bad. Several
operations were necessary before the
hunk OF bone was shifted. 1t began
TO get well. apparently
Then II began giving trouble. It be- |
came infected. They had to take IL !
out and transfer another piece OF bone
fr IN the Erod leg
In December I began to get about
ON crutchcs. Now I can walk with
cane. But I don't know when shall !
be able TO get back to farming. which |
I did before going into service. I'm |
trying TO study accountancy here at the
hospital
Clyde whalen. formerly OF Battery Z,