Evening star., 1932-08-02
BONUS RIOTS HELP
. AND HURT HOOVER
Analysis of Political After.
math Shows Both Harm
and Benefit.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

Enough time has elapsed to appraise
the political effect Of the use Of Fed
eral troops to chase the bonus seekers
out Of the Capital.
For many weeks, it has been an open
secret that the course of hesitation and
vacination, which led so many of the
bonus men to think the Government
was timid and frightened and that the
Chief Executive himself was afraid, was
due to a belief that, no matter what
form the compulsion took, whether city
police or troops, there would be a p0-
litical aftermath.
Already the radicals have protested,
End there are signs that political op-
ponants of President Hoover will seek a
congressional investigation, but that
cannot come till December anyhow, by
which time it will not be of much avail
! politically and will only be an academic
Nre1iew Of an unfortunate series Of
events.
Debated for Long Time.
The question of whether the police
Should have been used to evict the
bonus marchers from Government
property is one that was seriously de-
bated for a long time and the con-
clusion was reached that it meant the
sacrifice of the lives Of many police
men and doubtless some casualties
among the bonus seekers. 1t meant
victory for the latter, with all the dam
gers that might be involved in sud-
den discovery that the police had been
oyerpowered.
: Gen. Pelham d. Glassford, superinten-
! dent Of police, thinks he could have
handled the situation without blood
shed, but the fact remains that, while
the police did handle it and before the
troops came into the picture, shots
were fired that resulted ultimately in
the death of two bonus marchers and
bricks thrown that brought serious
wounds to many others, including at
least two policemen.
The argument now made is that
the police should have continued their
battle and that if they were overpow
cred, then the Federal troops should
have been brought in. Certainly, from
the standpoint Of politics. this would
have cleared Mr.. Hoover and, would
have emphasized the need for the
troops more than was the case with the
prompt ordering of the Army to the
scene.
Believed in Efficacy.
But it is asserted by Government Off
cials that while this might have been
better politically, it would have cost
more lives and that the decision to mop
up came as the result of a deliberate
belief in the efficacy of the troops as a
means of preventing bloodshed and rid
ding washington promptly Of problem
that constituted a danger of recurrert
disorder
a5e <Nf
the President, while conflred to liberal
and radical organizations and a few
members of Congress, Is bound to be
politically harmful-though. to be sure,
Mr.. HooVerS veto Of the bonus before
and his efforts at economy on certain
veterans allowances have made him
far from popular with the ex-service
groups anyway.
The one chance that the feeling
against the administration for its use
of troops will be lest in the shuttle is
the prospect of disorder in Pennsyl-
vania, where the 5000 or, more bonus
men have congregated Thus far there
have been no disorders, but the presence
of Communist agitaters is well known
and their efforts constantly is to foment
trouble so as to arouS eX-SerVlce men.
Ever since the Communists begsn
their open demonstrations in New YCbS
they have been seeking to gather in the
ex-service men. While it is true that
Comdr. Walter w. Waters of the B. e.
F. repudiates the Communists, never
theless his constant work in recruiting
a bonus army is exactly what the Com
munist leaders are seeking. The Com
munist policy in America is to bring
about as much disturbance as possible,
in the hope that this will advertise
;r+ RI vi nd
TO their cause.
Conservatives Pleased.
1t was because the Government want
ed to deal quickly and effectively with
the bonus army that troops were used,
but there remains no doubt that the
conservatives in the country saw at the
same time show of teeth against up
rising elsewhere. The Army didn't need
tanks or tear bombs or rifles, but the
old rule of physical force Is to exhibit
power and strike terror.
Maybe handful of men could have
accomplished the same thing; maybe
police force would have been sufficient
( Hindsight now is better than foresight,
q but. politically speaking, it was a deci-
, sion arrived at after much hesitation
and real fear that it would hurt the
Hoover cause. That it has caused
+ some pontlcal damage Is undlSputed,
even though it has brought the PreSi-
dent some new support among con-
Z servatives hitherto disafected because
of other issues.
If Mr.. Hoover loses the election it
will be pointed to as fatal mistake
If he wins it win be hailed as cne of
the signs that he exhibited courage and
steadfastness in an emergency. 1t was
Calvin Coolidge's forceful breakup of
the police strike in Boston that won
him fame.
I 1t remains to be seen, however, what
J happens in Pennsylvania to the hungry,
= distressful horde of bonus seekers and
their families before the bonus exhibit
can be erased from the political map
as a big red spot of potential trouble.