Evening star., 1935-05-12
A Pretty Kettle of Fish.

The conflict OF views on the Patman
soldiers bonus bill between President
Roosevelt and one Of his chief ad-
visers, Jesse H. Jones, chairman of
the Reconstruction Finance CORPORA
tion, would be amusing If 1t were not
for the serious implications and the
results which may follow. Mr.. Jones
In a speech to the North Carolina
State Bankers Association said that
it was entirely possible that Congress
may override presidential veto of this
measure He said, too, that the
country could we'll withstand the ad-
ditional $4,000 900, 900 which would be
the cost to the Government of paying
the bonus at this time, and he added,
Il am not sure but that it will be
worth this extra cost to get this issue
settled and out of politics" The
extra cost" to which he had refer
ence was the unearned interest up to
ls45 which will be paid the veterans
today if the bonus bill becomes law.
President Roosevelt, according to
all accounts, is preparing a veto mes
ssge which he will send to Congress
when the Patman bill reaches him.
He needs one more than third Of the
vote cast In the House or Senate to
sustain that veto. In the House he
has no chance. In the Senate the
leaders have been confident that they
could sustain such veto. Even the
proponents of the Patman bill have
feared to bring the matter to an issue,
and have delayed the bill In the SEN
ate through motion to reconsider
the vote by which it was passed. To-
day these supporters are gleefully US
ing the statements made by the chair
man of the Reconstruction Finance
Corporation to back up their conten-
ton that the bonus should now be paid
and that the extra burden which will
be laid on the Government at this
time is not unbearable.
Mr.. Jones, it is reported, appeared
surprised that his address to the
North Carolina bankers should have
been interpreted as an Endorsement
Of the bonus bill. He said he had not
intended to favor the bonus bill or to
take stand on it in any way. His
purpose had been merely to reassure
the bankers on the credit situation of
the country, and he had dragged in the
bonus matter to reinforce his state
ment that there was no occasion for
alarm about few billions of addi-
tional debt. In fact, according to
Mr.. Jones, the "few billions" which
the Government has expended for
relief and for the New Deal expert
ments are nothing to worry about.
The public debt during the Roose-
velt administration has been run up
to more than $4,000, 100000 and is
going higher. But these billions
which eventually must be paid by
the Government to the people from
whom the Government is borrowing,
out Of the pockets Of all the people
do not mean much to Mr.. Jones.
OF course, if they are to be paid of
in the same way that it Is now pro-
posed to pay the soldiers bonus, by
the issuance Of "greenbacks," Treas
ury notes, that is another matter.
A government can issue fiat money and
make the people take it, in order to re-
pudiate government debts. But when !
government does that the people |
lose enormously, for the money be-
comes practically valueless as a me-
dium Of exchange.
It will be interesting to see how Mr.. |
Jones and the President will adjust |
their differences over this matter Of |
the payment Of the soldiers bonus. |
Mr.. Jones. like the author Of the |
bonus bill, halls from the great State
of Texas. Mr.. Jones believes it |
would be worth a lot to get this bonus
issue out of politics. That sounds as
though he believed the payment Of |
the veterans would make a Demo- |
cratic victory easier in 1896.