The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-07-01
BY Providing Benefit Of 81
GOO, Pensions Would
Be Eliminated.
PRESENT PLAN is BAD
Congress Greatly Slowed Up
by Inefficient System of
Giving Aid.
by L. Harper lssch.

~ - 00Tp0r 6eoC0s
Washington, June 3O.-1nsurance
and protection--or more pensions and
politics? This is one Of the live war
questions now being worked ont by
experts of the department of COM
merce. who are laying plans for the
insurance OF every soldier sent to
France
Insuring every. soldier with a $4,000
free policy. made out for the benefit
OF his dependents or next of kin, will
be a gigantic job. 1t will make Uncle
Sam one OF the biggest insurance
agents in the world. He will have to
write the policies and assume the
risks. as there is no one else in the
world who would do it,
Not impossible.
But II is not an Impossible job
Gigantic as the cost would be. 1t would
not come anywhere, near the amount
the American people pay every year
for insurance. which is close to n bill
lion dollars.
Best Of all, it would settle at the
outset the pension nuisance which
has trailed al our former wars
with unending scandals, machine
politics and graft on pensioners.
Uncle Sam is paying out every year
about $l60,000,00O in pensions. ana the
figure has been much higher. For all
his wars he has paid $5054. 630,727 in
pensions. and $131,37E,500 in salaries
to the pension department.
These figures make the insurance
plan seem very attractive. It will be
more just 1t will settle the accounts
between the government and the SOL
diers' relatives at once. and the latter
will not have to wait for justice.
Would Clean Politics.
Ending the pension system would
probably clean up politics and intro
duce speed and efficiency In congress
more than any other measure.
Today much of the time OF congress
Is taken up with pension matters.
Nearly every congressman is in ef-
feet pension lawyer. pushing pri-
vate pension bills for his constituents.
The extent of this nuisance can be
partially grasped from the following
figures. which refer to the private pen
sion bills introduced by a few MEM
hers in the first II days Of the 64th,
congress-
Pension System.
The total number of private pension
bills introduced in that time was Ala.
with 1911 bills to change military rec
ordsSto facilitate private pension grabs
TO come later. The total Of public bills
for the same period was only 75S.
V,rst IN ,,c{n &c. or, ut
tempt to get something from the gov
eminent. which would not be allowed
under the general pension laws.
Contrast this sickening weller of
spoils and politics with the scientific
and profitable operation of the war
risk bureau under which the United
States has been insuring American
merchantmen for nearly three years.
II the government can insure
the ships and cargoes Of it's citi-
zens. il can certainly insure it's
soldiers.
The private insurance companies arc
rather fearful of the proposed plan.
hut have assured the council of ma
tional defense that they will not OBJ
ject, If the government will undertake
not to continue in the insurance bust
ness after the war.
OF course the government will sus-
tain a direct loss of $4,000 whenever
n, soldier is killed, as It is planned to
issue the policies free of all premiums
nm TO that amount. The proposed gov
eminent insurance bureau would. how
ever. issue policies for amounts in cx-
cess of the $4,000, on payment of pre-
miums.
These premiums would be high, MS
~ experience of Canadian insuranc"
companies. which had written policies
for Canadian soldiers, shows there will
he tremendous losses.