The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-10-14
The Forced Labor
Plan of the Amer
lean Legion
BY HOWARD LANGFORD

UTE ARE the heroes" of the World War Row
" after row of emaciated defenders of "hu-
mainly and democracy lie in their hospital
beds coughing, hacking and wasting away. This
is the TB. Hospital at the National Soldiers
Home Sawtelle, Calf The physcopathic, gen
eral and other hospitals here only repeat the
horrors, if anything even more CHASTITY. Legess
men, armless, back-bent, blind, shen-shocked
and disabled, we now reap the fruits of victory
our valor won.
Now for those who came through the bloody
carnage intact, the fruits of victory too sweet
The warriors of France and Flanders fields now
stand in long queus at factory gates and swarm
through the slave marts vainly seeking a Job
that is ever elusive The former kakfi-clad
lad now wears rags and exists on breadlines,
garbage, ndly donated as charity. Their use
fulness to Wall Streets financiers and NUM-
ton mani facturers is at an end.
But yesl The plunderbund does reward the
veteran. Partial loans upon the Bonus were al
lowed-at IL per cent interest. And of course
the interest on long term loan will eat up
the remaining principal. Comparing this with
the immense profits of the war spectators and
the governments action in reembursing the
railroads for their war losses President Hoover's
speech to the delegates assembled at the Amer
lean Legion Convention that the veterans ask
for no more loans on the remainder of their
Bonus seems audacious and crude Nice people
these bankers and their political lckspittles
The leadership of the American Legion, Veter-
ans of Foreign Wars and Disabled American
Veterans are puppets of the master class They
misead the rank and file veteran, betray his
interest and openly serve the enemies of the
workers. They are militaristic, fascist-lke in
character and upon occasion-even strike break
ers. They endorse the governments policy of
spending billions of dollars for war preparations
while millions of jobless starve. They favor in
Prevention and war against the land of rising
socialism, the Soviet Union. Small wonder that
two hundred veterans at the Sawtelle National
Soldiers Home tore up their American Legion
membership cards on September "a upon learn
ing of the Legions betrayal of the Bonus
Plans of the American Legion, department of
California, to care for the $4,000 unemployed ex-
servcemen in this state, during the coming win
ter, were revealed recently in the Los Angeles
Press
Federal aid will be asked and the Secretary of
War will be requested to supply tents. cots and
camp equipment and that emergency camps
be established at the National Soldiers Home
Sawtelle, Ballon Fields, Arcadia and Preside,
San Francisco.
But usual, there is joker in all this pur-
posed relief. The Legion, SO loud in its denun-
citation of the forced labor" myth in the Soviet
Union states that Eight" work will be given
to those in the camps. This will be considered
payment for board. There is forced labor al
right, but not in the Soviet Union.
Another joker in the projected laid" will be
the assignment of provost and military per-
sonnet to each of the camps. There is to be
strict military discipline and military training
for the jobless veteran.
What can this mean but another move for
preparation towards imperialist war, perhaps