Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1919-04-30
SOLDIERS RECEIVING NOTICES
TO PAY INSURANCE PREM.
lUMs ALREADY PAID.
WAN RISK BUREAU MORE
THAN swAMPEp WITH WORK
One End Of Department Work Far Be-
hind Other End and Confusion Re-
suits and 10 Adr,itted-Psy No At
tsntioo to Duns IL Receipt Is Held,
ls Advice OF Bureau.
[By L. G. Dougherty. ]


Washington April 3c,-With one
hand the war risk bureau has been re-
ceiving soldiers insurance premium
payments and receipting for them
dunning them for the same payments
This was the admission ~ officials Of
the bureau today, and it was further
confessed that the irritating fact re-
suits from another OF the stupendous
clerical tasks that fall like avalanches
on the mammoth bureau every time II
THINKS II has Cleaned uP.'
So il you are a discharged soldier
the you have been getting notices from
the war risk bureau TO make insurance
premium payments that you have al
ready made, don't pay any attention to
them. but hang on TO your receipt il
you have any.
The sudden termination of the war
put almost as much OF strain on
some parts Of the war risk bureau
machine as the sudden inception OF
the system al the beginning of the. war
put on the patience OF the soldiers and
dependents. as we'll as upon the Off
mountainous TASK.
So long as the insured man was If
the service, his insurance premiums
were automatically deducted by the
army and nay and certified 10 the
war risk bureau. II tooE comparative
~ little record keeping TO look after
this matter. But when a million and
q half men were turned out Of the
army and navy and began TO send their
premium payments directly to the war
risk bureau its premium receipt office
was overwhelmed. This "a as about the
time that everything else-allowances
and allotments, compensation, deatA
claims, etc-Tare getting well un-
tangled and reduced to order. The
automatic system OF notifying the men
that their premiums were due worked
smoothly but The automatic system OF
acknowledging receipt OF payments did
not automat.
The hundreds of thousands Of checks
that came pouring in we're entirely be-
yond the capacity Of the organization
in that part to handle promptly
Months went oy and the records Of
payments were rot made. So each
month the discharged soldier got his
notice to pay up and vas reminded OF
his delinquincies besides He got sore
hundreds Of thousands OF hirn-and
he raised such a perfect protest by
the mail route that the bureau had
finally TO discontinue sending out the
monthly premium notices until II got
caught up with It's records OF pay
ments so as 20 cease stirring Up the
men with further automatic, out, often
useless notices For the same reason
that receipts OF premiums were not
promptly recorded correspondence
could not De attended 10. so that tho
men frequently wrote 10 find out Why
they should De dunned for payments
already made the only answers they
received were more automatic duns.
II was said at the bureau today that
this new confusion that MAS heaped
on the bureau that has had !niernin-
able Commissions 20 deal with ever since
its esta blishment would be disposed OF
within a short time an that hereaf-
ter il would be possible 70 record
promptly all premium payments and
thus keep the automatic card ticker
system I'D TO cate. In cases where the
temporary suspension OF premium no
tees to avoid further useless worrying
of discharged soldiers results in men
forgetting 10 make their monthly pay
ments they Will be protected by rein
statement upon the payment Of the
lacking amounts. In the meantime the
officials advise every man Who has
made his monthly paymenes 10 sit
tight and smile contemptuously when
he gets a notice TO pay TIE same again.
Iows's Gsrdsn Hork Commended.
The department of agriculture issues
The following congratulatory statement
of lowas WORK in planting war gar
dens:
The fact that the war is over does