New Britain herald., 1918-05-21
U. 5. IN INSURANCE
 ON LARGE SCALE
95 Per Cent. Of Soldiers and
 Sailors Are Protected >.

Washington, May 21.-More than 10000, 100000 insurance on the lives of more than 1,S00O0 soldiers and sailors already has been written by the Bureau of War Risk Insur- ance. That is said to be more insur- ance, all written since the middle of last October, than is today on the books of the twenty largest life in surance companies in the world. All kinds of problems have been met with in achieving this gigantic task, according to information furnished to congress by Thomas E. Love. as- sistant secretary of the treasury in charge of the bureau. and other of- hCials.
 The war risk law provided for pay ment of family allowances and al- lOtments and for administration of compensation insurance law applic- able to 100000 risks and for the writing of this insurance on the lives of a possible 2,000,000 soldiers and sailors. The applications for allow ances and allotments of the soldiers or sailors pay had to be obtained from the ends of the earth to which those in war service have been scat tered. From December 20 until the beginning of this month the bureau mailed out 2,30O,000 individual checks to families of dependents in the United States, approximately e0,000,000 has been paid out in al- loWances and allotments; and in ad- dition many thousand claims for comp pensation have been made, some paid and others disallowed
 More than 95 per cent of the sol diers and sailors listed at the bureau have taken the insurance and appli- cations for it have come in at a daily rate involving from $50,000,000 to $100,000,000 of insurance during the last month. A clerical force of about 4,300 people is employed by the bu- reau in the work. A bill is now pending in congress favOrably report ct by the house interstate commerce committee, amending the law in number of details, providing for in stance that automatic insurance shall be payable to the mother whether dependent or not and to the father as well, and making other broadening features in the interest of the sol dier's nearest of kin
 Bureau records show that there are 1C62. .O91 application blanks returned On which the man states he has no dependents of any kind. There is Q surprisingly large percentage of those men who do have dependents, the first knowledge of whom the bu- reau learns when the dependents write in for information.
 One of the surprising developments is the number of complaints that the
 bureau is getting from men who have asked exemption from their wives or who claim they have no wives" In one city recently Conn missioner Nesbit of the bureau, has advised congress, he recently sent an investigator to look into 33 cases where men had claimed exemption from their wives and said they did not know where the wives were liv ing. The bureau located 31 of the B wives within week and the govern ment has absolute evidence that many of these men knew where their wives were. The men did not want 1 the wives to get the money.
 In the course of the testim ony re- l gently given before the house com mittee Paymaster General Cowie, of 1 the navy, declared that in the excep-
 not support their families they are l made to do so very quickly. About | six weeks ago a wife called at the
 navy department about failure of , support and inside of fifteen min utes" said Admiral Cowie, that gen l tleman was sent such a letter that he l looked out for her in proper order | and inside of three days l had an al l lotment in my office from him" l The war risks amendments are