Milford chronicle., 1934-03-16

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quoted by Edward A. Hayes, nationa
commander of the American Legion
in Milford, Wednesday. to show wha
he said was an imperative need Il
lift the problem of care for dis
abled veterans out of politics.
The national commander wai
guest of honor and speaker at &
dinner meeting in the Community
Building.
There is no political considera'
tiOn on the part of your pauona
commander i'm advocating iuatAse .fol
the disabled" he said. You gave
me certain orders i'm the national
convention at Chicago and you gave
them to yourselves as WE'LL" he as
serted to the Legionnaires present
He said that if the people who
. are trying to tell about veterans
costs would drop Misrepresentation
and give a true estimate of what
the American Legion advocates, the
country would know that 1t would
be less than what any of the other
major countries spent In the care
of their war disabled.
We cannot turn our backs on the
disabled" he said, 'just because of
the misleading and false statements
by the organized opposition. which
includes the $4,000 a year director
Of the National Economy League,
and Gen. Frank r. Hines, admins
traitor of veterans affairs"
The national commander said the
usual false conclusion Is based up
on figures that represent money and
the disabled. and when the figures
are wrong. the conclusion invariably
is unfair He cited recent in
stance of a woman writer processing
to show that the money expended
by the United States on behald of
World War veterans is more than
that spent by France. Germany and
the United Kingdom.
''The fault here lies in the fact
that this woman writer either inten
tiOnally or ignOrantly included all
the pensions of every war in which
the United States has ever fought,
in the total as that being expended
OH World War veterans. alone. II
is typical of the many errors and
false conclusions" he said.
Mr.. Hayes said the Legion will
continue to seek restoration by
legislation, not regulation, of bene-
fits taken away from service con-
nected disabled veterans under the
Economy Act
''lf anyone thinks there is any
politics involved in the subject of
taking care of our cOuntry's disabled
veterans, advise him to read this
statement in the Congressional Rec
ord of January 81. quoting Mrs. lsa-
sbeila Greenway, congresswoman
from Arizona who incidentally was
bridesmaid at the wedding OF the
President of the United States.
Mrs. Greenway, in the House of
Representatives, said that II you
ask 80 people out of 100 whom you
have heard discussing veterans
problems, you will find they have
never taken the trouble to get
statistic, to study il, to learn ii. or
tU cross the thre shOld OF hospital"
"'They say" lie quoted the con-
gresswOman. do you believe that a
man Knocked down by a street car
should receive so much from Uncle
Sam because that man once served
In q camp in this country and never
went overseas?
who believes that man shOuld""
the National Commanded continued
to quote Mrs. Grcenway. Nobody
things of that type of jargOn as
anything but nonsense and wasting
the time OF intelligent people. We
II. In nr ss.tnh ~
ments.
Every one of MS here knew that
this country had TO exercise ma
jOr economies in relation TO vet
Grams; and the tragedy and the glory
of last March was that the veterans
receiving under $50 and under $40
a month on which to live. squared
their shoulders and said: This
country is facing ruin. II other
people can take Il 25 per cent cut.
we Will. We will show our patriot
ism today with glory and support
this administration" and they did
And they were right.
1.-The answer to this Is we made
a mistake. not a major mistake, in
that the policy of economy had to
be; but we have not admitted that
we made a mistake nor have we
honestly and without party lines
fried cOnstructively to put to the
the truth with the
kind of unanimous backing and
sober thOughtfulness that would get
an attentive ear. We have prac-
Iced eXpediency. and political eX-
pediency. with veterans.
81 feel that this IL not a matter
Of party lines or party expeuiency.
We go into wars. This is not the
occasion TO discuss whether we
should or whether we always will,
but we have, and we may. A policy
should be established by those of
Us who are here with high purpose
BY which our veterans can be lift
ID once and for all time out of poll
les and be cared for In the digni- |
led way that | believe the citnzens
II the United States wish TO have
hem cared for T.
The national commander. referred /
o recent letter sent TO United 5
states Senator's by the Economy l
league director and TO statement
ssued by Gen. Hines giving er- o
0neOus estimates as TO the cost !
Il the LegiOn's -four point program, c
which he said. would establish for I
II time a policy fair and inst both q
o the veterans and TO the govern I
nent. and would take ont OF future 6
'olitics the problem OF vetefans' c
fairs. v
''The Legion program" he assert v
d.. lis admitted by all who have II
ivan A careful sflIhY I'm the lighl n