Evening star., 1932-08-16
JOHNSON CHARGES
DENIED BY POLICE
Bonus Marchers Destroyed
Dynamite Found in Camp,
Officers Declare.

Charges made by Representative
Royal C. johnson. Republican, of South
Dakota. in a speech before the Amer-
can Legion at Lacrosse, Wis. last night
that members of the B. E. F. came to
Washington with arms, ammunition
and explosives-were denied today by
Washington police.
Police said they were notified on
June IL by members of the bonus army's
own intelligence section" that two
and a half sticks of dynamite had been
| found by camp military police in one
of the encampments here and destroyed
by the bonus marchers themselves
Police said they had not seen the ex-
plosive. but were satisfied it had been
destroyed
District Attorney Leo A. Rover said
! today, after the indictments of three
| bonus marchers. that there were on file
| in his office statements by a veteran
which said that three or four sticks
of dynamite and fuses and caps had
been found in Camp Marks prior to the
riots.
Rover refused to give the veterans
! name, but said the letter asserted that
he had destroyed the explosives before
| the clashes of July %.
Police also stated they made severa
searches of the B. E. F. camps on in
formation regarding the presence oi
arms zone report said there were ma
| chine guns in Camp Marks, but die
not find any weapons.
Blames Communists.
Representative Johnson, veteran
and former chairman of the House Vet
erans' Committee, blamed Communists
hn rrl1 Or
| Washington and accused the marcherS
of coming to the Capital to start trou-
BILE He said:
Men don't bring dynamite to start
Y. M c. A. or Sunday school meet
| ing and they don't bring pistols to
start pink tea"
The South Dakota Representative
upheld President Hoover's calling out
| the troops to evacuate the marchers
from Government property.
with the facts before him." Rep
resentative Johnson said, the President
could do nothing else but call out the
| troops.
THE men responsible for the deaths
are not some of the decent service mer
with this bonus army, but the Senators
congressman and others who inclteo
and encouraged it when, If they knew
anything, they knew Congress was mo-
| going to pass full payment OF the adj
| iusted service certificates
Il can prove there was dynamite
and caps to explode it. arms and am
munition in the bonus camp at one
time, and it will be proven at the proper
| time.
Praises Police Restraint.
"Tbese Senators and Congressmer
who want congressional investigations
will have it proven to them if they wan
investigations after the election. b.
| that time. however, they will have
| enough of the facts SO they will wani
no investigation.
There are dozens of photographs ir
existence actually showing men throw
! ing bricks and knocking down police
men. Blood was flying from the police
men. who used most extraordinary re-
straint to keep from killing dozens OF
rioters.
with these photographs in exist
ence, of course. some OF the men VII
/ be picked up and convicted OF at
tempted murder.
IF the troops had not been brought
! in, hundreds of people would have beer
killed in the riots that would have de-
| veloped and everybody with good senSt
knows it. lust as sensible people know
there were never in Washington at one
| time more than three-tenths OF l pei
| cent of the men who wore the uniform
during the World War. Not over TWO
| thirds of them ever saw any wal
| service.
THE bonus march on Washington
| was initiated by the Workers EX-SerV'
| ice Mems League, a Communism
| organization, on February IL, 1882, ane
/ in the Daily Worker, a COMMUNISM
paper, dated May II. ID, 20 and u
plans for the march were detailed o!
| the Communists. and in order TO maK'
money out of the program the Com
munists charged an initiation Zee OF z;
! cents and dues of cents week.
| Accuses Three Men.
johnson charged national prominen
| Communists with organizing the bonus
march. naming Emanuel Levin, JohI
F.. Doyle and Sender Garlin. He alst
charged that So men we're arrested dur
| ing the bonus marchers' stay IN WASH
| ington for melting to riot.
| (Police Court records today showed ne
person was tried under such charg'
! during the bonus marchers' stay. sucf
charges having be y placed agalns
John Pace, Detroit leader of the LEI
wing" or Communist, group CT INT
| B. E. F., and walter Flicker. New
/ York bonus marcher, after their arres
during the disturbance that followed
PAGES second attempt to picket th'
White House, but the charges Wer'
dropped when the men appeared Il
Police Court.
Testimony taken July s." johnson
declared. by the Department OF Labor
Bureau of immigration, shows con
clusively that men connected with tn'
so-called Ford riots in Detroit were
connected with the bonus marcherS II
| Washington.
THE facts are that some OF thes'
bonus marchers not Communists, tool
| bushel baskets of bricks and pals O
glass up on the third floor of the build
ing from which they were to be eVlcteo
and those bricks were thrown OUT o
that building at the police ana tn'
buckets of glass were poured out 10 IN
jure the police. The police snot tWt
men after guns had been pulled OF
them and after they had been attacked
knocked down and kicked. ana th'
badge torn from the chief OF ponce
after he was knocked down.
There were two different bunches o
dynamite with caps to explode IL seer
in the bonus camp and destroyed. I'M
was not in the Communist camp-th'
regular camp"
johnson left his seat in the House II
Join the Army as an enlisted man i
years ago.