Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-05-26
NEARLY 100000
ALREADY INSURED
About S6o,OOO,OOO Has Been Paid
in Separation Allow
anceS to Date.
CHANGES IN LAW PROPOSED
More Than 100000 Application
Blanks Show Soldiers and Sail
ors Without Dependents.
CHANGES IN LAW PROPOSED
fits Associs,et IT. 1


WASHINGTON. MAY .J-Morc than
$4,000. 600. 900 insurance on tn. lives
of more than 100000 soldiers and
sailors already has been written by
the bureau OF War RISK Insurance.
That is said 10 be more Insurance. all
written since the middle of las, &c
tober than is to-day on tn" books of
the twenty largest life Insurance COM
panies in the world All kinds os
problems have been met with ia achiev-
ing this gigantic task, according TO
Information furnished 10 Congress BY
Thomas u Love. Assistant Secretary -
the Treasury, in charge Of the bureau.
and other officials.
The war risk law provided cor pay
men, OF family allowances and allot-
mcnts and for administration OF a COM
pensation insurance Law app!ica ole to
1000. 900 risks and for the writing Of
this insurance on the lives OF a pos
sible 100000 soldiers and sailors
1. The applications for allowances and
aliotments OF the soldiers sailors
pay had to be obtained from the ends
OF the earth to which those in war ser
vice have been scattered From De-
cembcr 20 until the beginning OF this
month the bureau allied out 100000
individual checks TO families OF depen-
dents in the United States. approxi-
mately .6O,coo.0o0 has been paid out
in allowances and allotmenis; and in
addition many thousand claims for COM
pensation have been made. some paid
and others disal,Owcd.
More than 81 per cent of the soldiers
and sailors listed at the bureau have
taken the insurance. and applications
for it have come in at daily rate in
volving from $50, 0oc 900 10 100000. 600
of insurance during the last month. a
clerical force OF about 1900 people is
employed by the bureau in the work.
y bill is now pending in Congress.
tavorably reported by the House In
terstate Commerce Committee, amend
ing .he law in a number OF details.
providing, for instance, that automatic
! insurance shall be payable TO the
mother. wheth, dependent or not. and
to the father as we'll, and making Other
broadening features in the interest of
the soldiers nearest of kin.
Bureau records show that there are
! .062. 6ol application blanks returned on
which tn man states he has no de.
pendents ot any kind. There is II sur
prisincly larg percentage OF those
men who do have dependents. the first
knowledge OF whom the bureau learns
when I'll dependents write in for in
formation :
One Of the surprising Developments
is the number OF complaints that the
bureau IS getting from mcn who have
asked exemption from ;hcir wives or
who claim they have no wives" In
one city recently Commissioner Eesbit.
OF the bureau, has advised Congresa
he recently sent cn Investigator 20 look
into thir; three cases where men had
claimed exemption from their wives
and id they did not know where the
wives were living. The bureau located
thirty-one OF the thirty-threc wives
within week, an6 the government
has absolute evidence that many of
these men knew where their wives
were. The men did not want the wives
to get t: money
In the course of the testimony re-
Gently given before the House COM
mittee. Paymaster-G General Cowic of
the navy, declared that in TIE cXcep-
;ional cases where naval officers do not
support their families, they arc made
TO do so very quickly. About six
weeks az, = wife called at the Navy
and inside Of fifteen minutes" said
Admiral Cowic. that gentleman was
sent such a letter that he looked out
for her t.. proper order. and inside of
tn days | had an allotment in my
Office from him"
The war risk amendments re being
handled on the floor of the House by
Representative ' Ayburn. OF Texas. n
member OF the Interstate Commerce
Committee.