Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-09-16
SHORTAGE ALLEGED
|NPOI|CE AID FUND
beneficiary Association Meets
Today to Consider Com
pIaints OF Non-Payment
TWO WIDOWS COMPLAIN

moetins of the Police Beneficiary
..socation will be held in Room 243,
citv Hall, this afternoon, to investigate
an alleged shortage.
Tho meeting was brought about by
.,n,n,aints received from families of
,o,ice who died in the service that they
,ovs not received the insurance they
were entitled to.
The association, which is in no way
connected with the Police Pension Fund,
wos founded many years ago to afford
ia 70 the widows and families of men
diving in the service.
I'm TO the time of former Director
porter's regime, the system was for
.,ch member to contribute fifty cents
AZ the time of the death Of another. The
money thus raised would be paid to his
beneficiary. At that time so many died
1, one month that another system was
decided upon.
The claims which prccipitated today's
meeting arose from the allegation that
In many cases instead of giving this
money to the survivors it was paid back
in nremiums for others members to the
insurance company.
Hiram Horter, treasurer OF the as
sociation, today said:
"Tbis talk of scandal and that to-
dov's special meeting is sort of in
dicnation affair, is nonsense. The meet
;ng Ia called for reorganization and to
ses II we can not find some way Of a
bad situation.
Eve will always face deficit due
10 two causes. One is that many of
our members are ex- ex-policemen who live
os far west as California and as far
north rs Maine. The otheS is the lack
Of interest on the part of the younger
men on the force. which is preventing
them from joining our association.
Blanket Insurance Policy
"Our blanket policy with the Aetna
Life Insurance Company, of Hartford,
/, with the association. That is, when
member dies, it is the same as far
os the insurance company is concerned
As If the association died. They pay
the benefit to us. Then we have TO take
ont a new policy. In order to do this
we have to pay up, all the premiums.
As many of our members are far away,
their premiums do not always arrive
on time and it is necessary for us to
use the money from the policy just paid
in order to get new one. "A sort OF
A legitimate robbing Peter to pay Paul.
The result is that the individual bene-
fciary often has to wait some time for
the money.
'Then the premiums are graduated
according to age. The younger men do
not have to pay as much as the older.
For instance, we have one member
eighty four years old whose premium
amounts to SAT 90 a month, whereas he
only pays the association $3.50. the
same as any one else. AS we always
pay every cent as it comes in to the
insurance company we never have any
surplus. If more young officers could
be persuaded to join, much Of this diff
fculty would be removed. AS it stands
now we have more old members than
young ones with the result that the
deficit is bound to grow larger unless
we can find some way out at this after
Moons meeting.'
Amcng those who claim to have suf-
fered in this manner is the widow OF
John Noon, n lieutenant who died March
should have received the money about
May 81. She alleges that the money
was properly paid to the association
but that she never received 1t. A ,simi.
lar case is that of the widow Of Davit
Irons, II traffic patrolman, who dice
May IA, and no money has yet beer
paid.
Hiram HortCr, treasurer of the as
ISOLATION, could not be found this morn =
ing, but is expected to be present at the
meeting this afternoon. 1t is said he
makes a complete denial of the charges
OF shortage and says the delay oil
payments can be explained satisfac-
torily this afternoon. Thomas L. Muir
ray, president of the association, anG
Richard Bodkin, secretary, said there
was nothing in the matter and that the
right man to see was Hiram Horter
They. also added that they understood
al the delayed claims would be pai(
atter today's meeting.
Horter, who used to be clerk in tht
bureau of Police, is at present tip
staff in Common Pleas Court No. /.
Murray is patrolman of the Fifteenth
street and Snyder avenue station. 1t is
understood that many of the delegates
VINO will attend the meeting from the
various districts will make demand ia
return to the old system of fifty cent
contributions.
That the association had been hurt by
secret propaganda and the stories of in :
stability circulated about 1t was admit
ted by Detective Warner Townsend,
one OF the delegates, this morning. lie
SAID many of the younger officers were
refusing 10 join, and unless something
was done quickly to stop the talk about
the organization it would be necessary