Evening star., 1936-01-05
BY WILL p. KENNEDY.

" " it will mean that 1923. .701
former service men scat
tered in every county through
out the 48 States will receive
S2,0l5. 5.162,456 in cash on certificates
with maturity value of s3,478, l87,-
436. These certificates have a present
loan value of approximately $1,750,-
100000. Some 2,9O4,52 certificates
have been pledged. held by the Vet
erans' Administration for loans and
interest aggregating s1,679 ,669 1888 81.
In addition to this it is estimated that
loans made by banks to the value of
$50, 100000 are outstanding.
Up to the close of the last fiscal
year, 1872, ,842 benef1ciaries had been
awarded adjusted compensation in
cases in which veterans died before
applying for the benefits of the act,
to an aggregate of S45.974,146, and
l58.295 veterans had been awarded
$5,32l ,02l.7l because their adjusted
service credits were $50 or less. A
total of 3,732, ,485 certificates, with a
maturity value Of $3.50 CAB ,293, had
been issued to the close of the fiscal
year and of these 203,784 had
matured on account Of death and
s202, ,755, ,857 had been awarded to the
designated beneficiaries.
Will Save on Relief.
This pay off" II years after the
war and after seven years of persiS-
tent legislative drive, will save the
Government more than 81 900, 900 900
for relief alone, it is estimated. Rep
resentative Wright Patman of Texas,
who has been leading the fight in
Congress for seven years, since he
introduced the first bonus" bill in
May, 1929, sponsored by Brookhart
in the Senate). says it will save the
Government more than Sl000.000, 900
-Sl12,O00.000 a year for II years,
and it will also save the Government
more than S10,000,000 in administra-
ton expenses of the adjusted COM
penSation act between now and l945.
the date of maturity.
Those supporting the legislation
claim that it will be more effective
than other New Deal" expenditures
from the Federal Treasury in alleviat-
ing distress by scattering the s2,0O0,-
100000 into every nook and crany of
this broad Matchmaking it "active
capital"
Sentiment CrystaIized Slowly.
1t was some time after the war be-
| fore the public realized the men who
| had been in service had been poorly
paid in comparison with civilian
| workers or with those who furnished
war supplies. These men came back
from the war without jobs and many
of them without civilian clothes
Prices were high. But taxes also were
high and there were many other prob
lens to settle. So when each veteran
was discharged he was given $50 as
a cash bonus to purchase civilian
clothing. The veterans had given their
civilian outfits to the Red Cross when
! they entered the service And then it
ran until 1924 before Congress got
around to making any settlement with
the soldiers. 1t had been agreed
among the veterans and Congress that
it would be fair to give them 81 q
day additional for home service and
sl25 day additional for service over
seas.
But in 1924-when the situation had
completely changed-the country was
enjoying an era of abundant pros
perity. 1t was then decided that il
3 Aa hal f,rl to nc
instead of giving them a lump sum
in cash, which they did not need as
they had needed it when they left the
service, to set the money aside, let il
accumulate interest at 4 per cent anC
give them something in the nature o.
an endowment insurance policy. to ma.
ture in 20 years. They could then col
lect some 2ls times the cash credit il
was proposed to give them.
Situation Different Now.
Again the situation has changed
the veterans during the last severa
years have found themselves in the
midst of great depresSion-they have
keenly felt the need of the money 8
grateful Government promised them
and they have been frankly asking
not for a bonus, which word is dis
tasteful to them-but the pay adjust
ment so long deferred. 1t has beer
pointed out that the war cost the
United States more than $4,000, ,000,-
900, while all the men IN uniform re-
ceived less than 81 500 100000, or less
than one-eighth of the cost of the war
During the last few days there have
been several conferences of bonus
Steering Committee seeking to work
out some adaptation of the Patmar
bill, which is to come up automatically
on January 13, for discharge of the
committee, thereby bringing the bill
up Immediately for consideration. II
is hoped to work out a compromise
which will pass both House and Sen
ate with more than a two-thirds ma
| iority and which the President will not