Evening star., 1932-09-12

|
Military aIflHsi 'A"ofi ofienses. % "
mi.c. Ss:sEs,Sn; iIs nsa1s etc. z Z : g
Nercotic drug laws IL 10
Onenses against the
family and chill
sss0e1ik Sex oisenses lex: 's ~ 80 "
Suspicion and in .o ..
I've ysss,sis.tl0n A. and motor es ~ IL
vehicle laws.
Totals .......... 1909 20 220 $40
Total number of bonus marchers Tex
service ~, men, !, M. upon whom hnserprints 7as
Number Of bonus marchers with police
, records as found from, fnserprints., 1oes
Total number Of bonus marchers
found to have one or more .,o
pereentase Of marehers convict
ed to number having police 10 O mar csrt
Percentage Of bonus marchers
having convictions TO total
were searched .....-.'.....E l7.4 per cent
lied that the men who applied for loans
had one prior conviction for some Of
fense 40 had two prior convictions. 2S
had three prior convictions and 26 had
more than three prior convictions. Dis
positions of all arrests were not obtain
able.
Il am submitting also with this re-
port, as Exhibit "A detailed alpha
beticai list of each one OF the l,069
men out Of the 4723 borrowers who
have police records. giving In detail the
time and place of their arrests or con-
victions 1t will be noted that many of
them had been repeatedly convicted
under various names When 1t Is real
been assembled in the city at any one
to 90 home after Congress sdjourned
were the most sensible and the least
disorderly, that many with criminal
records no doubt refrsined from dis
closing their identity for any purpose,
and a considerable portion OF the
bonus army were not eX-SerVlce men
and included Communists, radicals and
disorderly elements which always con-
gregate under such conditions. 1t is
! probable the bonus army brought into
the city of Washington the largest ag-
gregation of criminals that had ever
been assembled in the city at any one
| time.
Communists Active.
bonus march was initiated. and as early
as May. 1882, the Communist party
undertook an organized campaign TO
foment the movement, and induced
radicals to join the marchers to Wash
| ington. AS early as the edition Of May
81. 1882, the Daily Worker, publica-
| ton which Is the central organ Of the
Communist party in the United States.
urged worker veteran delegations to 60
to Washington on June 8. Under date
Of June /, Emanuel Levin. alias Her
man Levin. managing editor of the
Daily Worker, with long police record
| for Red activities and rioting, arrived
in the city. He then contended that
the bonus march had been largely
planned in the headquarters of the
Workers Ex-Service Mems League, a
Communist organization with head
quarters in New York City. Another
/ Communist leader present in Washing
ton was John T. Pace, who led large
contingent OF bonus marcherS to Wash
tngton, and in demonstration on July
rs, 1882, near the White House he was
arrested by the Washington police Pace
was elected field marshal of the Detroit
bonus marcherS. James W. Ford, coll
| ored. now candidate for Vice President
on the national ticket Of the Commu-
mist party. was one Of the bonus march,
ers arrested on July 20. Clair Cowan.
another Communist leader, led a con-
tingent of bonus marchers I. ON Cleve-
:
CoWan himself was intercepted and ar
rested at Pittsburgh on June 8 and did
not reach Washington. Another leader
OF the radical element among the bonus
marchers was Walter F. Flicker He
was arrested on July 81 and again on
July Is by the Washington police. An
other leader Of the demonstration made
by bonus marchers on July Is at the
White House was Sylvester @. McKin-
ney Communist organizer with q
police record for Communist activity.
One Of the bonus camps-tlat within
Twelfth and Fourteenth and B and C
streets southwest-was occupied princi-
pally by Communists headed by Pace.
Possession Of this Government property
had been seized and occupied by these
marchers without any authority. Dur
ing June and July, while the bonus
army was present, Communist meetings
were held in this city frequently. The
fles OF this department contain volumi-
nous reports Of these meetings. at many
of which incendiary speeches and plans
to stir the bonus army to violence and
bloodshed were made. During the vari-
GUS disorders, including the final riot,
persons identified as radicals and Com
munistS were observed among the dis
turbers. There is irrefutable proof that
very large body OF Communists and
radicals, some ex-service men and some
not, were in the city as part of the
bonus army, circulating among them
and working diligently to incite them
to disorder
I'D The investigations we have con-
Quoted have demonstrated that a very
much larger proportion OF the bonus
army than was realized at the time
consisted of ex-conv;cts, persons with
criminal records. radicals and non-
service men. On the other hand. very
considerable number were genuine ex-
service men OF good intentions and clean
records. This Is particularly true of the
conditions prior to the adjournment OF
Congress and before the exodus Of those
who realized that they had no further
justification for remaining in the city
Some Of their leaders were decent and
law-abiding and others were not.
Bettere Elements Left.
"3. Further conditions prior to the
rioting:
After the adjournment Of Congress
the quality of the men in the bonus army
steadily deteriorated. With Congress
gone, no possible excuse existed for re-
naming in the city. No one here had
authority to grant their demands
Many of the better elements left, but
small groups Of troublemakers augment
ed the forces. The army was repeatedly
asked to disbapd and vacate Govern
ment property, but refused. 1t circu-
lated around the city individually and
in small groups and even in large bodies
asking or demanding money and sup
plies. Many reports have been received
that they practically levied tribute ON
small merchants and intimidateC house
wives when their demands were refused.
Some of them boarded running boards
of cars driven by women and were dis
agreeable and insulting. 1t was quite
impossible for such a body of men to
be in the city without violating variety
of laws and ordinances. They were liv-
ing in partly dismantled buildings which
they had seized and on vacant tracts
in shacks constructed of debris. It was
innnossible that the conditions could