Evening star., 1936-02-17
BONUS ANDFARM
FUNDS VOTED IN
SUPPLY BILL 0. K.
$1,730,000, 900 and $440,-
100000 Items Bring To-
tai to S2,9e9,751 ,9O5.
SENATE ACTION SENDS
MEASURE TO CONFERENCE
Amendment for Veterans Pay At
tached After Short Debate
Without Roll Call.
BY ]. A. OLEARY.


After adding 81, ,730, ,0OO.0 to pay the
soldiers bonus and S440,00O,000 to
finance the new soil erosion farm
bill. the Senate today passed the
Independent Offices supply bill and
sent it to conference
These two major amendments
brought the total of the bill up to
$2,839, ISL ,905, making it one Of the
largest supply measures ever to be
enacted
The bonus payment amendment was
attached to the bill after half an hour
of debate and without a roll call. The
bill goes to conference, but the bonus
payment amendment is expected to
be approved by the House, since it
carries out the bonus plan enacted
earlier in this session.
Byrnes Offers Amendment.
Senator Byrnes. Democrat, of South
Carolina, in offering the amendment,
said no one familiar with the subject
expects more than half the bonus
money to be needed during the COM
ing year to cash the bonds to be issued
to the veterans, and which they may
either cash or hold as an investment.
1t was necessary to put in the
entire estimated amount, he said, be-
cause the Treasury Department takes
the position that the bonds given to
the soldiers will be equivalent to
checks. Inclusion of the entire amount.
he argued. is to remove question as
to the rights of the Treasury to issue
the proposed bonds.
The only debate was a query from
Senator King. Democrat, of Utah, as
to whether the Appropriations Com
mittee had given any consideration to
financial condition of the Government,
or how the Treasury would raise the
money with which to cash the SOL
ders' bonds.
Function of Finance Body.
Byrnes. in reply, said it was the
function of the Finance Committee.
of which King is a member, rather
than of the Appropriations Commit
tee, to determine the revenue require
ments of the Government.
The South Carolinian previously
had argued, however, that since the
Government has been obligated to pay
the veterans since 1925, the borrow
ing of money to pay them at this
time would mean that the Govern
ment would be obligating itself to the
investors instead of to the veterans.
The only difference, he contended,
will be that the Government will have
to pay interest to the investors and
that this represented the only differ
ence in the Governments future obli-
cations.
Although the bonus amendment
calls for S1.730, 900, it resulted in
net addition to the bill of only
s1,570, 100000 because it took the
place of House item of $3.50, 900 900.
This was to have been the annual in
crement toward the sinking fund for
meeting the bonus and was eliminated
when the total of the cash payment
plan was adopted.
The Senate did not change the
House items in the bill giving the Ma
tional Capital Park and Planning
Commission 100000 toward carry
ing out the law for development of
the George Washington memorial
parkway along the banks of the Po-
tomac from Mount Vernon to Great
Falls in cooperation with Maryland
and Virginia. The bill also carries
the annual expenses of the Smith
sonian Institution, National Museum,
the new archives establishment and
number of other independent COM
missions of the Government.