Evening star., 1924-05-15
BONUS BILL VETOED;
COOLIDGE EXPLAINS
ECONOMY is CAUSE
Continued from First Page.)

Il ~
reduction in taxes. 1 cannot recede
from this purpose. l am for the in
terests of the whole people. The ex-
pendItures proposed in this bill are
against the interests of the whole
people. ] do not believe they are for
the benefit of the veterans.
The running expenses of the gov
eminent for services and supplies
must be met Certain other obliga-
tons in the nature of investments
Tor improvements and buildings are
necessary, and often result in d saw
ing. The debts of the nation must be
paid. The sum Of all these is a tre-
mendous amount. At the present rate
ii is nearly s35 for each resident of
our country, or $175 for each average
family every year. and must be for
some time. This bill calls for a fur
ther expenditure in the aggregate of
nearly $35 for each inhabitant, and
lays nearly S175 more on each family.
years.
mo one supposes the effort will
stop here. Already suggestions are
made for a cash bonus, in addition,
to be paid at once. Such action logi-
cally would be encouraged, If this
bill lecomes law. Neither the rich
nor the profiteers will meet this ex-
pense. All of this enormous sum has
to be earned by the people of this
country through their toll. 1t is
taken from the returns of their pro-
duction. They must earn it, they
must pay it. The people of this
country ought not to be required
by their government to bear any such
additional burden. They are not de-
serving of any such treatment. Our
business is not to impose upon them,
but to protect them.
If this bill be considered as in
surance, the opportunity for such a
provision had already been provided.
Nearly $4,000, 100000 of war risk and
government life insurance is now
outstanding, and over $500, 900, 900 has
been paid on such policies. When
this provision was made in 1917 it
was on the explicit understanding of
the Congress that such insurance was
sequent contributions. The then
Secretary Of the Treasury said in re-
lation to the proposed insurance act:
1T ought to check any further at
tempts at service pension legislation
by enabling a man now to provide
against impairment through old age,
total disability or death resulting
from other causes and to give all this
protection to those kindred who may
be dependent upon him and who do
not share in the government COM
pensation."
This opportunityw as afforded all
those who entered the service. 1t
was distinctly understood that it COW
cred every obligation on the part of
the government. The intent of this
bill now to provide free insurance
lacks both a legal or moral require
ment, and falls into the position of a
plain gratuity.
considering this bill from the
standpoint of its intrinsic merit. I see
no justification for its enactment into
law. We owe no bonus to able bodied
veterans of the world war. The first
duty or every citizen is to the ma
tion. The veterans of the world war
performed this first duty. To confer
upon them a cash consideration or its
equivalent for performing this first
duty is unjustified.
1T is not justified when considered in
the interests of the whole people: it is
not justified when considered alone on
its own merits. The gratitude of the ma
tion to these veterans cannot be ex-
pressed in dollars and cents. No way
exists by which we can either eQualize
the burdens or give adequate financial
reward to those who served the nation
in both civil and military capacities in
time Of war. The respect and honor of
their country will rightfully be theirs
forevermore. But patriotism can neither
be bought nor sold.
''It is not hire and salary. 1t is not
material, but spiritual. 1t is one df
the finest and highest of human vir-
tues. To attempt to pay money for
it is to offer it an unworthy indignity
which cheapens, debases and destroys
it. Those who would really honor
patriotism should strive to match it
with an equal courage, with an equal
fidelity to the welfare of their coun-
try, and an equal faith in the cause
of righteousness.
am not unmindful that this bill
also embraces within its provisions the
disabled of our veterans and the de-
pendents of those who fell. To state
that the disabled veterans and these
dependents are entitled to this addi-
tional gratuity is to state that the
nation is not meeting it's obligation to
them. Such a statement cannot truth
fully be made. The nation has spent
more than two billion dollars in behalf
of disabled, veterans and dependents of