Evening star., 1935-05-22

prices is the man on fixed income.
Every disabled veteran on pension
or allowance Is on fixed income.
This bill favors the able-bodied
veteran at the expense of the dis
abled veteran.
Wealth is not created, nor is 1t
more equitably distributed by this
method. A government, like an
individual, must ultimately meet
legitimate obligations out of the
production of wealth by the labor
of human beings applied to the re-
sources of nature. Every country
that has attempted the form Of
meeting its obligations which is
here provided has suffered disas-
trous consequences
In the majority of cases print
ing press money has not been re-
tired through taxation. Because
of increased costs, caused by the
inflated prices, new issue has fol-
lowed new issue, ending in the
ultimate wiping out of the cur
rency of the afflicted country. In
a few cases, like our own in the
period of the Civil War, the print
ing Of Treasury notes to cover an
emergency has fortunately not re-
suited in actual disaster and COL
lapse, but has nevertheless caused
this Nation untold troubles, eco
nomic and political, for a whole
generation.
Fact Is Disputed.
The statement in this same sec
Ond whereas" clause that pay
ment will discharge and retire an
acknowledged contract obligation
of the Government is, I regret to
say. not in accordance with the
fact 1t wholly omits and disre-
CARDS the fact that this contract
obligation Is due in l945 and not
today.
If I. as an individual. owe you.
an individual member of the Con-
gress, $1,000 payable in l945, it is
not correct statement for you to
tell me that I owe you 1000 to-
day. AS a matter of practical fact,
If I put $3.50 into a Government
savings bond today and make that
bond out in your name you will get
81 900 on the due date, 10 years
from now. My debt to you today,
therefore, cannot under the re-
motest possibility be considered
more than $3.50.
The final whereas clause, stat
Ing that spending the money is
the most effective means of has
ten1ng recovery is SO i'll considered
that little comment is necessary.
Every authorization of expenditure
by the Seventy-third Congress in
its session of 1888 and 1894. and
every appropriation by the Seventy
Iourth Congress to date, for re-
coVery purposes, has been predi-
Gated not on the mere spending of
money to hasten recovery. but on
the Sounder principle of prevent
ing the loss of homes and farms,
OF saving industry from bank
ruptcy, OF safeguarding bank de-
posts, and most important of all
Oh giving relief and jobs through
pubic work TO individuals and
families faced with starvation.
Ihese greater and broader con-
Germs OF the American people have
prior claim for our consideration
at this time. They have the right
Of way.
There Is before this Congress
legislation providing old-age bene-
nts and a greater measure of
security for all workers against
the hazards of unemployment We
are also meeting the pressing ne
cessities of those who are now un-
employed and in need of imme-
olate relief. In all of this every
veteran shares.
Relief Phase "FaIIacy."
To argue for this bill as a relief
measure is to indulge in the fallacv
that the welfare of the country can
be generally served by extending
relief on some basis other than
actual deserving need.
The core of the question is that
a man who is sick or under some
other special disability because he
was soldier should certainly be
assisted as such. But if a man is
suffering from economic need be-
cause OF the depression. even
though he is a veteran. he must be
placed on a par with all of the
other victims of the depression.
The veteran who is disabled owes
his condition to the war. The
healthy veteran who is unemployed
owes his troubles to the depres-
sion. Each presents a separate
and different problem. Any at
tempt to mingle the two problems
is to confuse our efforts.
Even the veteran who is on re-
lief will benefit only temporarily
by this measure, because the paw
ment of this sum to him will re-
move him from the group entitled
to relief If the ordinary rules of
relief agencies are followed For
him this measure would give, but it
would also take away. In the end
he would be the loser.
The veteran who suffers from
this depression can best be aided
by the rehabilitation of the coun-
try as a whole. His country. with
honor and gratitude, returned him
at the end of the war to the citi-
zenry from which he came. He be-
came once more a member of the
great civilian population. His in
terests became identified with it's
fortunes and also with its misfor-
tunes.
All Must Share.
Some years ago it was we'll said
by the distinguished senior Senator
from Idaho that "the soldier of
this country cannot be aided ex-
cept as the country itself is re-
habilitated. The soldier cannot
come back except as the people as
whole come back. The soldier
cannot prosper unless the peonle