|
|
History of the |
|
|
CHAPTER
SEVEN |
(82) Immediately after the close of the Second Annual Convention Commander Simmons called together his fellow officers to make plans for the year. It was the unanimous opinion of those officers present that an elaborate program should be laid out and then closely followed during the administration. After considerable study of the needs of the organization, it was decided that the four principal objectives for 1921 should be:
The prosecution of the legislative program recommended by the convention.
The organizing of an American Legion Woman's Auxiliary.
The coordination of the various local posts in the department.
The enrollment of new members and the holding of those already affiliated with the organization.
The first task was the most important one with which Commander Simmons had to deal. The State Legislature was scheduled to meet during the coming winter, and it was necessary for the Legion to promulgate and recommend such legislation as might be desired by the service men of the state. A number of other states had already enacted legislation giving their veterans cash gratuities or benefits of similar kind and here was quite a desire on the part of loyal citizens (83) of Nebraska to do the same. Just what assistance was to be given must be decided by the veterans themselves, through their great society, the American Legion.
It will be remembered that the Hastings convention suggested that the Department Officers request the enactment of legislation which would provide service persons with long-time loans at a low rate of interest for the purpose of purchasing farms and urban homes. Thereupon Commander Simmons appointed a Legislative Committee, consisting of T. J. McGuire, Omaha, Chairman; E. B. Chappell, Lincoln; B. G. Westover, Lincoln; and Marcus L. Poteet, Lincoln. This committee set to work at once investigating the legislation that had been passed by other states in an effort to get an act in Nebraska that would be practical and best for the veteran. After an exhaustive search they found few measures to their liking. Nearly all such provisions which aimed to help the veteran obtain a farm or home required a great revolving fund which ran into millions of dollars. The great problem that immediately confronted this committee was ways and means of raising such a fund. The Nebraska constitution did not permit the state authorities to float bonds for such a proposition. Neither was it possible to raise such an amount as would be necessary through the regular channels of taxation, since these had already reached the point where the tax-payers were beginning to rebel. And, lastly, no one could devise safeguards (84) that would keep the veteran from becoming the victim of the speculator and profiteer.
The committee continued its investigations, however, right up to the day the Legislature had convened and it became time to make their recommendations. But it was of no avail. They had found not a single piece of legislation in any state that appealed to them, nor had they been able to solve the many problems that would be incident to the passage of such a measure.
Just a short time before the date fixed when no more bills could be introduced in the State Legislature, Commander Simmons discovered an act that had been passed by the Legislature of Connecticut in 1919. After studying it for a short time, he decided that it was a better and more constructive measure than any that had come to his attention. It could be put into operation in a state with a comparatively small population without a great deal of distress to the tax-payer, and at the same time it provided means of taking care of needy veterans at the time when they needed it most. And in the end, it paid greater dividends to the service man than an act providing for a cash bonus.
The Department Commander referred the bill to his committee for their consideration. The recommendations reached this group the day prior to the "deadline" for new bills that might be placed in the legislative hopper. No time must be lost, and it was imperative that quick action be had if the 1921 session of the Legislature was (85) to assist the returned service man. Therefore, the writer summoned the Lincoln members of the Legislative Committee, and Messrs. Westover and Chappell hurried to State Headquarters. These members of the committee were immediately impressed with the practicability of this sort of legislation, and both felt that it was just the measure needed to relieve the distress among the service men which was most acute at the time. And furthermore, it provided means of caring for those needy persons who were not compressible by the Federal Government, the number of whom would increase rapidly as the years went by.
The Connecticut act was satisfactory in principle but it called for machinery in its administration which the Nebraska Legislative Committee did not think advisable. Therefore it became necessary to write a new act so that it could be introduced in the Legislature the next day. Messrs. Westover, Chappell and the writer went to the law offices of Mr. Chappell and spent most of the night studying the proposition. Early in the morning of the final day of grace, the Nebraska Emergency Fund Act was written. It came into being under the pressure of time almost as great as that of war, yet the measure was ultimately enacted into law with only slight changes of phraseology.
This act was altogether different from that recommended by the convention, yet it met with immediate favor, and has since come to be known (86) as one of the best measures ever provided by any state. Frederick W. Galbraith, Jr., who was National Commander of the American Legion at the time of its passage, wrote that, to his mind, it was the most constructive piece of legislation that he had seen. Likewise, Legion men throughout the state have expressed their opinions that the act was the very best that could be devised.
As passed by the Legislature, this act directed the State Board of Educational Lands and Funds to purchase two million dollars worth of securities to hold in trust, and that the interest accumulation of same, amounting to approximately $100,000.00 annually should be turned over to some veteran organization to use for the care and relief of World War veterans. It further provided that all money so paid such an organization must be expended by it in furnishing food, wearing apparel, medical or surgical aid, care or relief, or in bearing the funeral expenses of honorably discharged soldiers, sailors, marines or nurses, or to the widows and dependent children of such persons. The State Board of Educational Lands and Funds designated the Nebraska American Legion to administer the fund, there being no other large organization of the kind in the state. In due course of time the Department Executive Committee of the Nebraska Legion appointed a sub-committee to have charge of this important work, which was to be handled exclusively through the local posts of the (87) organization. This committee consisted of J. Ed C. Fisher, of Beatrice, Chairman; Walter L. Anderson, of Lincoln; and E. K. Hurst, of Falls City. The Department Finance Officer and Adjutant were made ex-officio members of the committee. The work accomplished by these three Legion men will always stand as a distinct credit to the organization and themselves. Thousands of needy Nebraska veterans were, in the course of time, taken care of and relieved from distress.
The second objective of the Legislative Committee during Commander Simmons' administration was the passage of a boxing bill. Ever since the World War veteran had returned from the service, he had been interested in seeing manly sports such as wrestling and boxing. Both of these pastimes had been features of his military training, and the average veteran had come to enjoy them very much. However, on his return home, he found that boxing was prohibited in his state entirely, while there were no laws governing wrestling, and the latter sport was outrageously exploited by promoters. Therefore, following out the wishes of the Second Annual Convention, the Legislative Committee, with the splendid help of Mr. John Hopkins, a well-known Legion member of Douglas County Post No. 1, succeeded in getting made into law an act which controlled both of these sports and took them out of the hands of those persons who had been exploiting them for financial gain. The American Legion made it plain that it had no desire (88) to commercialize the sport, and would not tolerate such a procedure, but that the organization wanted such legislation so its members might enjoy clean, wholesome exhibitions of physical prowess.
The 1921 session of the State Legislature passed another act of considerable importance. This was a measure incorporating by law the American Legion, Department of Nebraska, as well as a woman's auxiliary to the organization. This gave the organization an official standing, and brought the fact before the people of Nebraska that the American Legion had come to be the great organization of the World War, just as the Grand Army had duly become the great organization of the Civil War.
The second task of Commander Simmons and his associates was the organizing of a woman's auxiliary to the American Legion. During the war the mothers, wives, sisters and daughters of service men had rendered great service in keeping the home fires burning. To them must go the credit for the splendid morale of the American army. Ever faithful, they remained at home providing little luxuries for the fighting men, and praying for the success of the great Democracy. Thousands of these women were still interested in the returned service man and his problems. They, too, desired to carry on in peace as in war, and to help make America a better place in which to live.
With this thought in mind, the first National (89) Convention of the American Legion had authorized the various departments to organize such an auxiliary, to be made up of the mothers, wives, sisters and daughters of American Legion members and of those soldiers and sailors who had lost their lives during the war. This work was begun in Nebraska during Commander Cline's administration, but owing to the Legion posts still being in the process of organization themselves, only a few chapters were gotten under way. However, Commander Simmons felt that the time was ripe to get as many auxiliary chapters as possible, end an effort was made during his administration to enroll a large number of women. Mr. W. P. Bemis, of Grand Island, was made Chairman of a committee to look after this work. In the course of the year, over a hundred chapters were organized and nearly three thousand paid members enrolled. The writer was authorized by the Department Executive Committee to act as a temporary Secretary and to handle the affairs of the state organization until such time as it could take over its own machinery. Arrangements for a state convention of the American Legion Woman's Auxiliary were made and the women gathered at Fremont, on September 29, 30 and October 1, 1921, where they drafted a constitution, elected their own officers and formed a state organization. Thus began the great sister organization of the Nebraska American Legion.
The last two objectives of Commander (90) Simmons required a great deal of hard work and careful study. The Nebraska Legion had made a phenomenal growth in 1920, and it was a difficult task to retain the thousands of members who had joined the Legion. Yet Simmons and his associates not only held all the old members, but they added a few more, and increased the number of posts in the department from 270 to 310. He also succeeded in bringing the posts closer together and knitting them into a great state-wide organization, each post an integral part of the whole. The American Legion was, of course, a comparatively young organization, somewhat loosely constructed. It had hitched its wagon to a star, and its members had high and noble ideas, but sometimes, in their enthusiasm and zeal, they overlooked little problems which, unsolved, had a harmful effect on the organization. Noteworthy among these problems during Commander Simmons' administration was the failure of some posts to get good leaders and to realize the importance of getting public opinion back of them. Commander Simmons made a two-weeks trip over the state, studying the problems of posts and suggesting ways and means of overcoming these little matters that had proved to be obstacles in some communities. This trip proved very beneficial to both posts and the state officers and helped in bringing the Nebraska American Legion posts in closer contact with one another.
The service work, which is an important part (91) of American Legion activities, was carried on during the Simmons' administration as theretofore, and hundreds of claims of various kinds were adjusted. By-laws for the department were prepared and published, and a conference of Post Adjutants was held early in the year at which post problems were discussed. The State Headquarters were enlarged and a new system of collecting dues was installed, besides many other little improvements incident to the administration of a large organization.
The administration of Commander Simmons will always stand out for its accomplishments in he way of beneficial legislation for service persons. The best part of the year was devoted to its work, and no time nor expense was spared pushing through those matters that were desired by the organization. Mr. Simmons gave unsparingly of his time, and directed his administration in such a way as not only to show great ability as a leader, but as to make himself thousands of loyal friends among Nebraska service men. Wherever he went he became known as a big, clean, honest commander, and each post the Legion was better for his coming. He closed his administration at the Third Annual convention, held at Fremont on September 29, 30 October 1, 1921, at which his comrades expressed their admiration and appreciation of excellent work by the presentation of a splendid testimonial.
In passing it is only fair that mention also be (92) made of the efficient work accomplished by Commander Simmons' Legislative Committee. Anyone who has ever had experience in legislative matters well knows the vast amount of work connected with the prosecution of such a program. The great burden of the Legion's legislation during 1921 fell to the Lincoln members of the committee who for several months were required to devote practically all their time to the cause. To Marcus L. Poteet, in particular, must go a great deal of credit for the Legion's success. Mr. Poteet left his private interests to take care of themselves and virtually "camped" at the State Capitol during the winter of 1921. At all times he kept in close touch with Legion measures. Having unbounded enthusiasm and unusual ability for this kind of work, and also having a wide acquaintance among the legislators, he was able to interest them in the problems of the Legion and to get their cooperation and support in getting the wants of the organization enacted into law. Mr. Poteet did especially fine work in handling the English language fight which is described in the following chapter. Every member of this committee seemed to realize that they had a big job before them, a task that meant much to the American Legion and its members. Perhaps no greater tribute can be paid to them than to say that they succeeded in putting through every piece of legislation that they backed. They asked for nothing that was not just and right, and justice and right always win out in the end.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
| © 2011 All Rights Reserved www.MemorialLibrary.com | ||
For
more information contact Pam Rietsch at:  |
