Evening star., 1925-07-19

since the armistice," said Comdr. Ma
han.
In the matter Of legislation we
had the advantage of the presence Of
Representative Royal Johnson, chair
man of the veterans committee in
the House, while on rehabilitation
Gen. Hines co-operated in giving the
reaction of the Veterans Bureau 10
each of our proposals. BY this will
be seen that We A-e cooperating to
the utmost with the Government off
cials having the work directly In
hand, and this policy will be con
tinued, although it may be expected
that we may differ with others as to
how best to reach the objective toward
which we are striving.
I'VE felt that in removing numerous
ones who held commanding positions
during the notorious Forbes regime
Gen Hines has done much TO improve
personnel and procedure in the Vet
erans Bureau, but much remains to
be accomplished in this line.
Both Of my predecessors, Comdr.
Mcfarland OF Georgia, and Comdr
Irwin Of New York. have voiced the
dissatisfaction Of the Disabled Ameri-
can Veterans with the manner in
which the investigation of the bureau
was conducted, as we have all felt
that more time should have been
NtFNOltA " tDliSll ltilFt GlILlt4SIlE OL
the current conditions rather than
| mauliEg over what had happened in
the past.
"One advantage the Disabled Amer
| lean Veterans has is that our mem
| bers know the problems Of the dis
abled practically rather than theoret.
cally, so naturally the resolutions we
! have adopted on relationships with the
| Veterans Bureau should prove mutu-
| a llNr hpIrfYrT ha fyagEiKtad
ances from Gen. Hines that each Of
| our proposals will be considered as
! eXpeditiously as is consistent with
thorough study, and this should go
| far toward smoothing administration
! in the hospitals and in vocational
| training as well as on matters Of
! compensation and insurance.
Our legislative program adopted at
! Omaha is largely d. Teaffirmation OF
| City one year ago and which was
generally incorporated in the SO
| called Johnson bill which passed the
House in the last session of Congress,
! but which failed Of enactment in the
closing hours Of the session when the
| Senate had no chance to hold hear
| ings when each item could be support
ed by evidence we had gathered from
/ all parts of the country.
| While there are numerous items on
| the plan which we will present 10 Con
IgreSS. there are numerous ma jOr points
] upon which we have thoroughly
! Justifiable expectation Of success. For
| instance, the Veterans Bureau was
established essentially for the dis
abled; still the able-bodied veteran Is
! able TO reinState his insurance BY
payment of two months premiums
no matter how long a period the lapse
/ has covered. On the other hand. q
| disabled man who, because of his
disability has had little or no earning
/ power since he was stricken, must
pay back to the date Of lapse. often
! the time of discharge, or permanently
| lose the policy. We want the disabled
! to reinstate on two months payments
| and the remaining figure held against
/ the face value of the premium upon
: his death.
/ Last year the Veterans Bureau
/ lost 400 doctors, and the repIacements
have not been satisfactory. No In
Stitution can suffer the loss of a
doctor every p hours and main
| tain efficiency, SO we want a perma-
nent medical service. generally mod
eled after the Medical Corps of the
Army. Surely the Veterans Bureau,
dealing entirely with disabled men. is
entitled to as good a medical service
as the Army, dealing mostly with
robust. physically fit men.
Under the law as it stands the man
who was wounded and has been in
| the hospitals for years and is Just
commencing TO sufficiently recover. to
be fitted into civil pursuits is denied
! vocational training which was giRen
/ those whose disabilities are slight
! If we are to deny rehabilitat ton to the
worse casualties of the whole war
what is TO become of these men as
! they leave the hospitals seven or
! eight years older than they were
when they went into the service.
with disabilities that are to remain
| through life and with practically no
earning capacity? The Disab bled
American Veteran intends to make a
supreme effort to have these men
| trained to employability, and to do SO
| Congress must change the law.
| our arrested tubercularS must be
compensated permanently in such a
| way that they can live while working
| IN manner to guard against re-
| turn OF their disability. The Veterans
! Bureau shows hundreds of these men
| break down as soon as they trv to
! get back into vocational stride, and
we want law to compensate them at
| least as much as the added cost of the
| precautions they are compelled to
| take to prevent their rehospitalizati ton
''keenly recalling our experience
when the relief Of abled men was
! split between the Federal Board for
! Vocational Education, the War Risk
I Insurance Bureau and the United
| States Public Health Service, the
| Disabled American Veterans are girded
for fight against the proposed alb
Sorptton of the Veterans Bureau in
| the projected department of relief
| and education. We are not against
/ another department, but we do not
! intend to be quiet if there is pres
sure to include the bureau in the
/ merger that would put the Veterans
| Bureau under an assistant secretary
70 report to secretary who. in turn.
would report 10 the President.
The Veterans Bureau was founded
| when the scrambled conditions in the
past We're proven SO costly to the
| public and unsatisfactory to the dis
abled. Let them have a department
! OF relief and education, but leave the
! Veterans Bureau alone.
! These are some of the points that
will keep the Disabled American
| Veterans busy before the coming ses-
sion of Congress.
| NO louder cheers were heard at
| Omaha than followed condemnations
| of the ultra -pacifsts and the pleas for
! national defense. No class of men is.
| better qualified to discuss the hor-
rors of war. but the voice of Ameri.
ca disabled viii be heard next
| Winter backing up every reasonablet
| movement for an adequate national
security, such as ample appropriations,
| for the Army and Navy, strengthen
ing of the Notifications at Hawaii
and giving us properly equipped and
| trained air service"