The Benson signal., 1920-04-03
UP ON
WAR WORK

bility for the bureal to mail to each
of the 4,61O,3S8 men on it's list, infor-
nation relative to the changes in rul-
ings, etc, as rapidly as they were
issued. To make even one complete
mailing to each of the millions of ad-
dresses and at the same time to cope
with the work of the bureau was an
almost insuperable task. Naturally,
much complaint developed on the
ground that service men were unable
to get information about what the
bureau of war risk insurance was Of
fering or was doing.
Handicaps Overcome.
Very serious handicaps in the ad-
dressing of the men have just been
overcome. Through a special apprOpri-
alton made by congress, the bureau
has been enabled to put it's entire list
of former service men on addresso-
graph plates, task which has requir
ed several months and which has COM
pletely mOnopolized the plate-making
section of great factory. In the
bureau of war risk insurance itself,
over nine hundred people have been
employed in putting the names and
addresses on the plates.
In addition to enabling the bureau
to make full mailings of it's most i'm
portant information to former service
men and women, the sending out of
premium notice has been enormous
ly facilitated. The new system of
printing both the premium notice and
the premium receipt at the same time
from the addressograph plate and by
filing the returned addreSSOgraph no
tice in place Of the premium receipt
to credit the individual account with
the remittance reduces to a minimum
the possibility of misapplicatiOn of
premiums received. Additional safe
guard rests in the fact that each ad-
dressograph plate carries the certih-
cate or policy number, and the amount
of premium regularly due from the
service man. This prevents the er-
rors that previously occurred through
repeated copying with typewriter.
In a great business where there are
more than thirty million records, in
cluding the names of more than fifty
thousand Johnstons, Johnsons, etc.,
and proportionately large numbers of
Smiths, and Browns, occasional er-
rors and misunderstanding were
bound to develop, but the ironing-out
process is now so we'll under way that
even such discrepancies will be rapid
ly corrected.
Difficulties Reduced.
The promptness with which pre-
MUM notices can now be mailed, is eX-
pected to obviate largely the difficult
ties and vexations which hitherto
have been occasioned by premium no
tices being mailed where the payments
had already been made. Prompt re-
ceipting for premiums. which now is
possible and will be carried out, Will
largely do away with this difficulty,
except, of course, where notices sent
out in a previous month, are forward
ed before the current payments could
be credited.
Issuance of the insurance policies
for the permanent (converted) govern
ment life Insurance. which are de-
sired by all the men who are insured,
has been delayed pending the compile
ton, which now has been passed.
The new policies are now being COM
pleted by the actuarial and legal ex-
perts and sent to the government
printing office, and it is expected that
they will be mailed out before June 1.
With the insurance business of the
bureau on a current basis, it is now
anticipated that former service men
who have been deferred from keeping
up their insurance by reason of the de-
lays which they had experienced in
the handling of their accounts, will
take advantage of the very liberal pro-
visions for the reinstatement Of war
risk insurance by the payment of two
monthly premiums and a satisfactory
statement of health and will get back
on the books.
The new law has made the insur-
ance very attractive by enlarging the
list of permitted benefiCiaries to in