The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-10-23

L liz 1 AA4ACo tOOdy E4A44C SCFCI al i
BY Charles r. France.
I would like word in answer to
H. RS statement in regard to the
equality Of pay received during the
war for civilians and for soldiers
I am here to tell you that H. r
is right and I am taking a stand
that the civilian had the best of it
all the way around.
don't suppose this will be printed
because Mr.. Talcott Powell as edi-
tor may have it thrown out because
it does not conform with his views
on the soldiers bonus, as he ex-
pressed his stand several months
ago and he was against it tooth
and toe nail"
Mr.. Powell says that the average
wage was under 81 a day. He is
wrong, as almost any woman who
was working at that time received
81 a day or more and it is a cinch
the men made more than that.
Mr.. Powell also states that the
soldier had his 81 a day clear. It
is very plain that Mr.. Powell did
not serve in the war, or else he
stayed in the SOS, because if he
had been on the front, he would
know that we didn't have it as soft
as he would like people to believe.
The clothes we wore mostly were
ones we took off dead comrades, the
coffee so thin you could see through
1t two feet deep, and no sugar half
the time, and the milk in my coffee
would have scared me to death.
Stun? Yes, and for days nothing
else but slum.
Stun would not be SO bad if we
could have got enough of it but
never enough. Bread that had been
baked month or so in advance
no wonder they examined our teeth
SO often. Sleeping in mud shoe-top
deep, walking in the same mud
eating in it, despatched with it
from head to foot, seeing nothing
but mud for months on end, and
winter? Did the soldiers have a nice
warm fire to come to after hiking
in weather way below zero all day?
MOI We had to go to bed at 5 or 6
O'Clock to get warm. Did we have
nice warm room to go into to
eat our meals? No! We had to sit
down in snow two feet deep and
eat our chow.
If Mr.. Powell thinks we were get
ting something for nothing, he had
better change his mind and get
some facts.
I am not speaking for myself Gas
volunteered for it, but for the
boys that had to go, but I was
there.
Did a civilian have to go out and
dig bitches in a downpour of rain
or heavy snow? The soldier did
and many other things that were
disagreeable, while the civilian
could pick his job.
Now I am crippled up the same
as a lot of others are and now !
want to ask anybody if he thinks
our 81 a day was clear.
I have read The Times for sew
eral years and would not miss a
single edition if could help it and
1 think it is a fine newspaper and
stands for honesty, so let's be frank
and have honesty.
Who is ahead, the civilian or the
soldier?
BY W. $.
I read the article written by H. R.
in The Times, dated Oct II, and
saw your editors note. Just what
kind of a sap worked for less than
SIS a day? know, and you know,
too, that no one who worked during
the war received less than IS day.
My own brother, who was only Is,
did nothing but throw switches in
a coal mine and received S7.20 for
eight hours. and my brother in-law
made from SO to SIS day in the
mine.
l have some relatives who worked
on the St. Louis division of the Big
-Four railroad and most of their
checks were from SIPS to 5000 each
pay day. and I can produce many
people who received lots over your
less than 81 a day" The way the
government dished out money to
every one except the soldier would
make a sap of any one who worked
for less than & q dow
The soldier received $50 a month,
minus SIS for allotment, from S6.25
up for insurance. Just what do you
mean by cheap insurance and fam
lily allotment? My family received
a check for SIS which was taken
from my $50 and that was all. The
insurance paid for did me no good.
1 would have been better off with
out 1t. I got some mustard gas and
it. worked on my throat and nose
and different places on my body.
and 1 have arthritiS so bad I nearly
have fits in the winter.
And all this is caused from vad-
ing and sleeping in mud and water
during my twenty months overseas
service with the Twelfth F. A. Sec
ond division. But because I didn't
put in that twenty months in the
hospital. I can't get a cent COM
pensation. The railroads and all
big business received their large
cash bonus as soon as the war
ended, but the soldiers were and
are the goats. Call us treasury rob-
bers. If no one defrauded the gov
eminent out Of any more than the
ex-service men do, the treasury
wouldn't be empty. They have
So 300 100000 to give big business.
but not a cent for the men who
fought for this country.
I had a certificate for 1882. Re-
ceiyed S79l in 1881 and how much
will I have coming in Ie45 after
they take out interest on S7el at the
rate of 81 per cent compound? The
reason the legion says not TO pay
the bonus is because there isn't