Evening star., 1933-10-03
Veterans Conversations.

Veterans Compensations.
President Roosevelt has defined to
the American Legion and to the Amer
ican people his conception Of the re-
sponsibility of the Government and OF
the people to the men who served the
Nation In time of war. He has laid
down the principle that the most gen.
erous treatment should be accorded to
disabled veterans whose injuries or
diseases grew out of their war service,
and to their dependents. Surely no
American will differ with the President
He has also laid down the principle
that man Is not entitled to compen-
cation from the Government merely
because he wore the uniform of his
country during war, for disabilities that
developed after he left the service and
that cannot be traced in any way to
that service. Here the President and
those who are demanding all kinds of
concessions for veterans may part COM
pany. Indeed, they have already parted
company, and did so when the Presi-
dent demanded the passage of the So
called economy act at the last session
of Congress.
The contention of the President is
that veterans with non-service- connect
ed disabilities must be regarded as any
other disabled .citizen of the United
States. must pay for treatment of ills
out OF private funds or must be cared
for by the community or the State be-
fore an appeal is made to the Federal
Government for aid. There can be no
just dispute with the President over this
matter, particularly If the principle that
every citizen owes his country service
In time of war Is first accepted.
The passage Of the economy act,
which was designed to remove from the
compensation rolls thousands of vet
erans with non-service connected disa-
bilities. aroused widespread resentment
last Spring. Congressman who espe-
cially ranked themselves as friends OF
the veterans and Of the American Le-
gion and other organizations of vet
Grams denounced in bitter terms the
provisions of the act. They sought in
many ways to break down the principle
that only war-service-conn disa-
bilities were to be compensated. Their
effort was to keep all the hundreds of
thousands Of veterans on the compensa-
ton rolls, even If they had to sacrifice
portion of their compensation. The
President, however, succeeded in having
the measure passed. When weeks later
1t came time to put through the appro-
priation bill carrying the items for vet
erans' compensation, the attack upon
the economy act and its principle that
compensation should go only to those
disabled whose injuries and diseases
grew out of war service was redoubled
The President again won the victory,
although provision was made for a re-
view by special boards of all so-called
presumptive cases before the veterans
were finally dropped from the compen-
sation rolls.
No one doubts that the struggle will
be renewed when the Congress meets
again. Isolated cases of injustice, due
to faulty administration Of the law, ir
all probability will be waved like rec
flags before members of Congress, some
Of whom have dread of reprisals by
the so-called veterans vote in their dis
tricts and States. But, also. no one will
doubt that the President will stand by
the principle which he SO clearly
enunciated in his address yesterday be-
fore the American Legion Convention
and which he has steadfastly main.
tanned in the past.
The President courageously and
bluntly told the veterans assembled in
Chicago that it was their patriotic duty
to sustain the principles Of veterans
compensation which he had laid down
Not because he had enunciated these
principles, but because the principle.
were just. To throw the Federal Treas
ury open to raids for veterans com.
pensation, he pointed out, was to de.
stroy the credit of the National Gov
ernment and in the end the credit o1
the American people The country will
applaud the Presidents courage anc
plain speaking and it will back him ir
his determination to see that compensa.
tion goes to men whose disabilities grew
oft of war service