Evening star., 1935-01-27
Continued From First Page.)

! \ AOhA = ASb NS~'1
had been taken from shop and desk
and farm, had suffered severe flnan-
| cial loss by reason of their service
to their country in time of war and
that they should be compensated in
cash for this loss.
Veteran Exploited.
Thus began the exploitation Of the
veteran for the benefit of the lobbyist
and politician at the expense of the
taxpayer-a process which caused the
pension scandals after the Civil War
and is still going on.
A bonus bill was passed over the veto
of President Coolidge. This bonus has
| recently been termed contract obli-
CATION. Here are its terms:
Every veteran was by the terms OF
the adjusted compensation act allowed
a service credit of 81 day for home
service and SIPS a day for overseas
service. To this amount was added a
fiat 25 per cent to cover interest from
the end of the war to the date of the
legislation.
So in 1925 we find our veterans in
possession of 20-year endowment in
surance policies, maturing 20 years
from the date on which the certificates
were issued. 1t was agreed by the ad-
vocates of this measure that the
adjusted compensation would be in
lieu of a service pension. 1t was not a
bonus.
Shortly after the issuance Of these
certificates came agitation for the i'm
mediate payment at face value. In
1881 Congress passed q compromise
measure whereby veterans could bor-
row up to so per cent Of the face value
of their certificates.
More Demands Come.
Then more pressing demands for
immediate payment were made. One
large veterans organization ofhcially
called for immediate payment OF the
face value of the bonus certificate, and
also demanded that interest on loans
already made should be Cancelled. The
essence Of the 40 bills laid before Con-
gress this month is that the Govern
ment should advance to the veterans
money which under the financing plan
of the act of 1924 would not have been
earned by compound interest before
1945. Proposed veterans legislation is
in effect an out-and-out gift of more
money than was contemplated in the
agreement.
This gift is not on the basis of
need in these needy times. The ON
cial publication of the largest and
most powerful organization Of ex-
service men recently stated that its
men are insured for an average of
more than $4,000, and that "a per
cent Of them own their own automo-
biles. A spokesman of the same Or
ganization stated that less than 10
per cent of his society's membership
had ever received compensation on
account of service disabilities. Since
the death of the veteran natures the
compensation certificate now held, his
widow and children receive the face
value of the certificate, less the
amount borrowed against 1t. They are
cared for
But the bonus situation has ceased
to be a purely veteran issue, judged
only upon lIlC uCCOo Va NCeCAoAo' ~
has gone beyond that to become the
tool of infiationists who see 1t as an
opening wedge in their program.
Vicious Cycle.
Payment of the bonus would have
to be made by the issuance Of fiat
money or bonds would have to be sold.
Here the vicious cycle of imitation can
we'll begin, bringing chaos and direct
loss to the really deserving ex-service
men. To disabled veterans and de-
pendents of the men killed In battle
imitation means impairment of the
purchasing power of the fixed in
comes which their Government justly
pays to them.
Strong as these immediate reasons
against bonus sentiment are, they fade
into insignificance when compared to
the shadow they cast. The shadow
points up the trail to the promised
land where there Is a pension for
every veteran and dependent of vet
eran. A promised land which veterans
of prior wars sought and found.
Glance back to the pension ordeals