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Show I BONUS BILL WILL PASS. Predicting that the bonus bill will II I pass congress, Mark Sullivan explains why the administration has yielded to. the demands of the soldiers. He says j "It was readily apparent that the I one episode that had most to do with ; causing Harding and the other Repub-tican Repub-tican leadere to change front was an election held in Ohio last fall. That election was on the specific issue pf a 1 bonus to be paid by the state locally to its own soldic-rs. The project car-! lied by a vote of something like 9ufl,-uOO 9ufl,-uOO to 300.000, and the state was dl rected by the clear mandate of the people to make an initial appropria lion of some 125,000,000. Thai was interpreted in-terpreted as an unmistakable Indication Indica-tion of public feeling such as no party in power cau ignore If might he said that if the thing is not right Hie party I ought to be willing to repiflt and go I out of power. But that is the sort of I counsel of perfection which no party I lives up to. Moreover, the Repub I Means are more or less in the righ". I Vuen they say that they are granting I i he bonus, not becauso they feat for I re-eleciion, but because it. is the duty I of those who are managing the coun I try to obey an unmistakable mandate I of public opinion." I No doubt public sentiment is back I uf the bonus, and Mark Sullivan de- j clares the bill will go through not- I withstanding the opposition of Secre- I iary of the Treasury Mellon, and he I points out that when the same bonus I bill was pending last July Mr. Mel P Ion wrote a letter similar to the pres- I ent one, but that did not head it off. BBS Thereafter tho Republican leaders in Hl the senate appealed to President ! H Harding, and he came personally to B the senate and voiced his opposition. I That was the only thing that killed BBBBBf the bill last July, and the only thing H There will be some opposition to the I BBBBBfl bonus bill, although not enough to de- B I cat it. That is the opinion of Sulli- H .an. It is understood that Senator BBBBBB Borah opposes any cash payment to BBBBBfl, tho soldiers as being degrading to H1 j them, but would favor aiding them to H acquire homes and farms through re- I aimed land. Senator Nelson who was I a civil war soldier, flouts tho requests I of our present soldiers for money. Ho B says tho civil war soldier only got $11 BBBBBB1 a month and hardtack and bacon for H -food. He has made a pointed allusion I to the "Two millions of soldiers who H, never left tho country, but lived in Jj i heir barracks In glorious peace, eur- I 1 rounded with many o( the facilities of BBBBBB, a modem ho"-l He further makes tho point that the government never gave any pensions to rlvil war sol diers. except to those who had been disabled, until thirty ears after the civil war began. The soldiers put their present claim for several hundred dollars each on the basis ihot the pay which they received re-ceived while In the army ought to be made eQUal to the average pay which labor In civil life received during tho war. They say that since those who were left at home profiled greatly by war conditions, the soldiers also ought to profit. It Is for this reason that the soldiers insist on calling the bonus proposal by the title of the "ad-Justed "ad-Justed compensation act." During this period of depression, the soldier hoys should be compensated. Many of them are in poverty today owing ow-ing to tho fact that they had little or no opportunity to put aside a few dollars dol-lars during the period of high wages. Thousands of them quit good positions to enter the ervice, only to find on their return that their positions permanently per-manently were held by others. This col.;.,'.. Is capable of financing wars. It should be equal to the task of fighting down adversity in the ranks of those who won lctory for us. |
