1918, within six months, after the end of the war. The Act of 1914 carried an appropriation of $5,000,000 with which to meet losses not covered by premium receipts. This sum was increased to $15,000,000 by an amending Act approved March 3, 1917.

The amending Act of June 12, 1917, of which mention has been made, also authorized the Bureau of WarRisk Insurance to enter a new field of insurance. It thus authorized it, under the general direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, to provide for the insurance of masters, officers, and crews of American merchant vessels against loss of life or personal injury by the risks of war and for their compensation during detention in case of their capture by the enemy. Furthermore, it made it obligatory upon the owner of every American merchant vessel to insure the master, officers, and crew of such vessel against these contingencies whenever in the opinion of the Secretary of the Treasury the effecting of such insurance was desirable in the interest of the national welfare. This insurance, it was provided, could be effected either with the Bureau of War-Risk Insurance or with private insurance companies provided the terms in the latter case were satisfactory to the Secretary of the Treasury.

The Act fixed the amount of the insurance at a sum equivalent to one year's earnings, or 12 times the monthly earnings of the insured as fixed in the articles for the voyage, but in no case to be less than $1,500 or more than $5,000 for death or permanent complete disability, with percentages of this sum in cases of specified injuries of a less serious character.

Interesting as was this venture of the United States

Government into the fields of marine and mariners' insurance, it was, relatively speaking, thrown completely into the shade by the passage on October 6, 1917, of an Act which, though technically designated an Act to amend the War-Risk Insurance Act of 1914, was, in fact, an independent enactment authorizing the Bureau of War-Risk Insurance to enter an entirely new field. This Act, which was amended by the Soldiers' Г and Sailors' Relief Act of March 8, 1918, public resolutions of February 12 and April 2, 1918, and the Acts of May 20 and June 25, 1918, for the purpose of broadening its application and simplifying its procedure, had for its purpose the accomplishment of three things: (1) to make provision for the support of members of the families of soldiers and sailors of the United States Army and Navy in so far as they were dependent upon them for support; (2) to provide for the compensation of soldiers and sailors or their dependents in case of death or disability acquired in military service; and (3) to furnish the means by which such soldiers and sailors might insure themselves against death or total permanent disability at a minimum cost. 1 Although these three objects are closely related to each other, it is desirable in the interests of clearness that they should be separately considered.

So long as the system of voluntary enlistment in the Army and Navy obtained, the problem of the support of the families of men entering the service scarcely existed. Under this system the men joining the colors were almost invariably young, unmarried, and comparatively free from obligations in respect to the support of others. With the adoption of the system of compulsory service, under which these considerations

had, in many cases, to be ignored, it became imperative that provision should be made in some way for those men who, although having persons dependent upon them for their support, were drafted into the service. This was the experience of Great Britain and Canada, and the need for action of this kind was at once recognized by the United States.

The system adopted by the United States and put into effect by the Acts mentioned above rested upon the principle that the men themselves should do all that was in their power before assistance in any other way should be granted. The law thus provided for the making of certain deductions, known as "allotments," from the pay of enlisted men and their payment directly to the members of the families of such men dependent upon them for support. These allotments were of two kinds compulsory and voluntary. Every enlisted man having a wife or child under 18 years of age, or of any age if insane or permanently helpless, or a divorced wife to whom he was under legal obligation of paying alimony, was compelled to "allot" $15 a month from his pay to be paid directly to such dependent by the Government. In considering this obligation account should be taken of the fact that by previous enactment the minimum pay of enlisted men had been raised to $30 a month, or double what it had been in the past and much the most generous compensation paid to enlisted men by any Government in the world. The law as originally enacted provided for variations in the amount of this allotment according to the number of dependents, but because of the administrative difficulties involved in determining the amounts due, the system was changed by the amending Act of June 25, 1918, to a flat rate of $15 a month in all cases.

In addition to these compulsory allotments to what were designated as "Class A dependents," enlisted men were permitted voluntarily to allot such further portions of their pay as they might desire, either to this class of dependents or to their parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, or grandchildren, who were designated as "Class B dependents."

Having taken steps to insure that enlisted men should do their part in respect to providing for the support of those dependent upon them, the Act further provided that the Government should do its share by making additional payments to such dependents. These payments, which were known as "allowances," ranged from $5 a month for a motherless child and $15 a month for a wife without children up to a maximum of $50 according to the number of dependent persons for whom provision had to be made. These allowances were paid only when allotments were already being paid from the pay of the enlisted men. If the enlisted man was making a compulsory allotment to his wife and children, he need allot only $5 additional to his "Class B dependents' in order to claim an allowance for them. If he was not making such a compulsory allotment, he must allot $15 to his "Class B dependents" in order to obtain for them the Government allowance. In the case of "Class B dependents," however, it must be established that they were dependent in whole or in part upon the enlisted man for their support.

The system of allotments and allowances was intended to make provision only for the time when an enlisted man, due to his enlistment, was unable to provide by other means for the support of those dependent

upon him. It did not provide for the case where he was killed or permanently disabled. In the past this contingency, as is well known, has been provided for by the establishment of a pension system. The abuses of this system have been so enormous that the desire was almost universal that they should be guarded against if any possible means could be found. The solution of this problem was found in the systems of compensation and of insurance about to be described.

The system of compensation for death or disability incurred in the service established by the Act under consideration represented the adoption of the principle of compensation which has been so successfully applied in the case of industrial workers and which had already been adopted by the National Government in the case of all civil employees. By an Act approved September 7, 1916, Congress provided for the establishment of a comprehensive system of compensation for civil employees of the National Government injured while in the performance of their duties, and created for the administration of this system a special body known as the United States Employees' Compensation Commission. The present Act provided for an analogous system for the entire personnel of the Army and Navy, commissioned officers as well as enlisted men, regardless of rank or pay, when employed in active service.

Two classes of compensation payments were provided for for death and for disability. The payment for death ranges from $20 to $75 a month according to the number of beneficiaries to be compensated, and is paid only to the widow, children, and dependent father or mother. This compensation is not paid automatically, but only upon application on blank forms furnished by the Bureau of War-Risk Insurance. Right to it accrues