| OCR Text |
Show tees of the house and senate take charge of legislation affecting the vet erans, the assignment of a subject to this committee or to that committee depending upon the nature of the mat-ter mat-ter presented. There Is opposition in both house and senate to the plan, but Inasmuch as the former service men seem to be back of the proposition It Is thought that the legislators may yield. Why Unification Is Opposed. One reason for opposition to the resolution Is that some of the legislation legisla-tion affecting' the veterans Is economic In character, some of It agricultural, some of It hospitalization, and some of It something-else. There are( regularly reg-ularly established commtttees of congress con-gress to deal with matters touching these questions and It Is felt that If one great committee shall be given charge of everything, It may not have In Its membership men qualified to discuss dis-cuss every case with knowledge of the basic things which underlie the subject. sub-ject. It Is said that there are today about 700.000 claims In the veterans' bureau for compensation because of disease or Injury Incurred as a result of wartime war-time conditions. It would seem, therefore, there-fore, that about one man out of every five who served has, or thinks he has, some trouble arising from that service serv-ice for which he should be compensated. compen-sated. The task of passing on these claims Is a heavy one and a lnrge fore of men and women Is necessary In order that the work may be given proper care. There has been a great deal of complaint com-plaint in one place or another because of the slowness of the bureau In arriving ar-riving at decisions in cases which have been presented, but !t ought to be said and an ex-service man says It that, taking everything Into consideration, the wonder probably should be not that progress has been so slow, but that It has been as rapid as Is the case. Ex-Service Men Throng Capital. Washington is the capital of the country and because the main veter-tins' veter-tins' bureuu la located here and be- i BllfpUTE PRESIDENT HARDING PLANNING TO MAKE THE TRIP ON THE YACHT MAYFLOWER. WILL START ABOUT JUNE 1 Secretaries of the Interior and the Navy Are Certain to Be Members of the Party Return From Coast Overland. By EDWARD B. CLARK Washington. It Is possible, that some American cities which have thought of preparing welcomes for President Harding on his way to s Atnsku next summer may be disap pointed to learn that the present plan culls for an all the way trip by water on the government yacht Mayflower. If the plan Is carried out, the Mayflower May-flower will have a long journey, unl the President will have a long rest from the Importunities of politicians and ofiiee seekers unless they use the wireless. ' It is understood that Mrs. Harding, If she is sufficiently recovered, will tuuke the trip to Alnska with her husband. hus-band. Of course, if she la not sufficiently suffi-ciently recovered from her Illness to make the trip, the President may de-! de-! cide to stay at home, but she apparently apparent-ly is on the high road to recovery and the promise Is held out that she will be well enough to undertake the long sea journey; which, as she Is a good sailor, It is said, probably will complete com-plete her recovery. As soon as congress adjourns, It Is the Intention of President and Mrs. Harding to go to Florida for a six weeks' rest. They will return to Washington Wash-ington the latter part of April and it it bitlleved that the trip to Alaska will start about June 1. To Go Via Panama Canal. It will taVe the Mayflower eight days to reach the entrance to the Panama canal. A few days probably will be spent on the Isthmus and then the journey tip the Pacific const will bogln. There Is no expectation that the Mayflower will touch at any point on the Pacific coast before It reaches Vie northwestern territory. Already Washington Is guessing as to the personnel of the President's traveling party. In the ense of some of the traveling companions guessing Is hardly necessary, for It seems to be assured that the President will be accompanied ac-companied by the secretary of the interior, in-terior, Secretary of the Navy Denhy, Private Secretary George Christian and Mrs. Christian, and possibly by one or two army and navy officers of high rank. It is thought that Gen. Wilds P. Richardson, who spent 20 years In Alaska directing the building of the wugon roads and trails In the territory, will be one of the party. Denby to Study Naval Bates. Secretary of the Navy Denby, who almost certainly will accompany the President, will study certain naval base conditions In Alaska with a view to determining the availability of coaling coal-ing stations. One of the prime arguments argu-ments made for the building of the government constructed, government cause here are all the records In the rases, there are hundredth of ex-service ex-service men coming to Washington monthly, thinking that, being on the ground, they more easily can prew their cases to a hearing and to a satisfactory satis-factory conclusion. The reRult of this Is that the ex-service ex-service men living here are put to It at times to find means to care for the veterans who come here Reeking relief, many of whom come without the necessary nec-essary money to keep them In food and lodging for even brief periods. Some of the cases are pathetic. The men of the American Legion ;re doing all they can to help men who come here and find themselves stranded. They call official attention to Individual cases In the hope that matters con quickly be straightened out and the men seeking relief can get It from the bureau If It Is proved that they deserve It. It Is not In all cases that affairs can be expedited ex-pedited and therefore there is nt times a real problem !.ere to find means to provide properly for the Incoming seekers nfter relief. Recently there have been a number of changes In the personnel of the ' veterans' bureau. Sometimes charges have been made that politics has had something to do with the changes, but In the main It could be said that most of the discharges and most of the appointments ap-pointments have concerned themselves with replacing employees who did not see war service by men who did see It, owned and government operated Alnska railroad wns that the roni could bring out coal cheaply to one of the ports where It could be utilized for navy purposes. There has beeu some trouble over this matter, because It la said that the facilities for the coal transportation are not what they should be, even with the railroad nearly near-ly completed. Scott Bone, a former newspaper man of Washington jnd Seattle, la now governor of Alaska under the Harding appointment. The President and his ; party probably will be guests of Gov- ernor Bone for some few days. They will make a person0" conducted . Joirrney throngh snch parts of the ter- i ritory as the President thinks It advis able to see. It Is understood thnt the ' party will remain about three weeks f In the northern lund. It Is Intimated that the return trip will be made overland, at least from some port on the northwestern coast of the United Stntes proper. It Is f possible the President may take the Mayflower from an Alaskan port to Sn Francisco and from there proceed north by rail and start from a north-' north-' western point for Washington. President Harding, since he took office, of-fice, has had few outings. If the Alnskn trip can be called an outing, he will have next summer a fairly long one und one which otiht t do him i gome physical good, although he looks fit enough today. Plan for Veterans' Legislation. The United States veterans' bn-nan bn-nan l the bluest bureim In Washington. Possibly the country has no rcnllzlng mmiso of the burden of work which lias fallen on the slionl(lTS of the men and women whose duty It Is to look nfter the record f the cases of the men who foucbt In the war and who came out of It disabled mentally or physically. , Just now roncrcsn Is discussing a resolution presented by Representative Representa-tive Royal Johnson of South Pn-kotn. Pn-kotn. providing for new standing committees com-mittees In the house and senate whose sole duty It shall be to consider legislation legis-lation iifTectlnjr frmer service men. The understands I tht representatives representa-tives of the American Legion and "ti er vere'ran organizations are anxious that all of the veterans' mutter shall be taken before one committee. Aa things srr U'.w, vnrlors commit- |
