SENATORS SEEK HARDING'S SUPPORT FOR BONUS BILL
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) In a front-page editorial, the New York Herald comments on a visit to the White House on May 6, 1922 by Senators McCumber, Lodge, Curtis and Watson in which they hope to get President Warren G. Harding's support for the McCumber Bonus Bill*.
The Herald reports that while "they got no encouragement...neither did they get turned down flat."
The Herald comments...
"The truth of the matter is that so far as the bonus is concerned everything now rests with the President, so why worry?"
*The Bonus Bill providing extra payments to veterans of WWI was passed by Congress in 1922 but vetoed by President Harding.
A second attempt was made in 1924 & although vetoed by President Coolidge was over-ridden by Congress & became law. The measure, however, deferred payments to WWI veterans until 1945.
The issue became heated during the Great Depression when veterans demanded early payment of the bonus. This led to a march on Washington & subsequent U.S. Army attack ordered by President Hoover on the camp of the bonus marchers.
SOURCE
"The Bonus Up in the Air," New York Herald, May 7, 1922, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
