STATEMENT OF HON. M. K. REILLY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF WISCONSIN Mr. REILLY. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I desire to file with the committee an editorial by Mr. Charles E. Broughton, editor of the Sheboygan Press, one of the larger dailies of Wisconsin, which has a large circulation in my district. I wish to state that the editorial expresses my views on the payment of the soldiers' adjusted compensation legislation, now pending before this committee: It is as follows: JUSTICE URGES PAYMENT To whom are we most indebted to-day-to the American soldier who fought in the World War or the foreign nations? That is the question that will be asked of the United States Senators and Congressmen when they vote for or against paying the soldiers' bonus. The American soldiers went into the thick of the fray, and those who came back have a right to ask that we keep faith with them. Andrew Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury, says that our financial condition is not sufficiently strong to pay the bonus at this time. Let us remind the Secretary of the Treasury that the allied nations owe this country not millions, but billions, and if we were half as considerate of the soldier boys as we were of certain nations we would have paid them before this. 66 The allied nations have collected from Germany, exacting an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," and yet we have not insisted upon even partial payment of the debts that the allied nations owe us. If we were to be reimbursed to-day for one-half the money loaned we would be able to pay this bonus in cash and have a surplus. How in the name of common sense are we going to disturb economic conditions by insisting upon what rightfully belongs to us and then paying it to the veterans? You release three and a half billion dollars, the amount it is estimated this Government will have to pay to the soldiers, and there will be an increased purchasing power in every community in the United States. The old argument is used that if this money were given to the boys many of them would squander it. People forget that those whom we called boys in 1918 are now men of matured judgment. Perhaps a good deal of it would be squandered, but are we to continue as guardians, refusing them what rightfully belongs to them until old age places its hand upon their brows? Not if we know the temper of the American people. Let us immediately set in motion a plan for payment, and at the same time refresh the memory of the allies that any debt we owed we have paid with the sacrifice of human life, and the additional expense of the war. On top of this the allied nations borrowed billions, and because a minority element in this country is inclined to cancel the debts is no reason why we should heed it. Our relations will be strengthened and improved if we insist upon payment. Those nations that can not pay now can furnish collateral upon which we can finance the soldiers' bonus. The business men of the country ought to insist that we pay our debt to the soldiers, and that the allied countries meet their obligations. STATEMENT OF HON. H. P. FULMER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA Mr. FULMER. Mr. Chairman, inasmuch as I have been sick for the past week, therefore was unable to attend the hearing before your committee in connection with legislation proposing to pay at this time adjusted-compensation certificates of the World War veterans, I am taking advantage of the opportunity offered me to extend my remarks in connection therewith. On December 9, 1930, I introduced H. R. 14809, which provided for the immediate payment to veterans of the present value of their adjusted-service certificates. Section 2 of this bill reads as follows: The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to issue bonds in such amounts as may be needed to carry out the purpose of this act. Such bonds are to be known as adjusted-compensation bonds, to bear such rates of interest as the Secretary of the Treasury in his discretion may determine, and to be redeemable in 15 years after the passage of this act. I believe that these certificates should be paid at this time for several reasons. In the first place, it is a just obligation on the part of the Government to these World War veterans. This being true, they are entitled to actual cash instead of what might be termed duebills. The turning loose of $3,000,000,000 at this time in every nook and corner of the country would do much to revive business. In the meantime thousands of ex-service men are out of employment and actually need this cash now perhaps more than they ever will again. I am receiving hundreds of letters from ex-service men begging me to do all that I can to have the Government pay these certificates and in a great many instances these letters are really pitiful. I want to quote here a fair sample of one of the letters received by me which should give this committee something to think about. Hon. H. P. FULMER, Washington, D. C. COLUMBIA, S. C., January 23, 1931. DEAR MR. FULMER: I have a circular from the veterans' legislative committee asking me if I need the bonus that is due each and every World War veteran. I replied that I am sorely in need of it and have several obligations that were past due long ago. If I had this money I could pay these obligations for which I now have no money to pay. My family and I are very much in need of clothes. This I would also supply if I could get the money that I believe belongs to me. I know of many cases around me where homes are broken up and wives have had to fall back on their parents' families. I know of men, young and old, who are derelicts seeking only a bite to eat and a place to sleep. With the money that is due them and that they have been trying to get they could remedy the situation. How does it feel to be homeless, cold, and hungry? If you have never lived such an experience you will never know. Imagination unaided can not picture it, yet there is no desolation quite so great. When you tramp the streets without a place to go and feel that irresistible gnawing of hunger, to ache with cold, to be lonely and desperate, as the gloomy day fades into gloomier night, is a part of life that God never intended, but which many exservice men are now facing and feeling. I have seen this aspect of life from construction camps and jungles, from city streets and the side of mulligan-stew cans. We think of it only as it affects the individual. What does it do to the Nation? As far back as 1904 Robert Hunter said 10,000,000 people were in poverty. Is it better to-day? No; indeed, it is very much worse. and what is to happen in the future? Will there be a possibility of the countless men who are suffering to-day to be properly fed? In bread lines we feed the body, while we destroy the soul. It is misery on parade! Moreover, when we say "the depression is over, come back to work," will they be able to come back? What of the children born of the mothers of this era? In 20 years from now will they show the effects of rickets and tuberculosis? In destroying the people of this generation, are we not also destroying the future generations? Can any nation long survive with 10,000,000 men being unfed and producing a weakened posterity, mentally and physically? Not in soup houses can we develop the men to make America the greatest Nation in history. Not from hungry mothers are valiant children born. The shadow of these shuffling lines will lie across the future and historians will clearly read what we are now trying to wade. So, now, I say to you to get all of our friends that are in Congress to work for us and have the much-needed bill passed. They will be doing a work that, without a doubt, will go down in history as an act to the ex-service men as no other deed has ever done before. Your friend, HENRY E. WALLACE, It appears to me that this is the opportune time for the Government to issue and sell bonds at a very reasonable rate of interest, letting these bonds run from 15 to 25 years, which to my mind would not increase taxes at this time or interfere with the orderly procedure of the bond market. It certainly is very unfair to force ex-service men to accept these certificates and in the meantime loan him his own money at 6 per cent interest. I am hoping that this committee will give serious consideration during this session of the Congress to legislation that will bring proper relief to our World War veterans and their dependents. STATEMENT OF HON. LUTHER A. JOHNSON, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS Mr. JOHNSON. I desire to register my approval of legislation to pay in cash adjusted-service certificates of World War veterans. Since witnesses favorable to this legislation have presented detailed arguments in support of it, I shall not take the time to do that. The people of my district are very much in favor of this legislation, and practically every American Legion post within the nine counties comprising my district have sent me letters and telegrams urging support of same. Many individual letters, from persons who are not World War veterans, have done likewise. All of these stress the great need for economic relief at this time, and that payment of these certificates will not only be of aid to the veterans, but will materially aid in the economic restoration of the country. With these views I am in full accord. Practically all of the American Legion posts in my district favor the Patman bill and do not desire it modified or changed. I hope the committee will act at once and favorably upon this important legislation, as the needs of the country demand it. STATEMENT OF THE HON. SAM D. McREYNOLDS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TENNESSEE Mr. McREYNOLDS. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee. I am heartily in favor of a cash bonus, because I feel that it is due these ex-service men. Many of us favored cash for these adjusted-service certificates when the present law was passed, but we, at that time, had no opportunity to vote for any measure, except the one that was enacted, and, of course, I voted for the present law under these circumstances. Within my history this country has never passed through such trying conditions as it is passing through now; millions of people out of employment and bread lines established throughout the country. I feel that these ex-service men are entitled to a cash bonus, and if it were paid to them at this time there would likely never be any other time in their history when they would need it so badly, and the distribution of this money throughout the country, would, to my mind, bring much relief to many of the needy people. I have received telegrams and resolutions from various posts throughout my district in favor of a cash bonus of some kind, and I desire to enumerate some of these: Hennessee Baker Post, American Legion, No. 99, Sparta, Tenn. Cowan Post, No. 1893, Veterans' of Foreign Wars. Marion Post, No. 62, Jasper, Tenn. Veterans' of Foreign Wars of Roberts-Price-Ewton Post, No. 1899, Jasper, Tenn. Thomas W. Ault Post, Pikeville, Tenn. Meigs County Post, No. 79, Decatur, Tenn. James Craig Lodor Post, No. 148, Chattanooga, Tenn. Also resolution passed by the Chattanooga Real Estate Board, petition for cash payment of adjusted-compensation certificates signed by various citizens of Athens, Tenn., and House Joint Resolution No. 5, passed by the legislature of the State of Tennessee. All of the above resolutions advocate some character of payment of adjusted-service certificates in cash. One of my constituents, Mr. George C. Potter, of Chattanooga, Tenn., protests against the passage of a loan on certificates which would merely include those that are needy, to be designated by the Veterans' Bureau. I trust you will give these resolutions brought to your attention proper consideration. (Whereupon, at 3.40 o'clock p. m., the committee adjourned.) |