The Washington times., 1932-06-23
SOLDIERS CITE
FEDERAL AID
To BANKERS
congress, White House Can't
Hear U.s." They Say, "But
Listen in November"
BY ELSIE ROBINSON
Noted Author Of "Listen World"
Newspaper Column

This is an open letter.
It is written in reply to
hundreds of letters arriving
daily concerning the bonus
Nine out of ten of
those letters are friendly. But
the unfriendly writer's are
equally sincere and their ques-
tions are important.
what right" say they, "have
these men to march? They
have already received half their
bonus and agreed to wait for
the rest until 1945. Why don't
they keep their bargain? This
march isn't fair. They are for
getting the other unemployed.
They think only Of themselves
and are trying to take advan-
tage of their country in her
darkest hour"
B. E. F. ANSWERS
Here is the answer Of the
B. E. F. to these comments:
eyes, we made a bargain. We
made it when we were already
up against it. Most of-us had
been up against it (since we
came back from the var. You
know the promise that was
made us before We went-tO
give our jobs back when we re-
turned. And you know what
really happened. Our positions
were filled by the families and
friends of those who stayed be-
hind.
"WelI, that was that. We
struggled on. Things got fierce.
We went to our convention to
ask for our bonus. And Presi-
dent Hoover appealed to our
patriotism. He said it would be
dislOyaI to take all our bonus
then. said If we'd wait he'd
guarantee times would change.
So we agreed to take half.
BAD TO WORSE
But nothing was done. Things
went from bad to worse. BY
the middle of last summer every
man was broke. Most of us
starving. No jobs anywhere.
The President knew it-but he
wouldn't even call an extra
session Of Congress.
THAT'S WHY WE'RE HERE.
WE'D HAVE KEPT FAITH
WITH HIM IF HE HAD KEPT
FAITH WITH US. WE'VE
COME BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T
ANY OTHER PLACE TO GO.
I'VE don't really prefer to
cash our certificates now. We'd
rather have jobs and keep our
certificates for a stake later,
But what can we do? Where
are the jobs?
And now they call us bulIies
and traitOrS-say we're trying
to hold up the country. Look
at the way they've treated us,
Refused us shelter and food.
Pretended we were Reds. Cir.
culated stories that we had
dynamite. Refused to let us
march past the White House.
BANKERS GET HELP
go up town. Look 2, the
best hotels. They're full of
bankers and railroad men
whO've come to ask help from
the Government AND ARE
GETTING 1T. Nobody calls
them traitors. Nobody saws
they're holding up the country,
"ThOSe men in normal times
wouldn't have any right to ask
Federal aid. But this is an
emergency. Everyone under.
stands that-abOut them. Why
can't they understand it about
us?,
"TF RAILROADS SHOULD
BE KEPT GOING, SHOULD
CITIZENS? WHO HAS THE
BETTER RIGHT TO ASK FOR
HELP-THEY OR WEI"
"NOw they're trying to make
people believe that we're leav.
ing because the bonus bill was
killed.
HERE TO STAY
ut isn't true. We're not
leaving. We're here to stay
and thousands more are joining
us.
"AND WE AREN'T SITTING
IDLE. THERE is ONE THING
OUR ENEMIES HAVE FOR
GOTTEN. WE'VE LOST OUR
HOMES AND OUR JOBS AND
OUR FOOD AND OUR
CLOTHES-BUT WE HAVEN'T
LOST OUR VOTES. WE
AREN'T MEN WITHOUT A
COUNTRY. WE SAVED THIS
COUNTRY. WE'VE A VOICE
IN RUNNING THIS COUN.
TRY. AND NOVEMBER'S
COMING. THEY WON'T HEAR
US IN CONGRESS OR THE
WHITE HOUSE, BUT THEY'LL
HAVE TO HEAR US AT THE
POLLS.
There's an honest answer to
an honest question. Consider
1t well, stranger. You're read
ing history.