Evening star., 1928-10-30
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

portunities open to the less affilcted.
Disavowing special credit for legisla-
tion for the relief of the soldiers, Chair
man Kirby says:
ut has been a pleasure to state
that the D. A: " has fought shoulder
to shoulder with E. S. Bethlehem, IT,,
Of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and
Watson B. Miller of the American
Legion rehabilitation committee. Each
that 1t Is not question of who did 1t,
but whether 1t has been DONE"
***
1t was disclosed by the report of Gen.
Hines, director of the Veterans Bureau,
OF the American Legion, that instead of
the peak of the hospital burden being
passed, after 10 years, 1t has persisted
in increasing, even in the last year by
692 cases, or 81 per cent, as compared
with the previous year. Almost exactly
half OF the hospital cases are mental
known technically as neuropsychiatric.
AS the years 60 by the veterans are
breaking down from wounds or other
injuries suffered In the service, but
which they are able partially to endure
In the earlier stages Most of them
have families dependent on them. The
IL,
waning interest Of the public In their
abandonment has much to do with the
cases OF melancholia and despair, lead
ing to mental hreakdowns. The Sig
niflcance Of the sale of "forget-n1e-
nots" Is not oversentimentai, under ex-
iSting circumstances.
In a recent editorial the Chicago
Tribune summed up the situation as
follows:
Tag days have become extortionate.
but Forget-Me-Not day Is legitimate.
1t is the one occasion on which you
are importuned to remember the sac
rif1ce of the soldier; to consider his
lot; to ease his existence. Without
this organized appeal the routine Of
peace-time endeavor would not be in
terrupted by a consciousness of the
disabled veterans, now suffering OBJ
scurely In hospitals or working under
Odds
Each year as the number Of de-
pendent veterans increases and as the
feeling of responsibility to them on
the part of employers and the COM
munity vanishes. the problem of ad-
ministering to the health and welfare
of these men and their families be-
comes correspondingly difficult. 1t is
reported that there are $4,000 more
erans than there were last year; that
there has been a Is per cent increase
in cases of disabling nervous disorders:
that, although the increase has not
been estimated, there has been dis
tressingly large number Of new cases
of organic diseases, including diabetes
and Bright's disease. At the same
time. in Illinois alone, 2,453 veterans
are reported out Of work in the files
of the Disabled American Veterans of
the World War With these graphic
figures In mind. 1t becomes the duty of
every citizen to contribute to the For
donation. 1t Is real obligation, to
be fulfilled generously and thought
| fully"
Conditions as to the personal calls
! for relief are especially pressing In
Washington, for hundreds of disabled
find their way to this center Of affairs
believing that by their actual presence
here they may accomplish more than
has proved possible at long range.
While some Washingtonians, not quite
appreciating the desperation of the ap-
plicants, would protest against the ap-
1 peal here which logically belongs to
some distant State, 1t Is recalled that
to the wounded soldier. sick and ap-
parently friendless. the only thing that
matters is his personal distress. He
knows nothing Of the geography nor of
! the So-called decentralization" of the
Veterans Bureau: he only knows that
he is dying and needs help. He fought
not for one State, but for the Nation.
There are 29,90l patients in the Vet
erans' Bureau hospitals (as of June l.
| 1929, but there are many times that
number on the outside, In the twilight
zone between comfort and the grave,
struggling with advancing disabilities.
of whom the world seldom hears. 1t Is
for those that the Forget-Me- appeal
is especially directed.
Copyright, 1928. by Paul v. Collins.l