THE BONUS AND THE LEGION.

Franklin d'Olier, commander of the American Legion, has taken a highly commendable stand on the question of the proposed national bonus to former service men. "All the Legion asks," he told the House Ways and Means Committee, "is as liberal treatment as is consistent with the welfare of the country," and he went on to declare that the great majority of the men who served in the war want no bonus at the expense of the public good, but they do insist that relief legislation be passed to insure that disabled men will no longer be objects of charity.

Already the government has given sixty dollars to every ex-soldier, sailor, and marine; to finance any of the other proposed schemes would require at least a billion dollars more. Federal taxes are staggeringly heavy now, and to try to float a new loan would be extremely inexpedient.

No one wishes to have Congress economize solely at the expense of the service men, but economy in all governmental expenditures is imperative. Instead of extravagant gratuities, of which a considerable part would inevitably be thoughtlessly received and thoughtlessly spent, wise legislation covering land settlement, home aid, and vocational training should be framed. Through such action those who served the country will become better citizens and greater producers, and through so benefiting them, without the expenditure of new billions, Congress will have done them justice.