The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-11-17
A Square Deal for Ex-Seruicen1en Demanded
In the Var Veterans Three Point PROGRAM

vain effort to make them forget i'm
mediate payment. Even that staunch
friend" Of the vet, Representative
Patman, let the bonus" resolution
die without fight in the sub-com-
mittee report at the Chicago Con-
yention of the Legion. At the Miami
convention, he was again active for
very good reasons. His state, Texas,
has one Of the largest groups OF
vets in the country and one needs
their votes to stay in Congress. Since
the currency is to be inflated, any
way, why not be an infiationist.
This, and the strong demand Of the
rank and file, is what produced the
bonus" victory at the Miami con-
vention. As far as the leadership
goes, it was mere gesture. For
already, Commander Belgrano is
stalling. He recently stated I'VE
passed many resolutions. none
should take pre- -eminence." This
simply means that the rank and
file must be on the alert, or they
will be faced with a phoney COM
promise. In fact, compromises are
already the order of the day. One
of these is the elimination of all
interest charges on the balance due
in 1945 instead Of cash payment.
Another is the installment idea.
This bright idea is coupled with the
question Of relief. Those on relief
will be dropped. The bonus" issued
to them in monthly allotments OF
$40, SIS, or what have you. In
other words, the vet who needs an
overcoat, suit, etc, will be no bet
ter off than he was before, since
decent suits costs a. least S35, how
is he to keep family, pay rent,
eat and clothe himself on $40
month. This is less than he gets
(if he is lucky for relief. If he
cannot get along on the misery
relief how will he get along on an
equally stingy allotment from his
bonus" He won't. And the rank
and file Of the Legion know this,
that is why they demanded imme-
diate cash payment without interest
charges and other strings attached.
These compromises are not openly
opposed by the leadership of the
VIEW. and American Legion. Yet,
Mr.. Paisley makes no reference to
any of these maneuvers.
The bonus" Is in the bag! But,
every effort must be made between
now and January to see that the
mo. l Men" do not betray our
cause as in the past. When Mr..
Paisley evades the fight of the rank
and file to praise the mo. l Men"
he does this to keep the public
from knowing that the rank and
file are growing in power every day.
The public must be given the cor
rect" impression. Too much credit
to the mob" that stormed Wash
ington in 1882 would be out of place.
This would take the power from
the leaders. and under capitalism
leader without power is a fish out
of water. That the rank and file
are the main force in the drive for
the bonus" Mr.. Paisley knows full
we'll. But he also has job to keep
and so 1t is better to be an i'm
partial" reporter.
Silent on Convention
1T ALSO goes without saying that
Mr.. Paisley makes no reference to
the Convention of the Rank and
File held in Washington last Spring,
where members of the American
Legion, VIEW, DA.V., Spanish War
Vets, Workers Ex-Servicemen's
League and unattached vets laid
down and adopted the now famous
three point program. This not only
demands full and immediate cash
payment of the bonus" but also
demands the repeal Of the Economy
Act end passage of the Workers
! Unemployment and cocial Insur-