Evening star., 1932-07-13
BY WALTER TKUMBULL.


At the back of printing shop, In
midtown, a few steps lead down into
what can scarcely be described as a
room-just a nook wide enough to hold
table and leave a cramped space for
a chair on either side of it, Here. writ
ing in longhand on copy paper. sits
Joseph L. Heffernan, lately mayor of
Youngstown, Ohio. and present pub
F. News This publication started with
total assets of table and typewriter
and, by using SGT veterans. sold its first
run of $4,000 copies in eight hours
Other members of the business and
editorial staff are Dwight F. Lane,
Muncie, Ind; NJ. l.. Knowles, Allen
town, Pa; and e. j. Kelleher. Camden,
N. J. The official tent headquarters Of
the News is at Camp Marks. Judge Hef-
fernan. a tall, lean. scholarly type Of
man. came on with the Ohio contingent
partly. he said, to be With the boys, and
partly to get material for sone magazine
articles. 1t seems likely however that
other considerations now are holding
him in Washington.
Movement Spreads Out.
These men" he says, came here
With the fixed idea of forcing the pay
ment of the bonus. but the movement
has developed into something far wider
than its original purpose I don't think
most persons realize the ingredients of
which this bonus army is composed. 1t
touches almost every walk of life With
the Texas outfit. for example. are five
rodeo riders. You can find plumbers
carpenters, bricklayers, plasterers. arti-
sans OF every trade; but you also can
find the professional men-doctors, law
yers. preachers and engineers.
The vast majority CT thsm realize
now" declared Judge Heffernan, that
there will be a stiff fight for the pay
ment OF the bonus. but they also have
a growing feeling that this crusade may
result in something more lasting than
money.
1T is not beyond the bounds of posi-
b!llty." asserted YoungstoWn's former
mayor, that this is the beginning OF
a national movement. I am not speak
ing of a third party am SPEAKING
Of Government By the people for the
people, without regard fer traditions of
party or political tags.
Il give you an example of what l
mean" he went en-. Out in Seattle.
a contractor by the name of Cronin
gathered l3,00J, on a basis of families.
INTO what he calls the UNEMPLOYED
City League. The regular politicians
laughed at him, but they diont laugh
so heartily when he polled enough
votes to elect his candidate for mayor.
Similar movements are being organized
in Milwaukee and other parts of the
country. If those groups eventually
unite. their influence would be tre-
mendOus'
Promise Of Value.
1t seems extremely likely that an
astutc politician. from a State where
politics is absorbed with the alphabet.
sees the glowing promise Of value in
what must have been the unexpected
circulation of the B. E. F. News. The
second issue sold $4,000 copies in
Washington and $4,000 more have been
sent to other cities.
Already the solicitation of subscrip-
tions in outlying districts has become
SO profitable that there are arguments
over allotted territory Copies of the
first issue are selling at a premium.
The circulation scheme of the pub
fishers IS simple. They figure that they
can. in the persons of unemployed
veterans. command hundreds of thou
sands OF statesmen on commission
basis. They propose to put 5000 sales
men in New York 1t is their firm
belief that eventually thev can run
their circulation to more than a mil
lion copies. What they might run
their overhead to- on that basis. prob
ably has not yet been figured. Profits,
If any, are to be devoted to buving
food and clothing for the bonus army.
Ihat IS to say, the profits will be so
used, II the bonus army can wait that
long. There are certain of them who
'can' at guess. perhaps 1000. These
are fairly well provided with food. In
some OF the camps it is possible to find
tents or shacks with unopened boxes
OF canned goods, or considerable stocks
OF provisions. The answer is that some
OF the bonus marcEers have been out
htted by citizens of their home towns.
presumably to cut down the ratio of
local Unemployment. Others came from
places so close that farmers and others
send them truckloads of provisions.
Cause of Trouble.
1t is this very thing which has caused
much of the trouble and grumbling in
the ranks. Often next to a group of
tents where food is adequate is an
other group where hollow checked men
tighten belts over fiat and empty stom-
achs. Or, perhaps those who haven't
even a door for the wolf to howl at see
the stores OF food when passing by. I'M
mediately there is dissension. Those
without food, and they are in the ma
Jority, hold that all supplies should be
turned into a common fund. that all
members of the bonus army should eat
or starve together
Those who have the food. while they
believe some system should be evolved
Tor making the rich share, or the Gov
ernment pay, are intensely unwilling
TO pool their own supplies with those
who have only appetites to contribute.
This has been one of the chief
problems with which headquarters has
had to contend, and there really Is
nothing which can be done about it SO
long as matters are conducted upon
basis of law and order.
Each day, the specter OF hunger
haunts most of the bonus forces. Thou
sands of pathetically thin and ragged
men and dozens of women sit inertly
and helplessly around the camps, wait
ing for national headquarters, or their
camp commander, to figure out some
way to feed them. And once they have
had their soup or their coffee, their
potato or their bread, they wonder
whether there will be another meal
You can hear them telling each other
that there Is food enough thrown away
each day in every large city to feed
them ALL but they have no more idea
than their leaders have how to get It..