davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-26
The New Measure Providing Sick
and Maternity Benefits---
How 1t Would Work

assigned to it and has taken upon itself
a wide range of economic and social func-
tons. The people have got used to seeing
the state do many things which individuals
used to be expected to do for themselves.
The spectacle of government concerning it
self intimately with the industries and the
welfare of the people has become familiar.
All this tends to make supporters for prof.
ects of social insurance.
A concrete illustration is furnished by the
government plan of war risk insurance.
Under this Elan the government has pro-
vded for enlisted men separation allow
ances for their families, disability and
death benefits, and life insurance at net
cost.
The state has recognized and discharged
the obligation to protect men in the mill
tary and naval service against the peculiar
hazards of that service The example Of
government war risk insurance will surely
prove contagious Men who have enjoyed
the benefits Of state insurance scheme in
time Of war are pretty sure to ask for its
continuance and extension in time of peace.
They will reason that industrial service
is, after all, wcllnigh as important as
military service and ought to- be rewarded
not less generously.
Indeed, the catchword Soldiers of In
dustry," was used effectively in the cam
paign for old age pensions in England
and TIE British Colonies more than ten
years ago. The analogy between military
and industrial service is not entirely cx-
act, but it is close enough TO make a
strong popular appeal
Another force that will accelerate the
movement for health and other forms of
social insurance is the pressure CT So
cialsm. The enactment Of the British
old age pension law in 1908 admitted
ly concession to socialism. Many CON
servative statesmen who disapproved this
measure in principle nevertheless sup
ported it because they believed that it
would help to check the spread Of social
ism. The menace Of possible Bolshevst
movement in this country to-day will help
to incline thoughtful conservative opinion
favorabiy toward proposals of social IN
surance. Revolutionary social movements
in general cannot be checked by coercive
and repressive measures alone. A positive
and constructive programme of social re-
form is essential. The most effective line
Of defence against revolutionary move
ments directed against the very founda-
lions of the present social system is the
enactment of carefully considered measures
that will help to remedy the evils and cor
rect the abuses which have grown up
around this system and. to improve indus
trial and social conditions for the working
masses.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-26
New Ideal
Of Service

The war has also brought profound
changes in American conceptions Of the
reciprocal relation of the individual and
the state, which cannot fail to add impetus
to the movement for social insurance in
general.
A new ideat~ of service has grown up
during the war Altruistic motives have
come into play as never before Men and
women have heard the call to give unre-
servedly their resources and their energies,
not for self and family alone, but for the
state and humanity. With the duty of ser
vice on the part of the individual goes hand
in hand the duty Of the state to render
fair reward for loyal service. This must
include provision for protecting the indi-
vdual against the hazards and hardships
imposed by service.
Closely connected with this new concep-
ton of service there has developed new
conception of the state. The activities of
the state have been enormously extended in
consequence of the war. Government has
transcribed the narrow sphere formerly
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-26
-Four Hundred
HOvVIandS

Gideon Rowland, the ancestor, was born
at Round Hills, South Dartmouth, Mass, in
1874 and had died in 1923. He was a de-
scendant of Henry Howund, who was
brother of John Rowland, the Pilgrim For
more than 200 years the family home at
Round Hills, and located not far from Salt
ers Point, has been in the Rowland family
and was owned by Mrs. Green at the time
of her death. Gideon Rowland had large
family. No less than eleven sons and
daughters grew to manhood and woman
hood and in turn left children Not less
than 430 persons now trace their ancestry
to ann, Hetty Green's son and daughter be-
ing among the number. The case is inter
esting from its very complexity, and af-
fords evidence that the law is abundantly
able to effect equitable division of estates.
even in the absence Of explicit Testament
tary instructions; in the present case, since
the estate has been in the hands Of trus-
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-26

VEN since 1860, or Tor more IMAM
III half a century, one phase or an
u other of the famous Sylvia Ann
Rowland will has been in the Fed
eral and Massachusetts courts. Hetty
Green's name has ever and always been
associated with the matter, ever and al
WAYS in a prominent way, and some OF the
interest in it was due to that fact But
taken all in all, first and last, the case IS
about as long drawn out interesting and
as complicated one as has ever been
before our American courts.
Its beginnings take US back to the time
when Miss Rowland died at New Bedford
in the year noted. The woman known
to the world as Hetty Green was then about
Twenty-Five years of age and was not
married The will of Miss Rowland did
not suit her neice, then Hetty Robinson,
and the latter apparently set on foot ways
and means Of contesting it, Her method
was by bill in the Federal courts. 1t was
contended by her that she and her aunt had
agreed to make mutual wills; in case of
the death Of one, the survivor was to take
the estate of the other. An attempt was
also made to show that the will of Miss
Rowland a forgery.
Miss Robinson's suit directed against
Edward ID. Mandell, George Rowland, jr.,
and William A. Gordon, they being the
trustees of the estate. The bill set up
specific contract for an exchange of wills,
so Miss Robinson contended, and that
neither should make any other will without
notice to the other and the return in both
cases Of the others will Hctty was the
niece and sole heir t-law OF Miss Rowland
and had previously inherited considerable
estate from her mother, Abby Robinson. An
attempt was made in the trial which fol-
lowed to show that Miss Rowland at
variance with Mr.. Robinson, the father OF
Hetty, and that the case was one where she
had tried to exclude him from any interest
or share in her property and also to secure
the property of his only child, Hetty, If she
died before Miss Rowland. 1t was shown in
the case that Hetty had made will in
pursuance Of this agreement and had dis
inherited her father. Also it shown
that upon the making Of Wills they had
been exchanged. But this was not all.
Hetty's viii vent 80 far as to give her
estate, in case of her aunt's death before
hers 10 charitable uscsl 1t must be kept
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-26

"i'h one additional director to be chosen
ny majority vote. The administration of
the entire plan, including the insurance
1unds' is placed in the hands of the State
Industrial Commission.
The need Of a comprehensive scheme of
Meath insurance must be admitted nv anv
one who has given thoughtful attention to
the problem Of sickness among WORKING
people Official estimates of the extent
OF the annual loss on account of sickness
IN TINS country place the wage loss at
approximately five hundred million dollars
and the expenses of medical treatment and
supplies at approximately one hundred and
eighty million dollars. 1t is estimated that
the amount of dependency due to sickness
is seven times as great as that due to ac
cldents. At present this burden of loss
tails in each case upon the individual
worker 1t is now proposed that the prin
clple Of insurance shall be applied here
wlth the twofold object of distributing tho
burden of loss equitably and Of reducing
the amount of the loss itself
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-26

challenge. The increase Of the average
number of days lost through sickness can
not be regarded as necessarily indicating
the loss OF industrial efficiency and produc-
tive power for the working population as
a whole. Indeed, the fact that more time
on the average has been lost, ostensibly on
account OF sickness may indicate that the
workers have been enabled through the
1aclNtles for insurance to take the time
from work really needed in order to effect
thorough cure of occasional ailments and
thus to enhance their working power in the
long run. 1t may be contendcd in short,
that while health insurance may result in
a slight increase of the amount of time
lost through illness, it raises the level of
health and efficiency for the workers as
whole In this connection it may be pointed
out that the tendency 20 prolongation of
sickness periods is not peculiar to state
health insurance; precisely the same ten
dency is observable under private health
insurance. This tendency. in general, must
be regarded as natural and beneficial.
Furthermore, any unwholesome tendency
In this direction is undoubtedly offset and
ontweighed greatly by the powerful stimu-
lus to sickness prevention and health con-
servation which a we'll organized plan of in
surance brings to bear both upon the emf
ployer and upon the employe. The oppo-
nents of health insurance emphasize the
importance of prevention as an alternative
to naturalization in dealing with the prob
lem Of industrial Sickness But these
two are not alternative; they are corrclative
That Is, indemnifcation provided through
health insurance leads to prevention. This
relation of cause and effect has been demon
strated clearly in the case of workmen's
compensation insurance. The enactment OF
workmen's compensation laws by bringing
nome to the employer the magnitude of the
loss through industrial accidents furnished
an effective incentive to prevent accidents
by adopting all practicable measures for
the protection of life and limb of the work
ers. 1t gave tremendous impetus to the
safety First" movement Similarly. the in
stitution of health insurance would unoues-
tlonably promote widespread movement
among employers to prevent sickness and
to conserve health among the workers. 1t
would popularize new slogan, Health
First" This stimulus to prevention and
conservation would be felt by the employe,
as we'll as by the employer Just as the
latter would be stimulated to provide bet
ter sanitary conditions in his plant, so the
former would be melted to give more atten-
tiQn to personal hygiene and domestic SAM
tation. 1t cannot be doubted that the per
manent effect of health insurance would
thus be to reduce the volume of industrial
sickness loss and to heightcn the efficiency
of the national labor force.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-26
Problems in
Long Division

In the preparation Of their data and re-
ports the trustees proceeded on the the
or. that the first initial division of the
trust property should be on the basis Of
torty-hfths, there having been forty-five
grandchildren of Gideon Rowland. Three
were alive at the time Mrs Green died
The reason for the course of the trustees
was due to two Massachusetts, decisions
which are to the effect that when there are
no living members of any generation in de-
scent from a grandchild, that generation
should be passed over and the division
made in equal shares among the next gen.
GRAFTON in which there are still living mem
bers.
Judge Hopkins in the Probate Court so
decided, and while he did not write an
opinion it was pointed out that the con-
clusion of Miss Howland's trust clause was
not unlike the Massachusetts statute. which
determines who shall take the personal
property left by persons who do not leave
wills. This provision is in eoual
shares to children and the issue of any de-
ceased child by right Of representation; and
II there IS no child of the intestate living
at death, then to all other lineal descen-
dants; If all descendants are in the same
degree Of kindred to the intestate, they
shall share the estate equally; otherwise
they Shalt take according to the right Of
esentation." The Supreme Judicial
Court OF Massachusetts has decided with
the Probate Court on the division of FORTY
iIiths, and the estate is now in process ~
distribution The shares in money range
from about $4,000 in an individual case
down to only about $50.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-26
E1etty Green's Famous Fight for the Rowland Will

fcient to warrant giving decree in favor
of Miss Robinson.
1t was brought out in the case that the
aunt had talked to the trustee, Gordon,
along the same line as claimed by Miss
Robinson in her bill and had said she would
make another will but for the pledge to
her niece. But she also said, in referring
to her niece =" she dinned me and
leased me and gave me peace till did"
Hetty's testimony was to the effect that she
had made will dated September 10, 1862
and gave the instrument to her aunt in
yellow envelope and never saw it again
until day or two after the death Of the
aunt. Edward II. Green, who became her
husband, confirmed this.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-26
Still Opposed
By Some

The project of health insurance is, of
course, obnoxious to persons who cling
blindly to the DID, conservative, individual
istic ideal. AS solution to the problem
of workmen's insurance, this ideal offers
merely the gospel of thrift supplemented by
the advocacy of a living wage. That is, the
solution Of the problem is found in the pay
ment of an adequate living wage to every
WORKER adequate not only for the comfort
able maintenance of the individual and fam
,ly. but also for provision against all emer-
gencies OF life, including accident, sick
ness, unemployment, invalidity and old age
and the practice on the part Of each
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-26
five Hundred Million
Lost in Sickness

ne essence OF insurance is simply the
distribution among number of persons
OF volume OF loss which, if borne inoi-
Vldualiy, would in many cases be over
whelnlng, bat which can be borne collec-
lively with comparative ease. This insur-
ance principle has been applied widely in
the field OF business, but hitherto. az Pro-
lessor Irving Fisher has pointed out. it has
been utilized only to a very slight extent
Tor the purpose Of relieving the hazards
ard hardships Of the workers. "The we'll
to Co., says Professor Fisher, "have long
made use of it in fire insurance, life in
surance, fidelity insurance, plate glass in
surance, steam boiler insurance. and 10
some extent. accident and health insur
ance. The capitalist has long endeavored
10 eliminate, or at least to reduce. every
determinable risk. But the curious and
melancholy fact is that outside Of work
mems compensation the poor in this country
have received, as yet very little benefits
from the application of the insurance prin-
ciple. Yet it is the poor whose need Of
health insurance is greatest. and for two
important reasons. One is that the worker
is more likely to lose his health than the
~A'SNA'HN' ne other reason IS That
any loss from sickness is a far more vital
matter to the poor than to the rich"
The application of the insurance principle
10 effect an equitable and tolerable dis
tribution Of the industrial sickness loss
Will accomplish the secondary object of
reducing the amount of this loss Just as
the spread of fire insurance has operated
to promote fire prevention and that of
accident Insurance to encourage accident
prevention, SO the introduction of health
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-26

tees for little more than fifty years, the
work Of fixing the heirshp at the present
time has been the work of scholars and
gencalogists as well as LAWYERS
The case went first before the Bristol
County Probate Court, and there many
views were expressed by the attorneys rep
resenting the various heirs as to the man
ner in which the estate should be distrib-
uted, but all agreed that proper distribu-
ton of the trust fund was as If 1t had
been the property of Gideon HoaUgaud
and as If he had died roithout last aoils
and testament on the date of Mrs.
GREEN'S death.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-26

The court found it to be fact that there
had been part performance of this agree
mont. But upon the death of Miss How
land it was found that she had left as her
last will quite another instrument. The
paper was dated September l, 1863, with
codicl dated some fourteen months later,
and that by the terms Of the instrument
Hetty Robinson took only the income of
the trust estate. At that time this had
value of about $3.50 900, so that for the
remainder of her life Miss Robinson was
reasonably sure of an income of $4,000 to
100000 year. This did not suit her at all.
She wanted the absolute control of the en-
tire Rowland fortune, hence the contest
which she made through Sidney Bartlett,
B. r. Curtis and +. C. Loring, three of the
most able lawyers then in practice in New
England The trustees were represented by
b. f. Thomas, 7. D. Eliot and T. NJ. Stet-
son and the case was heard and decided
by Circuit Justice Clifford.
This case, coming for trial as it did
at about the close of the Civil War, was
in ono respect affected, to degree, at least,
by n recent act of Congress, which pro-
vdcd "That in the courts of the United
States there shall be no exclusion of any
witness on account of color, nor in any
civil action, because he is party to. or has
interest in the issue tried" 1t was also
decided in the that "if the respondent
have no personal knowledge of the matter
set forth in any particular allegation of
the bill Of complaint, denial by the re-
spondent upon information and belief is
sufficient to make it necessary for the COM
plainant to prove the same"
Justice Clifford held that the apparent
intent Of the notifications in the Federal
evidence act was intended to make the rules
of evidence alike in both the state and
United States courts and he also held that
Miss Robinson could not testify herself
as to transactions with statements mado
by tho aunt and when he came to write
the opinion felt only called upon to decide
If the other evidence in tho case suf
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-26
A VIII Without
A Way

There also a good deal of testimony
taken in the case, the purpose of which was
to show that the will forgery. but it
upheld as genuine. Justice Clifords
final conclusion was that the evidence failed
to show q contract-a promise for prom
isc-as claimed by the plaintiff; and that
contracts Of such a character without
proofs cannot be enforced. He also said
that there were very few decided cases on
the main point Of the case-the exchange
Of withstand that Of those which had been
before the courts tho decisions were nearly
equally divided, even when the facts were
fully proved. He cited Judge Story as
holding chat a contract to make mutual
wills, if one Of the parties has died having
made a will according to the agreement,
will be decreed in equity to be specifically
executed by the surviving party, If he has
enjoyed the benefit of the will of the other
party" The court made much Of the fact
that the wills of aunt and niece we're ex-
coated at different times, and also that
Miss Rowland did not know the contents of
the paper handed her by Miss Robinson
that proof was wholly lacking on that point
Every now and then Hctty Green made
appeals to the court and stated that the
trustees were not giving her so large an
amount OF income as the size of trust war
rnnted. However, as she outlived her aunt
about fifty-one years, not far from $4,000
600 flowed to her as income from this trust,
and make or lose in her investments, she
received at least $4,000 per month from her
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-26

worker Of the virtue OF thrift to make such
provision through individual saving unaded
by any contributions from EMPLOYER or
state This ideal is attractive in theory
fer it promises strong society made up of
free men cooperating under contract-to
use the phrase of that stalwart individual
list, the late Professor William Graham
Sumner. But the ideal is not attainable
in practice, and offers no workable solution
of the problem of health insurance under
existing economic and social conditions.
ln the first place, economic conditions
made adequate saving for the great mass
of the working population an utter impos-
sibility. In general. economic pressure
tends to keep wages below the level Of
fully adequate living wagc-that is, ade-
Quate for maintenance with sufficient
margin for saving. This pressure makes
itself felt with particular severity in any
period of advancing prices and rising cost
OF living. 1t IS an economic axiom that the
rate of wages rises more slowly and in
less degree than the prices of the commodi-
ties that wages must purchase For over
twenty years the cost of living has been
rising in all industrial countries. almost
steadily, and in the recent period. very
sharply. There can be no doubt that the
advance Will continue for the visibly dis
tant future as the main causes that brought
1t about will still continue to operate. With
this outlook it is idle to expect that wages.
IN general, can be raised to level that will
offer margin for saving, to provide prop
erly for sickness and other emergencies in
the life OF the worker The gospel Of thrift
addressed to workers confronted by this
concrete condition loses its compelling an
peal. 1t will hardly be accepted as the sole
solvent of the ills that beset labor.
On the part Of employers there will
doubtless develop growing disposition to
tall into line with the movement for social
insurance in consequence of the new neces-
sity for conserving the labor force which
arises from conditions The war has
made labor scarce and dear, and has thus
furnished a strong incentive for its con
servation. In proportion as it becomes
more difficult to secure and retain an ade-
quatc supply of efficient labor it becomes
lncreasingly urgent to conserve the labor
supply by conserving human life This
consideration affords good reason for pre-
dieting that health insurance will win favor
with employers in the reconstruction period.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-26
ring Down That $50OO00,0OO Loss From Sickness

insurance will stimulate sickness proven
ton and health conservation. The appli-
cation of the insurance principle in anv
held at once directs attention to the cost
OF the hazard or loss covered by insurance.
and thus furnishes q direct incentive to
reduce the amount Of such hazard or loss.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-26
Cannot Be
Kept Down

The various conditions and tendencies
which have been outlined briefly will com
hine to make powerfully for the success of
the movement for health insurance. On the
other hand, the forces aligned against this
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-26

in remembrance that Hetty was at the
time only twenty-nne years of age, and
perhaps more given to sentiment than later
in life. No such will of hers was ever
probated.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-26
One Thing the Governor Asked
For and May Cet-~
Health Insurance
By F. Spencer Baldwin

Manager State Insurance FUND Mem Yot State Industrial Commission
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-26
By John D. Anderson

" YER since 1865, or for more than
III half a century, one phase or an
II other of the famous Sylvia Ann
Rowland will has been in the Fed