Montana labor news., 1932-10-20
SEC. PAT HURLEY SCORED FOR
FALSE STATEMENTS.

A large number OF American pe0-
pie are puzzled over who is telling
the truth about the eviction of the
Bonus Expeditionary Force by fed
eral troops, under the direction of
President Hoover.
Wholly aside from the merits or
dement's of the question as to how
and when and to whom the bonus
should be paid, there is another
issue: whether the people can de-
pend upon statements regarding pub
lie affairs made to them by the
president and cabinet officers. Also,
whether progressive movements shall
be crushed by armed force upon the
false charge that such movements
are revolutionary Bolshevism."
Therefore, l believe members of
this league who desire to know the
underlying facts of the "Battle of
A~nacostia" and Camp Glassford will
find a valuable piece of evidence in
the enclosed letter written by Mr..
Herbert S. Ward, an attorney for
the B. E. F., to Secretary of War
Patrick Jay Hurley which shows the
entire falsity of many claims by the
administration.
Mr.. Ward served as master en-
gineer for the U. S. A. in France
during the World war and has held
several positions under the govern
ment since; is now in private prac-
tice and has been attorney for this
league for the past two years in its
battle with the power trust. He is
a Republican and a Progressive, a
mar Of integrity and ability. Sec
rotary Hurley has never replied to
his letter.
Too much praise cannot be given
to General Glassford, Washington
chief of police, in firmly insisting
on telling the truth about this whole
episode, thus endangering his posi-
ton when his testimony directly
c~ontroverted the public statements of
the president, the secretary of war,
General Macarthur, and all the rest
of them. Glassford is a real Amer
lean.
Another point. The nation was
told that it was necessary to eject
the bonus boys encamped at Camp
Glassford on Pennsylvania avenue
Immediately in order to permit the
governments building program to
go forward, and relieve unemploy-
ment. Nearly every night as / drive
up Pennsylvania avenue on my way
home | pass Camp Glassford. There
| behold some buildings still stand
ing, in one Of which is located a
good-sized garage, in another an
undertaking establishment, and on
the orner a large gas station, all in
full operation nearly two months
after the eviction, while less than a
dozen men are seen at work clearing
the wreckage of Camp Glassford.
My own opinion, conservatively x
pressed, is this: The sudden, unex-
pected attack was unwarranted and
unnecessary. The driving of these
homeless, defenseless, hungry bonus
boys and their women and children
into the roads Of the world in the
night was an inhuman and ~dastardly
act.
Herbert S. Ward, Attorney at Law
Investment Bldg, Washington, ID. c..
August 81, 1882.
Hon. Patrick ]. Hurley,
Secretary of War,
Washington, ID. G.
My dear Mr.. Secretary:
Some time ago | was surprised
by General McArthur's published
statements that the Bonus Expedi-
tionary Forces, under command Of
Walter w. Waters, was a national
menace; that it was composed of
men, a majority of whom were not
veterans, but were in fact Com
munists; that the Hoover Declara-
ton Of War averted a national
catastrophe, and that Camp Marks
was fired by the Bonus Expedition
airy Forces and not by the soldiers
under his command.
Later, l was staggered to see
that you had also repeated these
statements and now that Assistant
Secretary Dawson has had the
temerity to use them in his cam
paign, in an attempt to vilify the
Bonus Expeditionary Forces, | feel
fully justified in recalling to you
the following from our interview