LIGHTS AND SHADOWS

In the background of the lurid light cast by the festive campfires of the triumphant bonuseers lurk menancing shadows. The immediate and pressing question is how to finance the two and one-half billion dollar payment. It has occured to some few souls that the money must be raised by taxation, either deferred or immediate, but such persons are not to be found in Congress or the lobbying headquarters of the American Legion. Even the reputed magician in charge of the Treasury has openly expressed skepticism as to the means and probable facility of raising the money.

The chief sourcerer himself expressed disapproval of the measures. None the less, a large portion of the responsibility rests squarely upon his shoulders. Extravagant and wasteful administration spending over a period of years created supreme contempt for balanced budgets, and a non-chalance about a few billions more added to the public debt. Yet last year the President, in one of his few truly statesmenlike messages, rallied the opponents of the bonus raid to his side and preserved enough congressional discipline to sustain his veto. Even then his career was sadly reminiscent of the parable concerning a rake's progress. This year's veto was, by contrast, innocuous and no attempt was made to hold Congress in line by applying pressure. In this rare case when he had once shown intestinal fortitude, but in the last veto he showed a sickening return to political meandering and ineptitude, which so largely characterized his actions.

The economic side of the picture is dark. The ethical side is a deep and sombre black. The veterans can find no defenders and no justifiers outside of their own specially - favored group. Recently we have heard much of special interest and of lobbying, but the greatest and most effective of all lobbies--those maintained by the various veterans' associations--by some special dispensation escape labelling and the halls of Congress ring with cheers for their agents. The reason, of course, lies in their compact organization and vote-control. They come, not as petitioners with a legitimate interest to defend, but as tyrannical over-lords, to demand, and receive, great portions of the nation's substance. But when Congress kowtows to orders from bonus headquarters, the public should at least be spared the hypocritical mouthings of one senator whose conscience, said he, impelled him to vote for overriding the veto.

These modern bucaneers, known as Legionaires and veterans, have only had their taste whetted by this recent legislation. Already other and more exhorbitant plans are being formulated. This outright looting of the nation has shaken many people's faith in democracy. Before the bonuseers begin another raid and shock the public conscience once again, before they start beating their tom-toms again, they would do well to reflect that it is only one step from a loss of faith in a lavish, undisciplined and unprincipled democracy to a loss of democracy itself.