Evening star., 1932-11-28

compromise was necessary II the meas
ure was not to be repassed over the
veto 1t was at this juncture that ad-
| ministration leaders brought forward
the now famous compromise, the dis
! ability allowance measure, (which was
nothing but an invalid pension bill in
thin disguise 1t offered an allowance
/ to any World War veteran disabled to
the extent of 25 per cent or more with
in the previous year he did not earn
enough to pay an income tax.
| Costing less than s15,000,000 the
! first year, it was yet a dear bargain.
| This year, as stated the cost is S104,s
I 100000. Future increase will not be
| so rapid as all the men eligible at the
time of the acts passage presumably
| soon will have found their way on the
rolls. 1t will be rapid enough. how
ever, for World War veterans now are
nearing the age of 40, a time of life
when heart and kidneys begin to show
| signs of wear and the disability rate
mounts apace. Ten years from now,
by actuarial estimate, about l,250,000
will be on the rolls for ailments of no
| claimed relation to war service, num-
Der nearly four times the roll Of those
now drawing compensation for dis
/ actually oAtClly Vi III
| directly, to their part in the war.
| The original compensation and
veterans insurance laws, enacted dur
ing and Immediately following the war,
| were intended to c0nfine monetary
| BENEFITS to the actual war-disabled, and
/ this principle was adhered to in sub
sequent iberalizing enactments, up to
that OF 1880. 1t was the hope of the
Warld War administration to make a
| clean break with the past and avoia,
| with respect to this last and greatest
/ war, the long sequence of yote-buying
pension bills that had been the dis
| graceful and corrupting aftermath OF
etery ether.
Taint on Politics,
When the administration compro-
missed with principle in the act Of 1880,
| us cynlclSm, dictated though it was by
the necessities Of the moment, laid a
talnt even on future generations 1t
| Is inevitable in human nature that the
l,250,O00 pensioners who will be on the
rolls IN 1912 will lend their votes to
those Congressman who show a will
lngness to favor larger and yet larger
pension benefits. Every year and nearly
| every lberalizing law will bring an
increase in the numbers OF this cone
| slVe voting group. anp with sach in
4 crease will come grtwth of its effec-
tlveness to swing any close election
= Unless new line is drawn, history
makes certain this pension group, un-
scathed by their war service. will color
american politics for another 40 years.
| The peak OF the G. A RS political in
nuesce did not come until the turn of
/ the present century.
The numerical peak'of Civil War vet
~Tans drawing pensions arrived in 1898,
| whes three-fourths Of the survivors of
I that war were on the rolls. But the
| number Of pensioned widows-Who in
cidentaRy, did not then have the vote
! continuvi to increase until 1912. The
| peak OF Civil War pensions from the
| standpoint of cost was passed nearly a
/ decade ago, but the ultimate increase
in the pension rate did not come until
1890. which. significantly, was con-
! gressional election year.
] What is n3W demanded by the or
ganizatlcns seeking economies in Vet
erans Bureau expenditures is that Con-
greSS turn back the clock and undo
the compromise" which already has
started World War veterans on the old
| familiar pension route.
1t is demanded the rule be laid down
once and for all that postwar compen-
sation for war services shall be limited
| to those who suffered loss Of earning
power through wounds or other war;
borne causes and to immediate depend
ents Of those who gave their lives.
Civil War Veterans Exempt.
Out Of respect for the old gentlemen
in blue who march on Memorial day
veterans of the Civil War are exempt
from this program. But Spanish Wal
veterans, by application of the formula
are asked to take cut of Sl09, 900 .00t
to Sl13 600 900 in their pension allow.
ence This would reduce the number
OF Spanish War pensioners from 225 ,00t
10 l,6SS
Further ss>>.Sscation Of the formuls
js -,ade 10 the RODS War veterans VINE