The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1936-02-13
HOW MUCH DOES A NATION OWE ITS
VETERANS?


| collation. of unpaid interest on loans Sc
cured by such certificates by Congress
over the veto of President Roosevelt, marks
the end of a long struggle.
Payment of the soldiers bonus can
not be considered a partisan political is
sue, in view of the fact that bills providing
| for such payment have been vetoed by
every President to whom they have come,
including the Republican predecessors of
the present Chief Executive.
Now that the soldiers will get their
! money just as soon as government agencies
can provide the bonds, it may be well for
citizens everywhere to understand a few
facts in regard to the treatment of vet
Grams by the United States government.
No right-thinking citizen questions
the property of, or objects to the taxes
necessary to, adequate and generous care
Grams. Nor is there any objection what
ever to the governments standing in the
stead If those who lost their lives and fill
ing the role of financial father and hus-
band to the dependents. The care of the
wounded and their dependents, together
with those who unfortunately suffered
the loss of their breadwinner through the
war, is an obligation placed upon the gov
eminent that is cheerfully assumed by all
loyal Americans
Quite different issue is raised in re-
gard to the veterans who returned from
thoiT ioi1 lotio in ho IN,
every respect and without any disability
whatever because of their service. These
men mingle again with the civilian pop
ulation of the nation and become Amer
lean citizens, and in the words of President
Roosevelt, in his veto message of 1884,
should be accorded equal privileges and
equal rights to enjoy life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. No less and no more"
To think otherwise would be to create
special class and to place war service to
the nation on higher pedestal than that
accorded to the peace-time achievements
OF millions of Woodworking reputable
Americans.
Much of the opposition to the pay
ment of the bonus centered around the
conviction that once this amount was paid
there would arise new campaign in be-
half of the veterans to demand from Con-
gress general pension legislation for all
veterans, regardless of age and necessity.
No gift of prophecy is required to make
this assertion because the past history of
the United States plainly points the course
and activity of veterans organizations.
Members of Congress will become the tar
gets of propaganda and the objects of
political threats with the result that Con-
gress will continue, in the future, to do as
it has in the past and yield to the or
ganized pressure of minority that insists
upon special favors.
Apparently, some of the leaders of
the fight for the bonus realize the sus-
picion with which many people regard
their future intentions. Calling attention
10 the end of the bonus fight, they urge
.he enactment of universal service law,
and say that if those who oppose the bonus
will join us in this fight, they need fear
no more bonuses" One of them, James
F. van Zandt, said that he did not believe
there would be general drive for service
pensions, opponents of the bonus pay
ment nave predicted.
From other sources, the idea is pre-
valent, nevertheless, that in the early
future the nation will witness a renewed
drive on the part of veterans to compel the
payment of outright pensions. At first
the drive will be launched to take care of
widow and children whose deceased
husbands and fathers served the country
during the war. This will be the start and
subsequently the drive will be broadened
to include every individual who had any
thing to do with the uniform or colors dur
ing the World War.
The American people might as well
| face the future and consider the justice of