New-York tribune., 1919-06-08
How to Induce 100000
Soldiers and Sailors to
Profit by Governments
Liberality Next Problem
Forty Billions Involved
Chief Purpose of System
Sacrificed if the Policies
Are Permitted to Lapse
By Theodore M. Knappen
Neso York Tribune
WASHINGTON Bureau

NG7D ! OTE L TtONNc
Wdshir 0ton Bureau
Risk Insurance Bureau, its executives
admitted day, now confronts an
other of the staggering tasks that
seem to overwhelm it each time it be-
= gins to emerge from the dust and
Crime of the preceding grapple. This
time 1t is the task Of successfully
negotiating with each of 4,200,00O SOL
diers and sailors, active or discharged,
for the purpose of persuading him to
continue his flve-year term insurance
and convert it into permanent con-
tract, for which the policy forms are
now about ready.
If the bureau cannot persuade
larger proportion of the service men
to convert and maintain their govern
,ment insurance it will, according to its
own admission, be accounted a failure
on the most important aspect Of gov
ernment life insurance.
Soldiers Chief Reward
The chief reward the United States
has given to its soldiers and sailors Is
the insurance opportunity. Other
countries have given lands and large
bonuses and Unemployment allow
ences, but the only things the Amer
ican soldier has got so far are the $50
bonus and the privilege of carrying
insurance with the government for the
rest Of his life at cost very much less
than the non-service man can get. 1t
would be considered a failure if the
government should not be able to per-
suade 100000 men who are already
insured to continue their insurance at
less than actual cost, but that failure
Is considered small compared with the
ACCOMMODATING failure Of the benefits
to the economy of the nation that
were expected by the trainers of the
insurance law
1t was thought by them that the
provision the insurance made tor the
families Of soldiers who died during
the war was the least of its benefits.
The great ultimate benefit they had
in mind was realization Of the vision
of millions Of men carrying insurance
for an enormous total who but for
their military service probably would
not have taken much, if any. The
benefits TO the nation at large Of hav-
ing these millions of men creating
estates amounting to about S40,C00,-
100000 were foreseen as beyond
measurement or even estimate.
Reselling Problem Vast
That is why the War Risk Bureau
executives admit that they Will have
failed If they cannot find the way to
get the men to keep the insurance
they have. The problem Of reseliing
SAC 100000 600 Of insurance is now be-
fore them. a "follow-up" camaign
.lastng twelve months would cost sew
eral million dollars, even if it did not
go beyond the stage Of circularizing
and letter writing.
If the campaign Of mail salesman
ship is successful it will bring out
individual letters from most Of the
4200,00O and these letters will have
to be answered separately. In many
cases-in hundreds Of thousands Of
cases-the correspondence will be ex-
tended But it is realized that the
idea cannot be sold altogether by mail
perhaps not even sold at all, broadly
tspeakng-in that way unles supple
mented by other agencies. So there
arise these questions:
First-How much will Congress
permit to be spent in persuading the
soldiers to keep q good thing?
Second-To what extent will Con-
gress approve Of public funds being
spent for advertising space and per-
sonal service to this end?
Expense Bill Limited
According to ordinary insurance
practices it would be economically
Sound TO spend at least 1920, 600 tt
secure the renewal OF $4,000. 600. 00(
Of insurance-or SO thousand. O1
course, no Congress even in these bill
ion-dollar years would appropriate
S120,000,000 10 be used In paying agents
and for advertising space, handbills
posters, circular letters, etc, in order
to prove to 1000, 600 men that they
have i snap" at the public expense.
But It is conceded that without {
measure o. newspaper and magazine
advertising and some paid personal ef
fort the big undertaking will not be
fully successful. Il is believed thai
Congress viii stand for q modes
amount Of expense IN forcing its eif
Oh thc recipients but per capita ex
PEN o. 81 is considered the OUTSIDE
ll1a't As the average war risk polio,
1s someth'ag more THAI $4,000. thc
problem before Colonel Cholmcley
Jones and his associates Is to devise
SON way Of selling So, 900 Of insuranc.
for rot more than a dollar, and pos
Sa'bly not moro than 80 cents Insur
sanee AGENTS and other expert salesne,
wao can tell them bow to do n ara vor,