The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1932-04-05


the next great controversial gu
This legislation will come
up for hearing in the house
ways and means committee
on April II, according to Act
ing Chairman Charles R.
Crisp. He has given his COM
mittee a weeks rest to re-
cover from the terrific pun
ishment it stood during the
tax fight.
The veterans compensation fight
will be one of the most bitter OF
the wear. It may develop as the
vehicle of a spectacular hight over
the question OF cheap money-or
ineation-which will rank with the
ureenback fight, and the free sill
YER controversy.
Hoover Will Veto Bill
President Hoover, few days ago,
made clear he would veto the pro-
noeed bonus legislation if it came
ia him. on the ground that such
a measure would undermine IRE
trievably" the credit Of the country
All of the talk about balancing
The budget may have to be gone
through with again. For this pro-
nosaI TO issue s2,OOOO0o,0 900 OF adj
ditional money is an expenditure
not contemplated in the balancing
Of income and outgo, as worked OUT
in the pending tax bill.
Incidentally the sum involved
amounts roughly to 81 minute
since the birth of Christ.
The importance which the service
vote will plav in consideration OF
The veterans bill is much the same
as in previous showdowns on the
bonus.
Many legislators figure that each
veteran controls one or more votes
of his family, relatives and frlenoS'
making a, block of possibly anywhere
from sixteen million votes, 1t Is
nowerful factor in helping congress-
men and senators to make up their
minds.
Difficulty in Paying Debts
But this time, there is added pres
sure growing out of the difficulties
of those who are in debt, and are
trying to pay off their obligations
in wheat. cotton and other COM
modities that are worth half or less
of what they we're when the DEBTS
were incurred.
The cotton farmer who mortgageo
his farm a few years ago for say
$1,000, borrowed the equivalent OF
ten bales of cotton. Now he must
give up perhaps eighty bales OF cot
ton to pay off that mortgage.
1t costs him just as much sweat
and toll to raise a bale OF cotton
now as ii did few years ago. The
wheat farmers story is much the
same.
Likewise the wage-earner, who
bought his home few years ago,
borrowed by mortgage perhaps
$4,000 to finance it that represented
possibly 500 days work at $40 day
wage. Now he gets only IS day
so his home is costing him 1000
DAYS labor, just twice as much.
Would Cheaper Money
Now what has this to do with the
bonus bill?
Proponents of that bill are argu-
ing that if the government will
throw $2,00O000,000 additional cur
rency into circulation by paying OF
the veterans certificates, it will in
fate the currency, cheaper it, SO
that prices will so up again and the
cotton farmer can pay off his debts
with the same number OF bales
that was represented by the loan
when he received it.
When the Glass Steagall banking
bill passed the house and the recon-
struction finance corporation bill
recently was passed by congress. 1t
quietly was whispered about that
they constituted mild imitation and
therefore would help relieve an
overdef1ated situation.
Go Directly Into Trade
Some now argue that such inf1a-
ton is not finding its way down to
the ultimate consumer-that 1t Is
purely a big business proposition,
that government money is being
used by railroads and other corpora
ton to pay taxes, interest. and to
take up loans which bankers refused
to hold any longer.
Bankers incidentally, find it con-
siderably TO their advantage to COL
lect in expensive dollars those loans
which were advanced in cheap dol
lars during the inflated period of
lending with the 1929 collapse.
Now the bonus advocates argue
that the $2,ooO,oO0 900 they propose
to distribute to veterans would go
directly in cash into the hands of
some S,500,000 veterans and mostly
would be turned Immediately into
trade channels.
/. =