The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1933-05-18

Willie pioJCSI 1Oi CfCIy ISu-OiOooeo
Legionaire who has the welfare
of the boys at heart. The Ameri-
can Legion Junior baseball program
takes care of this question and it
is offered every live Legion post an
opportunity to give helpful guidance
to the growing boys at time when
it is most needed. Mr.. Melby in
closing urged the Legion posts to
grasp this opportunity for service
to young America.
National Committeeman, Earl v.
(PaD, Cliff, of Ortonville, was the
principal speaker of the evening.
He gave a fine address. Mr.. Cliff
declared that loyalty and service to
the disabled widow and orphan,
was the Legion's paramount duty
and obligation today, as it was in
the beginning, and that it mattered
not what the American Legion ac-
complish if they failed now in this
loyalty and service to their COM
rades who were wounded and dis
abled in the military or naval SER
vice the organization had failed.
In a review of the past Mr.. Cliff
gave the following, figures:
During the World War there
were 100000 admittances to hos
pitfalls, and on Armistice Day, 1918,
the base hospitals in France con-
tanned 10000 sick and wounded
soldiers. In this country there were
131, 900 patients in the Army gen.
eral hospital, and $1,000 patients in
Naval hospitals making a total of
$4,000 men.
BY December 81, 1919, deaths on
the battle field and from wounds
and sickness contracted in the ser
vice, totalled 124,250. OF this num-
Der 70,972, or nearly three-f1fths of
the total, died from disease and &C
cidents in war service, demonstrat-
ing at that early date, that death
from service, injury and disease
greatly exceeded actual death in
battle.
The Federal government had
practically no facilities for the
proper care of this vast number of
sick and wounded soldiers. Our
facilities were decentralized. There
was no common agency for. unified
control and immediate and direct
action essential to save the lives
of those unfortunate comrades. The
American Legion Immediately
drafted and secured the enactment
of legislation unifying the various
agencies of our Federal govern
ment to meet the crisis. A well
developed and efficient plan was in
full operation in 1921 and from
time to time as the need required,
the Legion secured the enactment
of further legislation until it was
truthfully said that our country
was giving to our sick wounded
and disabled comrades, care and
treatment commensurate to the
wishes of a grateful nation.
Legislation for fair and just COM
pensation was also secured for
these comrades, although it is re-
gretfully admitted that maladmin-
istration of veterans affairs by
government officials has resulted
in very unfair treatment to the
deserving.
The American Legion has consis-
tently followed the principal that
those wounded, sick or disabled by
reason of their military or naval
service should receive fair and just
compensation. Today we have no
apologies to offer for any legisla-
ton drafted and proposed by the
American Legion.
March 20. 1888, a law known as
an act to maintain the credit of the
United States government was en-
acted, the restrictive provisions of
this bill were rushed through Con-