Evening star., 1932-09-18

swimming pools. reading rooms or other
means of social activity.
The employers welcome this plan be-
cause it helps to lift the rapidly swell
ing burden laid upon their shoulders
and pocketbook by the great Increase
in some States the enormous increase
in the compensation required for sick
ness and accident under the compensa-
ton acts passed by many State legis-
latures in recent years.
The employees welcome it because as
noted, they secure large amount Of
insurance at wholesale prices instead of
retail. Furthermore, 1t does away with
all necessity for the men to form the
old-time mutual assessment insurance
companies. which had three distinct
Neutrality-suspicious., 1t was impossible
for the older men to secure insurance
in them: second. the assessments con-
stantly increased as the men grew older
until finally this made the insurance
worthless, and. third, the funds were
sometimes lost by unwise investments,
embezzlement or bank failures.
These dangers and disasters disap-
pear in this new form of benefit asso-
citation. because the funds are used to
purchase standard insurance with all
its elaborate safeguards.
The originator of this plan is Harold
A. Ley, founder of the Life Extension
Institute. for three years chairman of
the employees benefit system section of
the National Safety Council, director in
a number of corporations, and q man
who for many years has been one of
the foremost students of health prob
lens, especially among working people,
both In this country and in Europe.
Plan Proves Satisfactory.
Since the plan Of forming these mu-
tual benefit associations, as they are
now called, was begun 10 years ago by
Mr. Ley among the employees of his own
companies, it has been tried out in
numerous large plants over the country.
The benefits OF the plan have proved
so satisfactory that recently national
association Of mutual benefit associa-
tions was formed for the purpose of
improving technical methods of admin
istration and promoting the adoption of
the plan throughout American industry.
Our health and sickness problem is
growing in magnitude every hour In
1881 the Committe on Elimination of
Waste In Industry Of the Federated
American Engineering Societies re-
vealed a remarkable picture Of the
waste caused in industry by preventa BILE
i'll health alone. Some of the items in
this picture are the following:
A yearly loss from preventable dis
ease and suhstandard physical condi-
tions of $4,000, ,O0O, 900, of which the
gainfully employed suffer $1,000, 900 600
Forty-two millions gainfully employed
lose $50, 900 900 days from illness, dis
abilities and non-industrial accidents
annually. Twenty-Five millions In the
working classes have defective vision
requiring correction. There are more
than / 1000 900 with some form Of tuber-
culosis- $500, 900, 900 is lost annually
from tuberculosis alone. There are
more than 100000 with fiat feet
There are more than 6,00O, 900 with or
ganic diseases, resulting mostly from
infection. There are more than 1,000,-
600 with venereal infection.
The hopeful element in this appar-
emily staggering situation, however, is
that the report goes on to demonstrate
by facts and figures drawn from life
insurance experience and other sources
that under system Of proper medical
supervision, periodic health examina-
t1ons, health education and community
hygiene this loss could be quickly re-
duced by at least $1,000, 900, 900 every
year.
The question Immediately arises. how
are you going to induce working people
to take care Of their health, to institute
proper personal and family hygiene, to
undergo periodic medical examinations,
take measures to protect and promote
the health Of their comrades and pro-
vide for proper medical supervision of
their fellow workers?
The answer to this question brings us
squarely face to face with one of the
most disturbing features of American
political and social tendency of the last
two decades. This tendency has three
distinct aspects, all of which have
tended to influence the whole psychol-
ogy Of the worker not to take care of
his health, to discourage health efforts
(Continued on Third Page.)