Evening star., 1940-03-27

caslon on which Charles G. Ross.
the law was uttered, and its exact
wording. Back in the Coolidge era.
In 1925, the Senator was defending
Congress against the charge of vot-
ing away too much of the taxpayers
money. He declared: There never
has been year when the cost of
Government has not increased, and
it will continue to increase, I care
not what party is in power"
That pronouncement alone is
enough to insure the fame of the
doleful Smoot as a seer. He made,
however, another which deserves to
be ranked alongside the immortal
law. 1t was shortly after the war,
and the writer was interviewing the
Senator on some measure having to
do with the insurance system that
had been set up for our soldiers.
What a fine thing it was, observed
the reporter, echoing a naive gen.
eral belief of that period, that We
had got away from the old expen-
sive. scandal-ridden system of pen
slons. A far-away look came into
the eyes of the prophet. He pointed
a long and lugubrious finger at the
wall. THE hand writing is there"
he intoned. "as plain as ever was
meme meme tekel upharsin. It is
written that whatever we may do
today, the general service pension
is coming. It's. as certain as death
or taxes"
Edging Toward His Prophecy.
The service pension-a pension
based on the fact of World War
service without regard to disabilities
or other considerations-is still in
the future, but step by step We are
edging toward the fulfllment of
Smoot's prophecy. He knew where
of he spoke.
Another step will be taken if Con-
eress passes and the President signs
Dill which has lately been reported
out by the House World War Vet
Grams committee. This is a meas.
ure Tor the pensioning of veterans
dependent widows and children. the
Word dependent" having been writ
ten into it in the hope of making it
satisfactory to the President. The
cost OF the bill for the first wear
o! operation is estimated bv Brig
Gen. Frank T. Hines, head of the
veterans Administration, as SOS.
O00,0OO. Representative Rankin
democrat, of Mississippi chairman
OF Inc committee backing the meas
ure, predicts it will be passed at This
session OF Congress and signed hv
the President. Wy
Whatever the fate of the bill ar
tnls session, you can bank on it that
tne drive for increased veterans,
oeneflts will go on with .he vears
and that gradually the area of he,
ems Will be widened. The SANE
pattern that was set after earlier
wars is being followed. smoot was
aot oecelVed by the optimistic fore.
casts OF pension-less AFTERMATH
OF the World War. He had heen
around long time, he had seen
no" the G. A. r. function ed after
tnr,, .1,w clvn war and he saw that his
Tory was going to repeat itself.
Halted-Only for a Time.
The movement TOW ard the serv,ce
penslon--for that is what lies at
tne END OF the road was halted bv
Inc economy surge III the first davs
OF tne nrst Roosevelt administration.
But 1t was halted for only a little
while. Presently the cuts in benefits
were being restored and Congress.
under STEADY pressure of the vet
erans' organizations, was headed
toward the passage of the Patman
bonus bill of 1895, which failed to
survive the Presidents veto, and then
toward enactment of the bonus bill
OF 1886, which was passed over his
veto.
The movement since that time
doubtless would have been more
rapid had It not been for the Gov
ernment's extension of benefits
throughout the population. In his
opposition to the bills for the i'm
mediate payment of the soldiers
adjusted service certificates (the
bonus bills) the President laid heavy
stress on what was being done alike
for veterans and non-veterans. He
could hope with this argument, how
ever, only to lessen, not to destroy,
the effects of the constant pres
sure on Congress for new special
benefits-vote- producing benefits
for the veterans and their depend
ents. Not only are these effects
now seen in the bill just reported
to the House; they are apparent In
several bills before the Veterans
Committee calling for pensions to
World War veterans 60 years old
or more. One of these would pro-
vide 4 pension of $50 a month and
would cost $112,000,000 the first
year.
Awakening and Stirring.
The issue of the general service
pension is not dead, but sleeping,
and the placing Of the bill for
widows and children on the House
calendar shows that it is stirring in
its sleep. Not much in the way
Of further depression would be re-
quired to bring It alive.
Mr.. Roosevelt predicted in his
veto message of 1885 that If the
adjusted service certificates were
paid of as proposed, every candidate
for Congress will in the near fu-
ture be called upon in the name Of
patriotism to support general pen
sion legislation for all veterans, re-
gardless Of need or age"
He had something there. So also
did Senator Smoot when he peered,
years ago, into the future.