The Bonus Army

by Jeff Elkins

June 18, 1878

CHAP. 263 – An act making appropriations for the support of the Army for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, and for other purposes.

SEC. 15. From and after the passage of this act it shall not be lawful to employ any part of the Army of the United States, as a posse comitatus, or otherwise, for the purpose of executing the laws…

Mostly forgotten today, the Bonus March incident of 1932 provided one of the more instructive lessons in the naked power of the State and just how meaningless the State views its laws and contracts with citizens.

Returning doughboys from President Wilson’s World War One had been voted a "bonus" in 1924, basically a government bond with payment due in 1945.

Many of those same veterans were numbered among the victims of the depression. Industry had secured its own "bonus" through passage of the infamous Hawley-Smoot Tariff and the hard-pressed ex-doughboys wanted one as well. Not in far off 1945, but then, when they needed it. A populist movement of the former soldiers developed to demand premature payment of the deferred bonus voted by Congress.

They called themselves the Bonus Army.

The Bonus Army movement was widespread and thoroughly lambasted by the powers-that-be of the time. President Herbert Hoover viewed them as a mixture of "hoodlums, ex-convicts and Communists" with a sprinkling of veterans as mere leavening. The movement alarmed the leaders of the nation’s military who were afraid that the insurrection could spread into the enlisted ranks of the standing armed forces. Government secret police under the command of J. Edgar Hoover investigated and attempted penetration of the diverse group as well, a pattern repeated through the history of that august organization.

Their efforts were akin to an attempt to stop the wind. Bonus protests were nationwide and culminated in a massive march on Washington, DC, by tens of thousands of disgruntled veterans. At this troubled point in history, a revolution by the masses of unemployed was one of the worst fears of the political masters of the United States. Depression riots had already erupted in many large Northeastern cities. The sight of thousands of angry citizens openly defying the State at the very fountainhead of its power was terrifying.

By the end of June, the marchers numbered more than 20,000 men, women and children. The Bonus Army was tired, hungry and defiant and the State was fearful of revolution. The nation watched in horror, not knowing what the culmination of events would be. A blowup was inevitable.

The House of Representatives had passed the Patman bill for veterans relief on June 15, despite promise of a presidential veto. But on June 17 the bill met defeat in the Senate, and shortly thereafter orders were given to begin active measures to disperse the marchers. President Hoover ordered the Secretary of War to "surround the affected area and clear it without delay."

Army Chief of Staff MacArthur was convinced that "the movement was actually far deeper and more dangerous than an effort to secure funds from a nearly depleted federal treasury" and in fact, was a communist-led attempt to overthrow the government.

Assisted by his aides Major Dwight D. Eisenhower and Major George S. Patton, Jr , MacArthur led Army troops and cavalry in an advance on veterans marching on Pennsylvania Avenue, with tear gas, naked bayonets and swords drawn. Hundreds were injured and a baby was killed by gas.

Fearful that the State might look too oppressive, Secretary of War Hurley sent orders to MacArthur, containing President Hoover’s direct command that he did not wish the Army to pursue the Bonus Marchers across Anacostia River into their main encampment, which had been caustically named "Hooverville" by its residents.

MacArthur saying that he was "too busy," and did not want to be "bothered by people coming down and pretending to bring orders," ignored the presidential commands and led troops into "Hooverville" anyway. They burned it to the ground, injuring hundreds more and driving the remainder of veterans from the nation’s capital. The Bonus Army was crushed and the movement dead.

We will never know the true death toll from the violent military suppression of the Bonus Marchers. While immediate deaths were only a handful, injuries were high and the marchers were massively dispersed to many different areas of the country. This was a time when medical care was crude by today’s standards and before the advent of antibiotics. Pneumonia and infections were often a death sentence. The butcher’s bill from the aftermath of the attack was undoubtedly not minimal.

The use of military forces against unarmed, peacefully demonstrating American citizens was a direct violation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878. However, that was not the first time military had been used against American citizens and we know that it was not the last.

Starting perhaps with the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794, leading armed troops against citizens has been a tradition of the American State. Troops have been used not only to crush political and religious dissent (Kent State, Waco), but to advance corporate interests as well, in well-documented incidents of strike suppression.

Today, the situation is more perilous than at any other time in our Nation’s history. Rather than a limited and rather small standing army, we are faced with literally millions of federal soldiers under arms, augmented by the forces of the various "National Guards," in actuality federal troops under nominal control of state governors.

Our police, once local peace officers, are now merely a subset of the overall forces arrayed against liberty. Soldiers in everything but name, local police are funded, trained and armed by the federal Leviathan and are in truth just as much a part of it as the lowest ranker in the US Army.

Will the Liberty Bell ring again in the 21st Century? The picture is bleak.

May 15, 2001

Jeff Elkins [send him mail] is a freelance consultant and writer living in North Central Florida. His personal website is located at www.elkins.

The National Firearms Act



Since 1934 the Federal Government has regulated the ownership of machine guns and several other types of weapons.

The National Firearms Act of 1934 provides for the registration, and the taxing of the transfer, of a class of weapons described as NFA Title 2 weapons (sometimes referred to as "Class 3 weapons"). These include machine guns, short barreled rifles, short barreled shotguns, silencers (also known as suppressors) and also a class of weapons known as "Any Other Weapon" (AOW). An example of an AOW is, but not limited to, a smooth barreled pistol or a short barreled combination gun.

The transfer tax on machine guns, short barreled rifles, short barreled shotguns, and suppressors is $200. The transfer tax on AOWs is $5. This transfer tax is a one time only tax and not an annual tax. Each time an NFA weapon changes hands, the tax is charged.

The paperwork required for the transfer of an NFA weapon consists of an application form with the applicant's photograph attached and a fingerprint card. These are submitted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in duplicate along with the transfer tax. The finger print cards are forwarded to the FBI for a background check; not very different from a background check that would be performed for a "Secret Level" security clearance. The background check and transfer process takes about 3 months or so depending on the examiners’ work load.

One copy of the approved application is sent back to the dealer (or seller of the weapon). The dealer contacts the buyer and makes the physical transfer of the weapon at that time. The approved application stays with the weapon and is proof that the buyer has paid the transfer tax. The original should be stored in a safe place and a photocopy carried with the weapon should the legality of the NFA weapon be questioned by law enforcement officers.

The new manufacture of machine guns or the conversion of semi auto weapons to full auto weapons that are transferable to individuals has been prohibited since May 19, 1986. This means that all transferable machine guns that are available for sale to the general public must have been manufactured and registered prior to May 19, 1986.

This is what "they" say:

THE SIX FEDERAL GUN LAWS

The Brady Campaign works to enact sensible gun control legislation in the United States but does not seek to ban guns. The guns laws that we currently have are antiquated and riddled with loopholes. Most Americans are shocked to learn that we have only SIX FEDERAL gun control laws which are designed to keep handguns out of the wrong hands. Those laws are:

The National Firearms Act of 1934

The violent atmosphere of the Prohibition Era as well as the attempted assassination of President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933 inspired the passage of the 1934 and 1938 firearms acts. Provisions of the 1934 Act include:

   * Tax on the manufacture, sale anbd transfer of sawed-off shotguns, sawed-off rifes, machine guns and silencers.
   * Requires the purchasers of those weapons to undergo FBI background checks and get approval from local law enforcement officers.

The Federal Firearms Act of 1938

Provisions of the 1938 Federal Firearms Act include:

   * Required annual licenses for manufacturers, dealers and importers of firearms and handgun ammunition.
   * Ban on firearms sales to known criminals.

The 1968 Gun Control Act

The assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, along with rising crime and violence, led to the Gun Control Act of 1968.

Provisions of the Gun Control Act of 1968 include:

   * Prohibits convicted felons, fugitives, drug addicts, minors, mentally ill people, anyone dishonorably discharged from the military, undocumented immigrants and people who have renounced their U.S. citizenship from buying or owning a gun.
   * Requires serial numbers on all guns.
   * Bans mail-order sales of firearms and ammunition.
   * Sets minimum ages for purchases at 21 for handguns and 18 for long guns.
   * Bans imports of small, cheaply made handguns known as "Saturday Night Specials," as well as some semi-automatic assault rifles.
   * Prohibits imports of foreign-made military surplus firearms.
   * Requires licensed dealers to keep records of firearm transactions and authorizes federal officials to inspect dealers' records and inventory.

The Brady Act of 1993

During the attempted assassination of President Reagan by John Hinckley Jr. in 1981, Press Secretary James Brady was severly wounded. In 1985 Brady and his wife, Sarah became active members of Handgun Control, Inc. and began a campaign to pass the Brady Bill.

Click here for a full explanation of the Brady Law.

The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994

   * Bans the manufacture, sale and possession of 19 types of semi-automatic assault weapons and copycat models, as well as other semiautomatic guns with certain characteristics.
   * Outiaws magazines holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
   * Bans juvenile possession of a handgun or handgun ammunition, with limited exceptions, and makes it a crime to sell or give a handgun to anyone 18 or younger.
   * Toughens requirements for firearms dealer licenses.
   * Bars firearms possession by someone subject to a restraining order because of threats of domestic violence.

The Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban of 1996

   * Prohibits anyone convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence offense from buying or owning a gun.

The gun lobby has fought hard to block sensible gun laws. In 1986 they passed the Firearms Owners' Protection Act:

   * Allows gun owners to transport their firearms across state lines if they are unloaded and not readily accessible.
   * Bans future sales and possession of machine guns by private citizens.

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Ok I will stop playing with google, go shoot skeet and go to work. MIKE.