Franklin D. Roosevelt

Statement on the Payment of the Soldiers' Bonus.

January 27, 1936

In view of the fact that Congress has enacted the law authorizing the exchange of Adjusted Service Certificates for bonds, the President indicated today to the Veterans Administration and the Treasury Department that he desired the provisions of the new law carried out as expeditiously as accuracy will permit. The President also indicated that the magnitude of the administrative task of carrying the provisions of the new law into effect was so great that patience should be exercised in the matter.

The President was advised that more than seven million interest calculations will be necessary and that it will require between 2,500 and 3,000 additional personnel working for approximately six months to do this job. It should be remembered that the amount due each individual veteran must be separately worked out for each case. The additional personnel to handle this enormous figuring and clerical job must, under the law, come from the civil service rolls.

Application blanks will be available in all regional offices of the Veterans Administration and in the hands of Service Organizations within the next two or three days. If the veterans will keep in mind that the bonds are to be issued dated June 15, 1936, and after filing their applications will refrain from writing follow-up letters, they will greatly assist in the prompt administration of the new law.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, Statement on the Payment of the Soldiers' Bonus. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/209133

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