Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-07
BENEFITS NOT LARGE
Merits of Workmen's Insur-
ance Discussed.
MANY FUNDS INVESTIGATED
Only Small Percentage Pay Super
annuation Benefits.
LETTER CARRIERS ORGANIZED
Committee of One Hundred Issues
Statement on Protection of
Laboring Men.
MANY FUNDS INVESTIGATED
LETTER CARRIERS ORGANIZED

The committee of one hundred, which
is working in the interests of the civil
employees of the government, has pre-
pared a. discussion of the merits Of the
workmen's insurance and benefit funds
in the United States. 1t was made pub
lie last night by former Senator Charles
Dick, managing director of the commit
tee The statement of the committee is
as follows:
The twenty-third annual report Of the
commissioner of labor for 1869 is entitled
'Workmen's Insurance and Benefit
Funds in the United States It records
the remarkable growth in the United
States in the last quarter CT a century
in the application Of the principle OF in
surance for the protection of workmen
as a distinct class against sickness, acc1-
dent, DEATH old age or other adversely.
The field is covered in part only by the
regular insurance companies, though
many o1d-line companies now sell 1nsur-
ance against sickness as freely as they
do against death and accident. Mutual
benefit associations. which are open to
all, pay out millions annually in life and
health insurance benefits. This report
however, is confined to a study of various
schemes of insurance designed for the
benefit of wage earners and persons on
small salaries, and the benefits paid in
each case are comparatively small.
Few for approximation.
about 1900 funds were investigated
most of which are maintained by labor
organizations. Some of them limit their
membership to the employees Of a particu-
lar establishment. Reports were obtained
concerning fifty railroad funds. The two
principal classes Of benefits paid are for
death and temporary disability. 1t is
said that:
''Only a small percentage Of the funds
pay approximation benefits: that is
benefits to members who have passed
a prescribed age. This kind of insurance
has not made much progress in the United
States, though it seems to be meeting
with some favor In recent years. The
principal funds making such provision
are the railroad pension funds. The ma
ducing this feature. In the funds paying
this kind of benefits. approximation is
not always clearly differentiated from dis
ability incident to old age. and the bene-
fit is paid under circumstances blending
these two factors. Length of service is
an element entering into the superannua-
ton benefits. Two motives appear to
actuate in the Introduction of this form
of benefit or insurance. First, philan-
thropy, and second, a desire on the part
of labor organizations to hold their men,
bers, and of employers to keep their en-
ployes permanently in their employ.
Letter Carriers Organized.
1.-The letter carriers of the United States
have a mutual benefit association, now
twenty years old, composed Of members
oF 10 NO Acc Of Of
riers and subject to the supervision of
that body, which pays death benefits not
in excess of 5000 on monthly assess
ments ranging from s231 at the age of
twenty-one years to S5.49 at the age of
fifty. These rates were adopted in 1906
Superseding the previous schedule, which
had proved inadequate. In the fiscal year
1908 sixty-three claims were paid, aggre-
eating $156, 252.17
THE letter carriers also maintain a sep
arate and distinct retirement association.
organized in 1902. which provides a
scheme of annuity and disability pay
ments, and members may belong to either
class or to both. An annuity member
who withdrawS is repaid what he has
paid in as premiums with interest at +
per cent per annum upon the surrender
of his certificate. If in arrears for four
months, he is treated as if he had with
drawn. Annuity certificates are issued
IN sums or $1OU, $2JO, $3OU, S4OO ana $JOO.
The premium rates are determined by the
age at the time of taking out certificate
and by the age at which the annuity is
to be given The minimum age for en-
tering is twenty years and the maximum
is SiXty-five.
May Borrow on Certificates.
"Annuities may be purchased to begin
at the age Of thirty years. or any five
year period between that age and the age
Of seventy, and payments continue there
after for the balance of the life of the
member. The disability benefit payment
is s. a week. limited to twenty weeks
in any one year. Members may borrow
money on their certificates. II the earn
ings of the retirement fund exceed per
cent, the surplus is apportioned among
the annuity members.
''Of 461 benefit funds maintained in in
dustrial establishments, only five provide
for approximation benefits, of which
tirely by the establishment and two are
supported Jointly by the establishment
and the employees. The age Of eligibility
to these benefits is either sixty-five or
seventy years, and generally twenty-five
years service is required. One estab-
liShment pays approximation benefit Of
$500 in q lump sum; the others make
monthly payments for ife-in one case
$40 per month, in another SIS to s25 per
month, dependent upon the average