A FIAT-BONUS

Congress, our national dentist, at last seems to have discovered a method of painless extraction of the bonus. The intricate plan for the issuing of certificates of indebtedness to veterans apparently was conceived at one of those moments, suggested by Lincoln, when "you can fool all of the people"; for the lightness of the protest against the proposal shows that exceedingly slight popular antagonism has been aroused.

In essence, the committee's scheme is little more than a new flat money proposition. Congress waves its financial wand, and to the bonus is paid! Same-body gains; nobody loss now. Of course after election day, in two or three years perhaps, the certificates will have to be redeemed, but by that time everyone will have forgotten and the Republican gentleman from Maine, Ohio, or Pennsylvania, as the case may be, will still hold his accustomed seat, secure in the knowledge that the Legion is "back" of him.

Even if the payment of the bonus were for the best interests of the country, the suggested procrastinating method of raising the money would be highly undesirable. At a time of depression such as the present, false stimulation of business is harmful--both to industry and to the nation, and certificates of indebtedness, undoubtedly a form of monetary inflation, would certainly cause a rise of prices unduly encouraging to the business world. If we do have a bonus, let the nation gulp down its medicine courageously--and pay up in cash, and to obtain cash we must have taxation.