Evening star., 1935-05-23
The Welfare of the Nation.

4HS w G1IdlC VI IuC NdGlOlks
Those who seek the unvarnished
facts as to reasons why the bonus bill
should not be enacted into law will
find them in the Presidents excep-
tionally fine message to the Congress
yesterday explaining his veto. The
message takes high rank among state
papers and represents the President
at his best. Dealing with subject in
which emotion plays such large part,
he was calmly dispassionate, never
more courteous to his opponents and
skillful in the logical arrangement OF
his argument.
That the speech and all it repre-
sented were Immediately ignored by
the House in its vote to override was
neither unexpected nor in any way
surprising. The bonus is political
issue The vote was an expression of
political realism as distinct from
craftsmanship. Facts are not as i'm
pressive as votes. The minds of the
pro-bonus members have been made
up in advance. A vote to override Is
the best bid now for reelection. And
those who were unable to dispute the
wisdom of the bonus defeat as advo-
Gated by the President knew, at the
same time, that the President relied
chiefly upon the Senate. not the
House, to take the unpopular and
politically dangerous course of stand
Ing with him in sustaining the veto.
Much of what the President said
In his discourse on the subject OF
the actual bonus debt" has been said
before. The bonus has been po-
litical issue for many years. The
bonus is a debt voluntarily assumed
by the Nation; but 1t Is debt that
is not due until 1e45 and it's liquida-
tion in advance entails the payment
O1 ODuSdlkOIl6 IcfCl
But President Roosevelt was forced
to deal with two new elements that
the economic situation has injected
into the bonus dispute. One of these
Is the argument that immediate pay
ment will be Of vast benefit in has
tening the Nation toward recovery.
1t is true, said the President, that
some expansion in retail trade
might result from payment Of the
bonus now. But the retail business
Is already expanding, rapidly, under
the stimulus of other Government
moves and now compares favorably
with conditions before the depression"
A bonus payment would mot improve
the conditions necessary to expand
those industries in which we have the
greatest unemployment"
The other argument for the bonus
the printing press imitation argu-
ment-was met squarely and salts
factorily by the President. This argu-
ment, he said, raises fundamental
question of sound finance" To re-
sort to this deceptively easy method
of payment will raise similar demands
for the payment of claims of other
groups" The President said:
1t is easy to see the ultimate result
of meeting recurring demands by the
issuance of Treasury notes. 1t in
vites an ultimate reckoning in un-
controllable prices and in the de-
struction of the value of savings that
will strike most cruelty those like the
veterans who seem to be temporarily
benefited. The first person injured by
skyrocketing prices is the man on
a fixed income. Every disabled vet
eran on pension or allowance is on
fixed income. This bill favors the
able bodied veteran at the expense of
the disabled veteran.
The demand for the bonus payment
by method that may easily start the
Nation on the road that history has
Uttered with the wrecks of similar
undertakings comes from a small,
well-organized minority. But this
minority is not the population element
that faces the greatest need. More
has been done for this group than
for any other. 1t is the welfare Of the
Nation, not the immediate wishes of
the veterans, that concerned the
President; that supports him in a
courageous stand in the face of ter
rife and persistent pressure. II be-
lieve," said the President, "the welfare
of the Nation, as well as the future
welfare of the veterans, wholly justi-
fies my disapproval of this measure" /"
That was spoken, and sincerely spoken,
like President.