Norwich bulletin., 1917-08-27
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
 FOR SoLDIERS' FAMILIES
Government Alone Can Assume the
 Responsibility of the Burden.
Especial to The Bulletin.)

Responsibility of the Burden. | Especial to The Bulletin.) l Washington, D. C.. Aug. 26.-It is a | Cross that. at the instance of Secre- | tary of the Treasury McAdoo. a com 1 prehensive measure providing for the financial assistance of the families of 1 American soldiers and sailors has been introduced in congress.
 Henry P. Dawson, chairman. on be- | half of the Red Cross War Council, | recently authorized the following: | Obviously the task of providing 1 for the financial assistance of the | families of our soldiers and sailors is
 so large that the government alone | can assume it. In no other way can
 the burden be discharged fairly and as | d matter of right rather than charity. No voluntary organization, or organ1-
 zations, could adequately cope with ] duty Cf such magnitude"
 | The bill which was introduced in
 both houses of congress simultaneous | ly, represents a very careful study or the whole problem of possible depen- | dency as 8 result of the war and l conscientious estimate of the govern
 ment's recognition of its >Sesponsfbil- 1 ity.
 | As drawn. the bill is an amendment
 to the act establishing the bureau of | war risk Insurance and adds to the i functions of this bureau the admins l tration of family allowances and al 1 lotments to dependents. of compensa- 1 tion for death or disability, and Of llfe | insurance for men in the military or naval service.
 1 In a memorandum, Secretary Mc- AGoo explains the operation or the 1 proposed legislation.
 q realize" says the secretary of the treasury, that the cost involved in the promulgation of such a comprehensive i plan is a most important factor to be considered. Actual estimates were submitted to me. These estimates are necessarily of a tentative character. owing to the fact that it is impossi- ble to secure accurate data upon which to base calculations. After careful consideration of these esti- mates, and after consultation with Captain S. H. Wolfe. of the war de-
 partment. one of the leading actuaries of the country. I have reached the | conclusion that if the bill is promptly enacted into law the total expenditure
 for the first and second years will be as follows
 Family allowances. first year SAL,
 0o0,00 second year s1O0,000.0 900
 Death indemnities. first year, sS,70O,- GOO; second year. s22.ooo,ooo-
 S POO 900: second year, s35, 100000
 Compensation for partial disa bility, first year, s3,2oo,ooo; second year. $21 900 900.
 Insurance against death and disa- bility first year. s23,OOo, 900; second year, SIP. 300, ,000
 Total first year SITS, ,15O, 900; sec ond year, s3S0, 5O0,0O0
 ''The bill is intended to meet those essential and fundamental principles of justice which you have so much at heart. Its main purpose is to grant a reasonable government indemnity against the losses and risks incurred in the discharge of a patriotic duty and in the performance of an extraor- dinarily hazardous service to which the government has called and forced the citizen. It provides not only for the man but for his family.
 Tt aims to accomplish these ends by granting a reasonable measure of indemnity against risk of loss: CD of support of the bread winner; (2) of life and limb, (3) of present insur ability at ordinary rates.
 The risk of dependency. in the case of an enlisted mans family. is in demnified against by allotment of part of the pay of the enlisted man, sup granted and paid by the government"
 This system, as explained. means that the enlisted man shares with the government in providing for the if pulsory allotments from the enlisted mans pay must equal the family al lowance from the government, with a minimum, however of S15. monthly, There is a scale of allowances deter mined by the size of the dependent family, so that the monthly family allowance ranges from B to $50, ac- cording to the number of dependents.
 Secretary McAdoo illustrates the working of the system in the follow mig example: "A private gets $33 a month for service abrOadl If he has a wife and two children he must aHot to them at least S15 out of his pay. 1 The government supplements this by giving the family an allowance of S32.50. This family's minimum month l Y hn RI The father can allot as much more IS he pleases. If there is another child, 1 the government will allow s addi- | tionaL If that man should have q | father or mother actually dependent | upon him. he can secure an allotment | of $10 a month from the government i for the parent by ailoting $5 more Of | his pay. Thus. the private with a | actually dependent upon him. by giv | ing $20 out of his $33 month, would | get from the government $47.50 a | month-giving the family an income | $13 per month for spending money. | If there are more children. or if there | is also a dependent father, the gov | ernment would give up to $50 in all, | over and above the mans own aliot 1 ment."
 To instiH thrift. to enable man | to build up a fund out of which he | can pay the insurance premiums. and, |
 
 and democracy among the members of | our own forces and between them and | the allies. provision is made enabling | the war department and the navy de- | pertinent, by regulation. to compel l men who do not allot one-half of their | pay to deposit much of the half l pay as is not allotted these deposits | to bear interest at per cent per an | mum, compounded semi annually.
 "The risk of disa bility or death IS | to officers, men, and nurses while in | active service as part of the military i or naval forces of the United States l is indemnified against by compensa- | tion on the analogy of the workmans | compensation act rather than through | a pension system
 If total disa bility results from | personal injury suffered or disease | contracted in the course of the ser | vice, the compensation. based on the i percentage of pay. but with a mini mum of from $40 to s75 per month, | according to the size of the family, 1 may increase for the higher officers