Evening star., 1932-09-12
REPORT ASSA|LED
BY B. f. F. OFFICER
R. B. Ellison Calls Findings
Submitted by Mitchell
"a Political AIibi."

r. B. Ellison, national organizer OF
the Khaki Shirts of America and for
mer national contact oficer Of the
Bonus Expeditionary Force, replied in
scathing terms today to President Hoo
ver's issuance Of Attorney General
Mitchell's report on eviction Of the
bonus army
Terming it "a political alibi" Ellison
declared. the whitewash for the ad-
ministration Is mud for the bonus
army"
Ellison's statement follows in part
I'm reading the latest effort Of the
administration to justify its forcible
eviction of the bonus army from Wash
ington, one is first struck by the fact
that its release to the press and the
public is timed to coincide with the
opening OF the national convention o1
the American Legion, where President
Hoover and his henchmen must make
their last desperate bid to regain the
respect of the ex-service men Of the
country.
Like all previous administration
statements on the subject. the white
wash for the administration is mud for
the use Of force against unarmed and
helpless men. women and children by
laundering those against whom the force
was directed.
Admits Radicals Presence.
TT Is admitted that some Communists
perhaps less than l00-were in Wash
ington prior to and at the time of the
eviction. 1t is. perhaps, true that a
percentage Of these were not ex-service
men.
But they were not part of the
Bonus Expeditionary Force. Their
known members were not permitted TO
enter the camps OF the B. E. F.-whose
population was more than go times that
of the radical group-and those who
entered the camps and attempted TO
agitate were summarily elected.
"One Of the problems Of national
headquarters of the B. E. F. during the
entire stay Of the bonus army was TO
prevent its members from causing physl-
cal injury to such agitators.
"On the day before the eviction,
Walter W. Waters, commander OF the
B.. E. F.. had asked an administration
official to throw a Gordon about the
building occupied by the Communist
group so that trouble could be averted
during the evacuation. This request was
ignored.
The attempt to brand the bonus
army as a criminal organization, the
largest aggregation Of criminals that
had ever been assembled in the city at
one time falls fat by the Attorney
Generals own figures. 1t reveals that
226 per cent of 4.723 bonus marchers
from whom fingerprints were obtained
b. the Veterans Bureau had police
records.
1T Is not necessary TO attempt to
refute these records. The B. E. F. did
not ask the veterans whom it enrolled
II they had ever been arrested any
more than it asked what their religious
beliefs were 1t required only that they
give satisfactory proof OF honora Bile
service in the World War and that they
the law Of ther land. ."
Charges "Self- contradictions"
During the entire pericd that the
bonus army was In Washington only
34l members of the bonus army were
arrested for law violations
LAS to 'levying tribute and intimidat-
ing housewives reports of such ac-
tivities were occasionally received by
national headquarters and were in
vestigated by the intelligence depart
ment Of the B. E. F. In most instances
the reports were found to be without
foundation: in others IL was found that
those guilty were residents Of the Dis
trict of Columbia. not members OF the
bonus army, but taking advantage Of
the presence of the veterans to conduct
their racket
Ellison said observation-disclosures" ap-
peared in the Attorney Generals report.
THE attempt to disclaim RESPONSE
bility." the statement continued, for
the death of the child of Bernard
Myers. q bonus maroher. from malnutri-
ton. but hastened by gassing at Camp
Marks. is cruel. No post-mortem was
performed on the child to establish the
cause of death. and the statement that
gas thrown by the evicting troops did
not contribute to or hasten death was
based on a superficial examination by
an oficer Of the chemical warfare
service of the Army"