El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-07-19
IS.
SCANDAL IN
ENGLAND
Government Insurnce Act
Is Causing Many to Feign
Illness.
INSURED NUMBER
100000 Now
oNpoN. Eng, july 1s.-If an men


were perfectly hon st schemes
IL like the Liberal government in
suranee act might be ideal schemes
But the few months in which the act
has been in operation have shown that
many Englishmen cannot resist temp
tation. The amount OF feigned illness
among the insured is becoming a great
scandal In this respect Great Britain
is repeating the experience OF Ger
manv which furnished the model for
the IIoyd George bill The Germans
have invented a new word Tor the III
ness of the government insured ana
some similar word will be needed IN
Many wage workers Sick.
Some employers who pay small wages
find that the number of employees al
sent from work on account OF alleged
illness is from twice to ten lines the
number under former conditions, be
fore WOrkmen and women were assured
of ten ShillinSS a week whenever they
laid off. The doctors agree that there
is an enormous amount OF maIlngerlngs
but have not yet discovered any cure
Many people consider that week OF
leisure, with an income of ten Sh1li1ngss
is a justifiable holiday When the OH
cial doctor asserts that they are not
i'll they begin to denounce the act as
a fraud, and make political capital OF
it Conservative newspapers are only
the insured that the insurance act IS
a failure
Millions Garry Insurance.
Fourteen million people are now pay
ing stamps the governments OpPon-
ents say deriSi Vely. Undoubtedly many
of them find fault with the admins
tratiOn of the act, and probably some
amendments will be found necessary.
New problems develop every day. An
employer has written to the paper eX-
planning that an empiOye had been four
or five months in jail charged with
murder. The trial resulted in acquittal-
The employer wants to take back the
man, but wants to know who is 70
nay the insurance contributions Tor
the time Of detention in jail. The act
says nothing on that point
For the time opposition to the In
surance scheme, or rather criticism OF
it, is the principal political capital Of
the Conservative party. Home rule
and Welsh establishment have taken
back seats as targets for attack. But
while Conservatives declare that com
pulsOry insurance is a failure their
leaders do not go so far as to urge re-
peal It is unpopular with many peO-
pie but whether it is not popular with
the great majority of the insured is
still an open question
No Fourth Generation
A discussion as to whether Londoners
die out with the third generation, as
SO often asserted. has been taking place
gested that it would be difficult to find
a LOndoner of the fourth generation
and as a result has received many cur
ious pedigrees Some Of them date
back 200 years, with great great
grandfather born in the place where
the descendant hopes to die
Most Of these come from districts
where trades are handed down from
father to son. and in almost all of them
it was found that the present genera
ton was carrying on the business es-
tabliShed by their ancestors. 1t has
been pointed out, however, that the
drawn from the country to the city,
where they do not last long.
Criticizes Hospital System.
Sir William Osler, regiuS professor
the opinion of the medical profession
at the inadequacy of the hospital ac-
comm Odation in England and cOmpar-
ing unfavorably the voluntary system
in vogue here with the system in
America and Canada, where all hos
pitfalls accept paying patients
Throughout the United Kingdom the
hospitals accept no pay from their pa
tents, with the result that they are
crowded with those who cannot afford
to pay, and in many cases are partially
closed because the lack of funds will
not allow all the beds to be occupied,
while people who could afford to pay
something have to go to nursing
homes, which are in most cases very
EXPENSIVE, or be nursed at home The
result, according to doctors with large
practices, is that only the very poor
or the very rich get proper medical
attention.
Capitol May Be Altered.
One of the possibilities of the return
of the Liberals to power in Australia
where they secured a majority Of one
over the Labor party in the lower
house, is that the plans for the new
capitol at Canberra may be altered
The design. was opposed by the Liberals
when in opposition, and the architects
Of Sydney have memorialized the new
premier to set 1t aside. OF course the
Liberals are not yet firmly established
in office, for they have to appoint a
speaker, which would leave them with
exactly the same strength on the floor
of the house as that Of the LabOrites,
who also have a majority in the upper
house.
Are Leaving Jerusalem.
Since the extension Of compulsory
military service to non-Moslems. there
has been a marked tendency to emigra-
ton among the more intelligent Jews
and Christians of Jerusalem, a tend
ency which was further accentuated by
the abuses Of the tax collector, and the
encouraging reports received from
friends and relatives already settled in
America, according to the report Of the
British consul stationed there.
The population of Jerusalem, accord
ing to this report, is composed roughly
of $4,000 to so 600 Jews, 1900 Chris
tians and 1900 Mosleras- The British
community, largely missionary enc,
comprises about $50 persons Owing t.
the war and the consequent falling off
in the pilgrim and tourist traffic on
which Jerusalem mainly depends. bust
ness was unusually slack and great dis
treSs prevailed, aggravated for some
time by a financial crisis brought
about by a glut of small coin imported
by native, spectators from TripOli and
Macedonia The enormous cost of Iiv-
ing is also maintained.