Elwin T. Cobb

Project staff recently examined a notebook used by Elwin T. Cobb, a student at Southwest Missouri State Teachers College in Springfield. Cobb graduated from the college in 1924 and had been a member of the debate team. The notebook, which is held by the Springfield-Greene County Library's Local History & Genealogy Department, contains Cobb's handwritten notes about one of the most controversial issues of the 1920s: the payment of a bonus to America’s world war veterans.

Planning for a bonus began almost as soon as the war ended. Military pay was disproportionally low compared to civilian wages, a problem Congress addressed in March 1919 by giving $60 to every service member upon their discharge. The money was equal to just two months of base pay in the military. Although an important first step, additional legislation was needed to eliminate the disparity. Soon, a number of bills were presented in Congress to compensate veterans for their service, but none were passed.

Opponents of a bonus, including many business leaders, worried about increasing the national debt to pay veterans. The American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars supported a bonus and with strong proponents on both sides, it was a major political issue in the early 1920s. Students at the Teachers College in Springfield tackled the bonus question in a debate on February 22, 1923. They were required to defend or reject the following resolution: “Resolved: That the ex-service men should not be granted a federal bonus at the present time.”

  

Students Aaron Botts and Ashel Jackson supported the resolution, brothers Elwin T. and Howell Cobb opposed it. Elwin Cobb’s work was done in a standard college notebook and consists of three parts: a bibliography, an outline of significant points, and the final text of his speech. The Cobb brothers strongly rejected the resolution and argued the United States had a moral obligation to pay a bonus to the veterans.

Cobb said a nation required manpower and what he called “money power” to fight a war. America made 24 million men eligible for service under the draft law, but only about 4 million were actually conscripted into the military. Cobb insisted these men had been discriminated against and were owed a bonus because the government compelled them to serve. They endured economic loss during the period of highest earning potential in their life. Meanwhile, other nations were paying a bonus to their servicemen and America had given a bonus to veterans of other wars.

Cobb also addressed the pay disparity between soldiers and civilians. He wrote, “They trained in American camps at a wage of one dollar per day and fought on foreign fields at a wage of one dollar twenty-five cents per day.” From this, the government deducted money for life insurance and liberty bonds. Meanwhile, civilians endured no privations and earned an average wage between $8 and $15 per day.

While there is no record of the arguments used by Botts and Jackson to defend the resolution, the students had a lively debate. The 1923 Ozarko yearbook reported that the Cobb brothers were successful, “but their victory was not easily won. Their opponents contested every step of the way, yielding only when their position became untenable.”  Cobb’s notebook is a unique document that offers rare insight into one of the most important issues of the World War I era. 

  

Another bonus bill was introduced in Congress by Representative Hamilton Fish Jr. of New York on February 26, 1924. Under this proposal, veterans would not receive the money until 1945. Fisk’s bill passed Congress, but was vetoed by President Calvin Coolidge. Congress was able to override it with just two votes to spare and the bill became law. Actually, the lawmakers had not authorized a bonus payment but a life insurance policy. The policy would incur interest for twenty years and while a veteran could borrow money against it, they would not receive any payments until 1945. The money would go to survivors if the veteran died before 1945. The certificates had a total value of $3.5 billion and over three million veterans were eligible for one. The average individual payment would be about $1,000.

Unfortunately, the bonus is perhaps best known for the tragic events in Washington, D.C. in 1932. As the Depression gripped America, approximately 45,000 World War veterans marched to the capital asking the government to pay the money early. Congress failed to pass the legislation and the U.S. Army dispersed its veterans from their camps. Look for more information about the bonus issue in future posts from Missouri Over There.