Evening star., 1932-07-29
.PRESS COMMENT
|. ON BONUS EVICTION
New York Times Cites Vet.
erans' Latent Spirit of In
SOIent LaWIeSSneSS."

| OLAG AdlCAIL SBlIlL OF lIlSOIeIL 1dWleSSnGSS
| has manifested itself in overt acts, the
country should demand that the whole
affair be thoroughly cleaned UP. the
veterans dispersed as speedily as may be
and Americans be no longer called upon
| 10 witness an tnSubOTdinate body Of
men asserting at the National Capital
| that they are above the people as a
whole and more powerful than the
! Government itself
New York Herald Tribune
Whether these men are really Commu-
nlstS or not is immaterial: they are
| agltators and their object is to foment
trouble and make headlines. Their as
Sault upon the police-who bore the at
tack with courage and restraint-was
| bitterly unjustifed"
New York Daily News" The
Government cannot surrender to these
| men. But neither can it afford TO 90
| one inch beyond the absolute minimum
OF violence that may be necessary to
Keep them on their side of the line"
Baltimore Evening Sun-"Panic. espe-
claIly panic in high places. is usually
contagious. It may be that after the
demonstration of yesterday cooler heads
VIII prevail, but it is all too likely that
tne disease will spread it's virulence. In
that event. as in yesterdays instance,
reason will depart; passion will mas
querade as intelligence and yehemence
as conviction"
Cleveland Plain DeaIer-"The obvious
! duty Of the authorities at Washington
Is TO maintain order at whatever cost.
The Capital cannot surrender to the B.
E. F. or to any other group insisting on
| rights that do not exist"
Boston Traveler-"The situation at
washington has gone beyond a ques-
ton OF whether veterans of the World
War should be given compensation now
or later. Whatever the merits of the
bonus agitation, the people of this coun-
! try will not stand for violence"
Boston Evening GIobe-"Whateve
may develop as to the cause of the riot
ing, the record of the authorities. who
have co-operated with responsible lead
ers OF the marchers, had up to this
point been model of patience and
torbearance. Come what may, the Ma
tlonal Government must maintain its
authority over its own property in its
Boston Herald Cavalry at the White
House and tanks and machine guns in
the streets of Washington are not pleas
ant spectacleS, but it was evident that
the r1ffraf mob would not understand
| arguments any milder The onlv
criticism, If there is any, that lies
against the President is that he did not
act sooner"
Philadelphia Inquirer: "% the
disorders of yesterday are serious. and
the Government has acted properly in
taking them in hand at once.
1t would be futile to place the who'll
plane on this struggling army of home
less and hungry men. The agitators
| W6n hauo Y1aic1aI
| VINO have yielded to impossible de-
mands for fear of the consequences I'd
themselves-these are much more t0
| blame"
birmingham Age-Herald: "Bloodv
| collision between veterans and police
| IN Washington is surprising only be-
cause it has been SO long delayed
The truth is that the only way
| TO nave met the threat inherent in this
| opposition from the authorities when
the movement first took form.
There was never any excuse for this
attempt to frighten Congress into
granting the bonus by the sheer mass
| ing of petitioners.
Arkansas Democrat OittIe Rock)
That the veterans did not gather in
| washington on militant mission is
evidenced by the fact that so many
took their wives and children with
them. They believed they had the
right to wage peaceful war for q
cause they believed was right. Nor
| mally peaceful citizens, they unwittfng-
~ created a dangerous situation and a
climax
The majority are good Americans
| and as such should return to their
homes and use their ballots to win their
| victory"
Columbus (Ohio) Evening Dispatch
Only Moscow will view the
event with complacency Presi-
Gent Hoover was entirely within his
| right to insist that order be maintained
! and to lend the services of Army troops
to that end when the situation got be-
yond the power of local authorities to
control"
Chattanooga Times-"In the last
| analysis, the whole unfortunate incident
at Washington may be charged up to
the practice of Congressman in playing
politics with the bonus. 1t is a terrible
harvest the demagogues have caused
the country to reap. And the best way
for the country to profit by its lesson
it would be to keep these men at home"
Richmond Times Dispatch-"One
hesitates to criticize the President of
the United States in the critical situa-
ton in which he was placed In
retrospect, a stronger attitude on the
part of the President at the beginning
would have been more advisable. Now
he has to prove he holds the stronger
hand he might never have been called
upon to play"
Richmond News Leader-"Even the
habitual sentimentalists will find it diff
f1cult to make martyrs or heroes of the
men who were injured yesterday in
Washington, when official patience was
at last overtaxed and these trespassers
were at length elected from ground they
should never have been permitted to
occupy"
Memphis Evening Appeal-"The Incl
dent at Anacostia fats will become
tradition. AT a time when grubS Of
revolution and degenerative social uc-
heaval are gnawing at the very founda-
tions of the American governmental
order it may have a salutary effect.
Let those who dare assal the
basic structure of the American gov
ernmental system take heed"
Kansas City Star-"Of course the
constituted authorities could not permit
the marchers to defy the law
The politicians and others who en-
couraged the marchers have an added
responsibility, III view OF Ine nappSH-
ings in the National Capital. 1t is up
to these men and to all who have
any influence with the campers to CO.
operate with the Government to get
them TO their homes and to prevent
others from joining them"
San Francisco ChrOnicle-"Riot Is
riot, whoever does it and in whatever
the cause. And order must be order, If
civilized life is TO continue"
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