The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-12-07
PEOPLES FORUM
Tom. Dick and Harry,s Side of |

To the Editor of The Age-Herald;
 Many of your readers have sub mitted their views upon the "bo- nus" I~feel that mine may ex- press the inarticulate thoughts of thousands of war sufferers who did not wear khaki. No issue of the day has such pertinent interest to so many millions of American citizens as this problem. and no issue is looked upon with more horror by the politicians. like Banquo's ghost and Mrs. Newly weds pie, it will not down. When the call to arms came in 1917 the doughboy and the gob were told that nothing was too good for them. Among other extravagant promises, made under fear of the kaiser's seemingly invincible jug gernaut, the boys were to have their jobs when they returned, and the government solemnly swore that there would be no ex- cessive war profits for the stay-at- homes. No one can deny that these promises were actually made. Were they made in good faith? Doubtless they were. Did the nation make good these promises made under the pressure or fear and the exuberance of patriotic ardor? It has not.
 Isolated cases may not be ab- solutely convincing, but they were none the less real to those who suffered as a result of the war. During the summer of 1917. I stood on the railway platform of a little western county seat. A lodge brother of mine who had q wife and children was leaving to serve overseas His position as manager ol department in local store was to be held open against his return. A year and a half later
 ne dld return. Other. proprietors nao bought the establishment and mad filled the place with a man of the'r own. The service man was oi1ered mere clerkship. Being a man or mature years and pride. be retused, and to place himself as well as before the war was forced to move his family and goods. at great cost, to another town. The NAApAN hCN IT od " liliii OiI anu llOH- ized him in the leaving He re- turned almost unnoticed and few paid any attention to his predica- ment. A young neighbor of mine was cashier in a public utility of flee. He enlisted, the manager very ostentatiously advertising. that the job was to be held for him. While he was in France a one-eyed youth who could not pass the army test was put in the place. Upon the soldiers return in 1919 the manager said: You cannot expect me to put this man out. He is satisfactory. You can stay and drive delivery wagon If you wish" Thousands of service men must have had just such grievances as these.
 l do not see how any flair minded American" (to use a popu- lar and perhaps meaningless ex- pressionD can deny to the soldier his adjusted compensation, pro- I-vidine such justice does not cost said fair minded American,,~.any- thing but sympathy. We are all willing to let tic other fellow do II. Politicians are scratching their usually fertile craniums to find something as elusive as a perpetual motion machine or a recipe to change pig iron into gold or platinum viz..> means of rais- Ing the hundreds of millions nec- essary Tor the bonus" without taking a cent from anybody. I hope they will be successful. An- other plan is before congress. matched up by some liquor dealers association, and introduced bv a Maryland member. It is to raisa the money by a tax on light wines and beers. Naturally the service men will not swallow this last worm from the bait can of John Barleycorn. Like every cent that is raised by taxation. the "bonus" must come out of the pockets of the American people. That bur- den cannot be hocus.pocused onto any one else. But what people snail pay it? The~big taxpayer is Willing to satisfy the soldier if the sum, can-~be squeezed out of the common man. As the Turkish governor said to the Armenians. They don't mind being gouged and skinned and ravished, they are used to it." So the more afflu- ent citizen would silence the clamors of the Legion if the bur- den can be placed on the backs Of the rest of us: And the rest of us would gladly aid the soldier if the spoil could be squeezed out of the profiteer (whoever he may bel. Attorney General Daugherty has said that the government was robbed of hundreds of millions by army contractors and that this sum can never be recovered. I wonder if Lawyer Daueherty al ways served his clients so faith fully in the old days back in Ohio? But as Uncle Sam pays no commits