The Bonus March

by John Stumpner

  Every so often we hear in the news about this or that group marching on Washington D.C. to bring attention to some issue important to them. These marches, protected by the 1st Amendment as free speech, have been going on since the late 1800’s. One of the largest and best organized marches during the Great Depression was the Bonus March by around 17,000 World War I veterans and their families.

  In 1924, Congress voted to give a bonus to the World War I veterans. The bonus amounts varied, depending on the length of service of each soldier. The bonuses, however, were not immediately paid out, rather each veteran was given a Certificate of Service. These certificates gained value over time and could be cashed in for the full value in 1945. At the height of the Great Depression in 1932, many of these veterans were out of work and needed money to feed their families. About 43,000 marchers, veterans and their families, organized the Bonus March and went to Washington D.C. to ask for early payments for their Certificates of Service. The Bonus Marchers organized a neat and orderly shantytown on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., so they had a place to live while Congress tried to decide what to do. While in this shantytown, the Marchers were well behaved and did not cause any damage to any property. Unfortunately, Congress could not come to a decision and President Herbert Hoover ordered the army to chase the Bonus Marchers out of town.

  In the fall of 1932, President Hoover lost re-election. In the spring of 1933, another Bonus March was organized. The new president, Franklin Roosevelt, arranged for the Bonus Marchers to camp at a nearby army base and offered them jobs in one of the new government jobs programs. Finally, in 1936, Congress agreed to make early payments on the Certificates of Service for those veterans that still wanted to redeem them.

  Just like the Bonus Marchers of the 1930’s, hundreds of members of ABATE of Wisconsin, sometimes even a couple Junior Patriots, travel to our state capitol in Madison every year in late winter, to inform our legislators on topics important to the motorcycle community. The Motorcycle Rights Foundation, which ABATE of Wisconsin supports, organizes the Bikers Inside the Beltway event every year for motorcyclists to go to Washington, D.C. to help inform Congress on topics important to us as motorcyclists. While we may not always be able to influence our legislators as we would like, similar to the Bonus Marchers, we always remain respectful and well behaved.