Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-07-26
ALLOTMENT TO DEPENDENTS
War Risk Board Points Out Cause OF
Delay.

ISidy.
Washington. july 2O.--Thc Opc-
ration OF the bureau OF war risk IN
suIancc, the causes oi delay IN the
paymcnt OF ahotrncntS and allow
anccs To the wives and other relatives
of soldiers and sailors and the work
ing of the pension laws are discussed
at length III Il report submitted by
the special board appointed In May 10y
the secretary oi war and the sccrc-
tary oi the treasury To investigate
the matter. The inquiry Was III" re-
suit OF the numerous complaints oi
delay IN receiving allotment, allow
ancc checks and pension checks. 1Ec
numerous causes Ui delay arc set iorlh
in detail Many vi them cannot bt
fairly charged to In" war risk bu-
rcau. In not Il icw instances Tn.
| soldier or sailor after informing his
wife or other rclativ" that he would
make an allotment failed To do So
Months pisscd before the relative
complained to the bureau or 10 "a
senator Oh representative. Time was
then required to advise the COM
nanding officer OF the soldier oi
sailor AMI arrange 10 have Il portion
OF his pay withheld. Upward oi
20, 0UO enlisted men refused to MAKE
allutmcnts to their wives on TN"
ground Of dcScrtiOn, unworthlncSS Ol
other causes. Every such instance
had To bc carefully investigated.
More than 5000 such claims for en-
cmption from making allOtm"nts have
la.cn allowed and many others are
still undecided. y summary of the
report follows:
Every enlisted man. whether hc has
dependents OF not. is required To file
with the war risk insurance bureau
a blank upon which are scheduled
facts relating To Class y relatives
(wifc, child or former wife divorced,
in respect TO whom the allotment OF
pay is compulsory and certain in
formation as to Class B dependents
,mOthrr, father, brother or sister in
respect to whom the allotment is en-
tircly Voluntary which information
must include the amount which the
enlisted man had habitunlly con-
tributrd 10 their support prior To ms
entrance into the service. The num-
Der OF such applications on lilc with
the bureau on June II. 1918. was
2,3l3.NNO. OF the 2.3l3.hNO state
mcntS on file there are 1871, ,l3O III
which the enlisted men have de-
claIrd that they have no dependents
and therefore have allotted no part
OF their pay. The rXpcricnc" OF the
bureau has been that in many such
eases dependents do exist and the
failure To report them is due either 10
a miSundrl standing ON the part OF
the soldier or his wilful intention to
miSrcprcSent conditions, so that he
may hc spared the necessity Oi allot-
ting part of his pay.
I'm some cases il has developed that
although hr has reported no depend
cnts the enlisted man has mislrd tho
wife or mother 10y writing TO her that
nc las allotted part of his pay and
that she should receive each month IL
check from the government. After
waiting some time and failing to re-
ccivc Il check. the wife or mother
either writes to the bureau Or cu'n-
plains to her senator or congress
man. AS soon as the bureau is noti
fled of this situation Il special APP
plication blank is forwarded TO the
which she can lay the
basis of her claim. claim: .,SSdppooTtGaI by the
testimony OF witnesses. 1t is tnsSI
definitely aScertaincd whether the
man is in the service and il such is
the case ln award is made and the
commanding officer OF the soldier Is
notified oil the facts. The command
ing officer then withholds Il part Of
the mans pay each month To rcim-
bursc the bureau for the allOtmcn,
which il forwards each month.
Under the present law nothing can
hc done in the ease of dependent
mothers for whom the soldier has
not made IN allotment. Tor they come
under Class Is. and it is entirely
voluntary upon the part OF tho soldier
To make allotment for the benefit Of
dependents within that classification.
In these cases Il notice Is sent to the
commanding officer with the suggcS-
tion that he bring the situation to the
attention OF the enlisted man and
urge him to make suitable allotment.
so that the bureau may pay the al
lowancc justified hy the facts. In
view of the large number Of appli-
cations alleging no dependents. the
committee decided 10 have Il more
definite warning given TO enlisted
men, and in the future a warning
notice will bc printed i'm large type on
each application.
The notice will call attention to the
fact that failure to report the cX
istcncc OF wife or child. or the
making OF any false statement in such
report will render the offender liable
TO two years Imprisonment, Il fine of
$4,000 or both. II will also urge the
enlisted man having dependents in
Glass B (mothcr. minor sister. minor
brother, etc., to allot some portion of
his pay for their benefit and to cor
rectly state the amount of the hab-
tual monthly contribution previously
made for their support.
One Of the most common causes of
delay, for which the bureau is not re-
sponsiblc. is the giving of an incor-
rect address of the beneficiary either
through carelessncss or confusion on
the part of the soldier. The applica-
tion blanks, in many cases. contain
insufficient or incorrect addresses and
the checks cannot he delivered by the
postal authorities. In other cases the
allottee has moved without giving the
proper forwarding address. Over
Y OOO chpcks orc returned each month