June 12 1917 to Tune 30 1919, the end of a fiscal year, the number of policies issued was 6,150; net insurance written, $322,429,408; net premiums received, $842,348; losses paid, $124,724.
By Act of Oct. 6 1917 further amendment made provision for granting allowances by the Government to the families and depend- ents of all enlisted men. To secure this allowance the enlisted man was required to make an allotment from his pay. Two classes of allotment were established: A. compulsory allotment to a wife, child, or divorced wife awarded alimony; B. voluntary allotment to parent, sister, brother, grandchild, or grandparent. To these allotments the Government added allowances, not exceeding $50 per month, as follows. Under Class A. $15 per month was deducted from the enlisted man's pay and addition made by the Government to bring the monthly payment up to $30 for a wife; $40 for a wife and one child; $47.50 for a wife and two children; and $5 for each additional child. Under Class B. the Government added monthly $10 for one parent, $20 for two parents, and $5 for each dependent sister, brother, grandchild or grandparent. If a man, in addition to the compulsory allotment, desired an allowance under Class B. he was required to make an additional allotment of $5 per month. In case of no compulsory allotment, the voluntary allotment under Class B. was $15. Class A. took precedence, and, if the entire Gov- ernment allowance of $50 was required for this, no payment was made under Class B. From Oct. 6 1917 to June 30 1920 requests for allotments and allowances numbered 1,666,607; during the same period 2,807,093 application blanks were returned without such requests. For the fiscal year ending June 30 1920 allotments paid beneficiaries amounted to $20,748,709; Government allowances, $32,819,927.
The Act of Oct. 6 1917 also provided compensation for death or disability of all persons in service, including women in the army and navy nursing corps, in line of duty. The recognized beneficiaries include a widow until remarriage, dependent widower, children under 18 years, and dependent mother or father. Death compensa- tion allowed was as follows: widow, $25 per month; widow and one child, $35; widow and two children, $42.50; widow and three chil- dren, $47.50; widow and four children, $52.50, with no further allow- ance for additional children. If the deceased were a woman, $20 per month was granted for the first fatherless child, $iq in addition for the second, $10 in addition for the third, $5 in addition for the fourth, and $5 in addition for the fifth, with no further allowance for others. A mother or father was allowed $20 per month, and, if both were dependent, $15 each. The maximum death compensa- tion was $75 per month. Compensation for disability depended upon its seriousness and duration. For a man totally disabled it was as follows: unencumbered, $30 per month; if he had a wife, $45; if he had a wife and one child, $55; $10 additional each for a second and third child, with no further allowance; and $10 additional for each dependent father or mother. At the close of the fiscal year, June 30 1920, compensation was being allowed on 42,945 death claims, and on 134,408 disability claims, the latter involving a monthly payment of $5,036,103. In the case of disabled persons provision was also made that the Government furnish free medical service and sup- plies, including artificial limbs so far as "reasonably necessary."
A novel feature of the Act of Oct. 6 1917 was the provision for granting insurance at peace-time rates to any person, man or woman, in active military or naval service. Such insurance was wholly vol- untary, and could be taken out, in multiples of $500, for any amount from $1,000 to $10,000 inclusive, at a monthly premium rate vary- ing from 63 cents per $1,000 at the age of 15 to $3.35 at the age of 65. All persons in service Dec. 14 1917 were given until April 12 1918 to apply for policies, and those entering later were given 120 days. Among the beneficiaries allowed were wife, husband, child, grand- child, sister, brother, stepbrother, stepsister, adopted brother or sister, parent, grandparent, and step-parent. A man's fiancee could not be named as beneficiary. This insurance was issued on the yearly renewal basis, to be continued as term insurance for five years after the proclamation of peace, when it would automatically expire. Privilege, however, was granted for converting this temporary insurance, in whole or in part, into one of the permanent forms of Government insurance, including ordinary life, 2O-payment life, 3O-payment life, 2O-year endowment, 3O-year endowment, and endowment maturing at the age of 62. Premiums on converted policies may be paid monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. In the case of monthly premiums, 31 days of grace are provided. If term insurance is allowed to lapse, reinstatement may be secured within 18 months after discharge from service or 12 months after lapse, but health of the applicant must be as good as it was at the time when the premium was first withheld. Never before was insur- ance on such a large scale undertaken. The cost of administration was assumed by the Government and not included in the computa- tion of the premiums for term insurance. The hazards of war were ignored and peace-time terms offered, such as no commercial com- pany could have undertaken. The inevitable loss to the Govern- ment was regarded as part of the cost of the war. All converted insurance was to be administered by the Government and not han- dled through commercial companies. At the time of the Armistice, Nov. ii 1918, there were on file 4,152,787 applications for insur- ance. Between Oct. 6 1917 and June 30 1920 there were filed 4-631,993 applications for term insurance, requesting a total insur-
ance of $40,284,892,500, an average of about $8,697. O" 1 the last- mentioned date there had been issued 4,610,185 certificates for term insurance. The amount involved exceeded that in all commercial life insurance companies and fraternal organizations of the United States combined. About 98 % of the enlisted personnel had taken advantage of this unprecedented opportunity. Every effort was made to induce policy-holders to convert their war-risk insurance into some form of permanent Government insurance, but by far the greater number allowed their policies to lapse. In 1921 all the activities concerning the welfare of ex-service men were consoli- dated in the Veterans' Bureau.
PENSIONS MINISTRY (Great Britain). Before the World
War the Admiralty and the War Office were responsible in the United Kingdom for the award and payment of service and disability pensions. The commissioners of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, acted for the War Office in respect of pensions to warrant officers, N.C.O.'s and men. Pensions to privates and N.C.O.'s were paid quarterly by the regimental paymaster, those to officers and warrant officers by the paymaster-general. In the financial year 1913-4 there were in round numbers 60,000
service and 25,000 disability pensions for the army (men), and
for the navy 33,000 and 7,700 respectively. The total annual
cost to the State was 3,695,000. In the subsequent changes the
disability pensioners were transferred to the new organizations,
the service pensions remaining unaffected.
The first war alteration was made in Sept. 1914. A Central Army Pension Issue Office was set up and weekly instead of quarterly payment of pensions was authorized. Next, by the War Pensions Act 1915, the local war pensions committees were set up, under a statutory central committee " for the purpose of administering supplementary assistance in case of hardship and providing for the after-care of disabled officers and men." These committees were appointed under schemes of local authorities, more than half the membership being nomi- nated by these authorities. The Ministry of Pensions was subsequently set up by the Act of Dec. 1916. This transferred to a minister responsible to Parliament the powers and duties of the Admiralty, the War Office, and the Chelsea Commissioners " in respect of the administration and payment of pensions and grants to officers and men, to their widows, children and depend- ents and to persons in the nursing service of the Naval and Military forces," the administration of service pensions being left with the service departments. It was provided that the powers and duties of the statutory committee above referred to should be continued under the control of the minister, who should communicate through it with the local committee. This arrangement proved unworkable, and in 1917 a new War Pensions Act dissolved the statutory committee and transferred its powers to the minister. A pensions appeal tribunal was set up. In 1919 a further Act conferred a statutory title to pension, subject to the conditions of the royal warrant. Previously it had been, in theory, only an act of grace. Independent statutory appeal tribunals were also appointed.
In the Ministry of Health Act (1919) provision was made for the transfer by order in council of " all or any of the powers and duties of the Ministry of Pensions with respect to the health of disabled officers and men after, they have left the service" to the Minister of Health, at a date " not earlier than one year or later than three years after the termination of the present war." A further addition to the series of the Pension Acts was made in 1920, when an Act was passed providing that after the termination of the present war fresh cases were not to be transferred to the Ministry of Pensions, but were to remain, as in pre-war days, under the care of the War Office and Admiralty respectively, to whom the Air Ministry must now be added. Finally under the War Pensions bill of 1921, it was proposed that the large proportion of temporary awards should be converted into permanent awards, a right of appeal being granted to the pensioner. The period was to be within four years of his discharge from the service or after the first award of a pension to him. The administrative functions of the local war pensions committees were also to be limited and the numbers of these bodies reduced.
Award of Pensions. Pension finance, generously revised at the outbreak of the World War, was reorganized from time to time in
