Evening star., 1933-02-19

veterans. 1ne Quiet Is 10 tedVe LHe
! number of dollars paid the veterans
the same as it is, but to reduce the
: value Of each dollar. This second way
is, as every one must by now realize
imitation of the currency
Let us consider the first way out, re-
ducing the number of dollars paid to
veterans This is the thing which Con-
gress apparently will not do.
In the House are 435 members 1t is
doubtful if one out of ten is willing to
go on record with a vote in public
roll call to reduce compensation to vet
Grams. One would be safe in betting
money that not two out of ten woulo
be willing All these members will be
up for denomination and reelection
during a period beginning a little more
than a wear from now. They-a great
majority of them-simply will not run
the risk of bringing on their heads the
opposition Of veterans and veterans
| relatives, and veterans friends, and
veterans organizations.
In the great war were upward of
100000 veterans. In any national
election the total OF votes cast Is under
10000, 900. That is to say, the veterans
are 10 per cent of the electorate. Vet
erans' wives or other relatives are not
only another 10 per cent, but probably
the veterans in an average Congress
district may readily be as high as 80 PEI
cent of the whole. And the veterans
vote is organized, knows exactly what
it wants and how to get it. Very few
Representatives in Congress are willing
to incur the displeasure of the vet
erans.
With the Senate it Is much the same,
except that Senators have terms six
years long and therefore do not on
the average come up for reelection so
soon. But the Senate is almost as
much in fear of the veterans as the
House. In the Senate few weeks ago
Mr.. Tydings of Maryland addressed
himself to Senator after Senator, DEM
ocratic and Republican, asking, in ef-
feet, are you willing to introduce
| bill reducing veterans compensation?
He found just one Senator willing to
| say he would. That was Mr.. Smoot
of Utah. Upon Senator Smoot's declara-
ton of willingness to be the martyr it
was pointed out that he Is one of the
few Senators with nothing to lose, be-
cause he comes to the end Of his service
the 4th of next month
! 1t is needless to prove all this. The
proof was laid before the country vivid
ly and spectacularly one day last week
| Wy opCdhC1 1dl tlSI VI tllC 11OuSC. Nl1 :
Garner, out of caution perhaps, did not
use the word veterans" But every one
knew what Mr.. Garner meant when
he said that Congress has shown itself
unwilling to make those reductions In
Government expenditures which are in
dispensable to balance the budget. The
principal motive and almost the whole
of the motive of the proposal that Con-
gress give to Mr.. Roosevelt as soon as
he becomes President grant of power
not unreasonably described as "dicta-
toriar' was the wish of Congress to
avoid going on record with vote upon
reducing veterans compensation.
Congress Prefers Imitation.
The easier way out of the dilemma
Of veterans compensation is to con-
tinue to give the veteran the same
number of dollars, but to reduce the
value of each dollar. This is the way
that Congress would prefer. BY this
way reduction of compensation to the
veterans can be concealed from the
veteran. If his pension is S100 a month
he will continue to get 500, but each
dollar will be reduced to 5o-cent piece
The veteran will be no better of, of
course, with 100 50-cent pieces than he
! would be with a Straightforward cut
In his compensation from S100 to $50
The allurement of imitation of the cur
rency is in large part that it fools the
people
The veterans insist upon being the
one class OF persons in the whole coun-
try who shall suffer no cut in income as
result of this depression They can
no more manage to escape than the
creditor Of a farmer can expect to COL
lect the full amount of his mortgage.
They can no more escape the common
lot than any of the rest Of us. They can
fool themselves and be fooled by Con-
gress as respects the method of cutting
their compensation. But the cut they
are sure to have. Either they must ac-
cept a straightforward cut of, for ex-
ample, 500 a month down to $50 or
$50, or $40, or what not; or they must
| accept cut coming in the form of in
f1ation OF the currency.
About the extent of a cut achieved
through imitation of the currency no.
body can tell. The essential vice Of in
f1ation Is that once begun it is almost
impossible to end. In Germany, inf1a-
ton of the currency carried the value
of the mark from "a cents down to
nothing. In France imitation of the
currency carried the value of the franc
down from upward of 20 cents to about
cents.
Pretty soon now we shall know the
answer. President-to-be Roosevelt has
announced that he will bring about a
reduction of 25 per cent in the expendi-
lures OF government. That means,
| among other things, a reduction of vet
Grams compensation by at least rs per
cent. 1t may not mean a reduction of
25 per cent in the compensation of each
and every veteran. One of the proposals
for reducing the total Of veterans COM
pensation is to remove from the pen
sion rolls entirely that whole class OF
veterans whose disability arose in civil
life long after the war had ended.
However it be done, If Mr.. Roosevelt
as President and as party leader brings
about reduction Of 25 per cent in Gov
ernment expenditures, the budget will
be balanced, We shall be on solid
ground, and the country will start of
again with the value Of the dollar ap-
proximately what it now is. If, how
ever, Mr.. Roosevelt finds it impossible
to make such a reduction in Govern
ment expenditures, if the Government
goes on year after year paying out more
money than it takes in, if the Govern
ment continues to borrow money to pay
the deficits, the end of that sequence
must be imitation Of the currency.