Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1939-11-16
any danger of being modified
against us.

any danger of being modified
against us.
A Changed Homeland.
Now the America we left was not
the same America we returned to.
The greatest concentration of wealth
ever known had been going on here
in period of less than two years,
and all from war profits. We re-
turned to a country in which $50
new millionaires had been made and
1920 who had millions when we left,
had piled up millions and multi
millions more. Charges of graft and
outright steals" and counter charges
were on everyone's tongues. In or
der that we, ourselves, might have
the true facts and in order that the
rest of America might have, we dug
down and financed the greatest in
vestigating committee ever organized
on American soil. Months later this
committee had the facts and the Of
fetal organ of our organization, the
American Legion Magazine published
them. To say this expose startled
all of America is to put it mildly;
to say that it called down upon our
organization the wrath of powerful
interests is gross understatement,
but we had the facts, none could
deny them, and at our National con-
vention held in New Orleans in 1922,
we proposed to do something about
it and we adopted a resolution calling
upon Congress to enact legislation
taking the profits out of war. What
we proposed at that time has been
amended at various national conven-
tons and is now known as the Uni
versal Service bill. This bill does
three things. 1t takes the profits out
of war; it provides that should we
ever 60 to war our armies will have
an adequate service of supplies, and
thirdly, it acts as powerful deter
rent on the American people against
declaring war.
Now this bill, like our call for a
strong national defense, has been
subject to all kinds of criticism, some
of this criticism is silly, some is
well worth answering. I shall an
swer it now.
The three main charges are that
it causes RECOMMENDATION and dictator
ship, that it destroys civil liberties,
and that the bill itself is unjust.
Profiteers in War Time.
AS to the charge of RECOMMENDATION
and dictatorship-from the expose
of facts published in 1921, we learned
that every Tom, Dick and Harry
that had little political pull with
our government, had secured jobs as
purchasing agent for the army. We
had some great patriots in those days,
men who were willing to serve the
army for 81 per year-and make
millions on the side from that serv-
ice.-I shall give you just two in
stances in order to show you how
they operated.
We will take first the case of the
army mules. Those mules had to
have harness, collars, halters and
for every sixth mule saddle was
needed, so the purchasing agent in
charge of that went out and bought
those things. But he did not just
purchase one set of harness for each
span of mules, he bought six sets.
Nine collars for every mule in the
army and 81 halters and instead of
one saddle for each sixth mule he
bought two saddles for every mule
and all at cost plus 10 percent.
Senator LaFollette, on the floor of
the Senate, exposed what he called
the typewriter war. The company
clerk and supply sergeant of each
company needed typewriters. So the
purchasing agent in charge of that
bought typewriters, not just two
typewriters, but "a typewriters for
each company, had the army re-
QUESTION them and of course all at
cost plus 10 percent. That was the
system used.
Bill Would Correct That.
In order to correct a crazy system
like that the Universal Service bill
proposes to coordinate the purchas-
ing department with the demands of
the quartermaster generals office and
the demands of the war department.
Here is where the cry of regimenta-
ton and dictatorship comes in. In
order to affix responsibility, power
has to be concentrated, that's only
good business.
And then there is the second charge
that the Universal Service bill de-
stroys civil liberties. Well now, when
the strong arm of military gov
eminent reaches out in times of war
and takes a mothers son it says to
him in effect: Here, 1 can use you.
You may be killed in my service,
you may be wounded, you may come
home crippled in mind, soul and body,
you may come home whole, but
whatever happens the minute that
boy is sworn into the army he loses
his civil liberties.
Now if the men that have to do
the fighting and the dying lose their
civil liberties in time of war, is there
any reason why the rest of us in
order to serve those men with an ade-
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