Show ILLINOIS MEN WIN BONUS supreme court upholds uphold act providing for the allowance of fifty cents cent per day the close relation existing between alje lie services sen ices of the individual soldier of the world war and the general welfare of the state gives rise to a claim appealing pealing tp to a universal sense of fairness ness and justice declared the opinion of 0 the supreme court of illinois in upholding the bonus act of that r state tie the court was unanimous on the constitutionality of the act and by this de islon paves the way for exten berice ice men and women to obtain a state gene bonus the illinois act provides for the rient of 50 cents per day tor for each day of service in the army navy or darlne corps the maximum payment which hiell any veteran may draw Is to pay the veterans a bond issue ot of has been made and will be told sold immediately palmer D edmunds chief clerk of the board which passes on the bonus applications has hag estimated that payment will begin about july 1 and that the former soldiers will be paid at the rate of approximately a month applications to the number of are already on file with the board the case in supreme court a friendly suit brought by the father of a legion man of springfield III attracted much attention it was the coa contention of the attorneys tor for the appellants pel lants that the law violated the constitution ution by granting extra compensation after public service bad been rendered the opinion of the court written by chief justice thompson and without a dissenting vote held that the recipients of compensation in the case did not come within this specification of the constitution they the opinion said bald do not stand in the relation of a public officer agent servant or contractor of or with the state and that the section has no application here the activity of the american legion in assisting the securing of the passage of the illinois act Is well known the organization was called on to write the act and was at oil all times active in moving toward its passage on the eye eve of the election by which the voters of the state approved the bond issue to pry pay compensation the organization staged a demonstration throughout the state that won thousands of votes jander under advice of the legion the ruling was as anade by the bonus bofird board that all service should be compensated at the specified rate until 1920 the previous acceptance had been for service actually rendered before the armistice |