Montana labor news., 1938-11-03
LUMP SUN PAYMENTS
FIRST FUNCTION OF THE
OLD AGE PROGRAM
Local Manager Reports on Ac-
complishments of Regional
Conference.


Stewart j. Thomas, manager of
the Butte field office of the Federal
Social Security Board, returned here
Saturday from Denver where he
attended a conference of Washington
and regional officials of the board.
Ways and means of increasing the
service of the Social Security Board
and its field offices to the public and
employers in this state and the
Rocky Mountain region featured the
conference, Mr.. Thomas said.
Others who returned to the state
Saturday were Riley E. Mapes, Olga
Stromset and D. Wayne Byall, man
ayers from the Helena, Billings, and
Havre field offices. Other states
represented by field office managers
from this Rocky Mountain region Of
the Social Security Board were Ari-
iona, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and
Wyoming.
Heading the delegation of Wash
ington officials who conferred with
field office managers from this state
was John J. Corson, director of the
Federal Old-Age Insurance Bureau
of the Social Security Board, who
spoke on the future of the program
and the duties and obligations of
better serving the public. Mr.. Cor
son has been called the director of
the worlds largest insurance com
pany, since wage accounts are now
being set up with the government
for more than 40 million persons
holding Social Security account card
numbers.
ways to insure prompt handling
of claims for lump-sum payments
under the federal old-age insurance
provisions of the Social Security Act
were a major objective of the con-
ference" Mr.. Thomas said, cal
though monthly benefit payments
will not begin under the old-age
insurance system for several years,
lump-sum payments are now being
made daily in this state. These pay
ments are made to workers who
have been employed in covered in
dustrial or commercial occupations
since 1886 and who have reached
age IS since that date; and to the
estates of workers who have died
since 1886. Payments r based on
31s per cent of the workers total
earnings since 1886"
Figures released at the Denver
%conclave for Montana showed that
60 claims for these lump-sum pay
ments had been certified during Sep
TENDER, for a total of $3,759.23. The
average single payment in this state
for September was $62.65.
'This brings Montana's record to
$40 claims for a total of $34,079.28
to date" Manager Thomas declared.
'In the six states of this Rocky
Mountain region of the Social Sc
curity Board, 4,662 claims for a total
of $172, 26O.12 have been paid to date;
while nationally, the figure was 216,-
500 claims for 49, 500, 1894.
"Wage earners in Montana may
now secure information as to the
status of their wage records with
the government" Manager Thomas
pointed out. persons desiring such
information should call at this Oh
the nearest Social Security Board
field office for a card which they
may fill out and mail to Washington
for this information"
Other major topics discussed at
the conference included the issuance
of account numbers, checking on
duplicate and missing numbers,
service to both employers and en-
ployees through personal contacts,
wage records, and general admins
trative problems.
A Missouri college how paid his