and have had substantially continuous service of not less than 9 months in each 12-month period since entering the maritime service, or since December 7, 1941, whichever was later. In addition, seamen who died in service and disabled seamen, who left the industry during the war period as a result of their disablement, are eligible for certificates. Time spent in school, time detained by the enemy, and time in hospitals are counted as a part of wartime service.

The following table classifies the 91,500 living seamen estimated to be eligible for wartime-service certification.

TABLE 3.- Estimated living seamen eligible for war-service certificates

Total seamen.-According to reports of the Research Division, United States Maritime Commission, employment on active United States flag deep-sea merchant vessels, as of February 20, 1946, was about 171,500. Employment estimates for War Shipping Administration-controlled foreign-flag vessels-4,900-are based on WSA vessel activity lists and manning scales reported for those vessels. Employment on War Department Transport Service vessels-21,000— was estimated from War Department reports on the activity of their vessels, and the crews specified for each. The Coast and Geodetic Survey employment figure-600-was supplied by the Personnel Division of that agency. Shore reserve estimates-52,100—were based on turn-over ratios derived from studies of the subject made during the war period, and accepted by the Training and Manning Requirements Advisory Committee, War Shipping Administration. The estimates of permanently disabled seamen--5,900-are based on figures (adjusted) taken from a report by the Insurance Division, United States Maritime Commission.

Aliens. Citizenship requirements of H. R. 476 eliminate from eligibility all aliens who had not taken out first naturalization papers prior to March 2, 1946. A study of 146,000 seamen employed on American-flag vessels entering the port of New York between July 1945 and June 1946 indicates that 14,352, or approximately 9.8 percent of the total, were aliens. Of these, an estimated 3 percent had taken out first naturalization papers. These percentages were applied to each classification shown in the foregoing table, except the Coast and Geodetic Survey group and the War Shipping Administration controlled foreign-flag vessel group. There were no alien Coast and Geodetic Survey employees. The Recruitment and Manning Organization, War Shipping Administration, estimated that of the 4,900 seamen employed on WSA-controlled foreign-flag vessels,

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75 percent were aliens, of whom about 3,600 had not taken out first naturalization papers.

Irregulars. The estimates of seamen ineligible for certification, because of lack of sufficient service and irregularity of service, were made separately for two groups of seamen. Group 1 includes those seamen employed on United States-flag and War Shipping Administration-controlled foreign-flag merchant vessels, with their respective shore reserves; and group 2 includes those seamen employed on Army Transport Service vessels and on Coast and Geodetic Survey vessels. Separate treatment was necessary because of differences in the employment contracts as between the two groups. Disabled seamen are not required to have had regular service to be eligible for certification under the proposed act.

The number of seamen in group 1, ineligible because of insufficient or irregular service, was determined by utilization of a study of the length of time 1,283 seamen remained employed during the year October 1, 1943-September 30, 1944. On the basis of this study, it is estimated that 65.25 percent of the seamen in group 1 did not have the necessary service requirements to be eligible under H. R. 476.

The estimated number of seamen in group 2, ineligible because of insufficient or irregular service, is based on the estimate of ineligibles in group 1, adjusted by the difference in the turn-over rate of seamen employed on War Department Transport Service vessels and seamen employed on merchant vessels.

Eligibles.-The number of living seamen eligible for certification— 91,500, shown in table 3-are those living who have not been eliminated as aliens or as men with insufficient regularity and duration of employment.

Seamen expected to take advantage of education and training benefits.Since a course in education or training must be initiated not later than September 2, 1948, there are only three half years during which seamen may enter such course, viz, the last half of 1947, the first half of 1948, and the last half of 1948-assuming that courses applied for but not yet formally started on September 2, 1948, are considered as "initiated" under this bill. It is assumed that the percentage of seamen who will take advantage of the education and training benefits during each half year will be the same as the percentage of World War II veterans who took training each half year for the first year and one-half after the passage of Public Law 346, which provided education and training benefits to armed service men.

The percentages of World War II veterans receiving education, training, and subsistence benefits during the first three half years of operation of Public Law 346 are shown in table 4.

TABLE 4.-Percentage of World War II veterans receiving education, training, and subsistence benefits

In order to determine the number of students participating in benefits following 1948, it is assumed that 12.5 percent of the students each semester will finish, quit, or be eliminated from among the beneficiaries of this bill. This assumption is based upon consideration of school attrition rates, furnished by the Advanced Education Division, United States Office of Education, the probable number of years seamen will wish to go to school, and the estimated proportions of seamen eligible for 1, 2, 3, or 4 years of education benefits.

Table 5 shows the estimated number of seamen who would participate each year in the education and training benefits of H. R. 476.

TABLE 5.- Estimated seamen who will take education and training benefits

I Allowance is made for the fact that Sept. 2, 1952, is the closing date for these benefits.

Cost of tuition, fees, equipment, and subsistence.-Although the bill allows a maximum of $500 for tuition, fees, and equipment, the average costs of these items would not reach the maximum. According to Veterans' Administration experience under Public Law 346, during the last half of 1946, the over-all cost for these items averaged about $460 for each institutional student each year; and the overall costs for similar items for men taking on-the-job training averaged about $84 for each student each year. These averages were used without adjustment in estimating the educational and training costs shown in table 2.

The annual cost of subsistence for each student, according to Veterans' Administration experience during the last half of 1946, was about $750. This amount could not be used without adjustment, however, because subsistence benefits under H. R. 476 are $60 a month for men without dependents and $80 a month for men with dependents, as compared to $65 and $90 a month, respectively, for veterans. The Veterans' Administration's figure of $750, adjusted to coincide with the provisions of H. R. 476, reduces the subsistence cost of each seamen student to $682 a year. Application of these figures to the number of eligibles shown in table 5 provides the cost estimates shown in table 2.

SECTION 2. DISABILITY BENEFITS

It is estimated that the cost of disability benefits provided under H. R. 476, for the first 10 years, would be about $15,800,000. Table 6 shows by years, the number of beneficiaries and the cost of disability benefits.

In developing the above estimates, the first consideration was the number of potential disability beneficiaries. Next, disability-benefit payments were estimated on the basis of a sample study of reduction in earning capacity of disabled persons, and seamen's wartime monthly wages. With this done, set-offs were considered. The set-offs remove disabled seamen, who receive benefits under other laws, from among the beneficiaries under H. R. 476, until such time as H. R. 476 benefits begin to exceed those already received. Mortality adjustments were made, and the net number of beneficiaries was determined. The net number of beneficiaries multiplied by the average annual benefits produced the cost estimate shown in table 6.

Seamen eligible for disability endorsements.-Under H. R. 476 a seaman may receive a disability endorsement if he has an injury or disease "incurred in or aggravated by maritime wartime service.' It was assumed endorsements given will be for disabilities of a permanent or recurring nature.

Disabilities incurred during wartime by seamen have been considered in two general groups: (1) Those related to war risks; and (2) those related to marine operations.

War-risk disabilities.—The Insurance Division of the Maritime Commission reports that, as of March 1, 1947, there were 1,766 accepted war-risk and border-line permanent-disability cases.

Non-war-risk disabilities.- Disabilities incurred in wartime service, common to normal marine operations, were estimated to be equal to the number of such cases reported to Marine P. & I underwriters during the period from December 7, 1941, to March 2, 1946, including rejected war-risk and border-line cases. These totaled 3,403.

Delayed disability and recurring cases. It is estimated that there will be approximately 800 delayed disability and recurring cases which will be eligible for future disability endorsements. This estimate was made on the basis of Veterans' Administration experience after World War I.

Set-offs. Under Public Law 449, all seamen receiving war-risk and border-line insurance will receive the same cash benefits as they would under H. R. 476-when their original war-risk insurance benefits run

out. Therefore, all of the war-risk and border-line insurance cases are eliminated from estimation of cost under this bill, through the action of the subrogation and set-off provisions. This leaves for consideration only the non-war-risk and delayed or recurring cases, totaling 4,203. Of these, it is estimated that 3,821 will be permanent partial disabilities, and 382 permanent total disabilities. This breakdown is based on case reports for the year 1938, submitted by vessel operators to an interdepartmental committee directed by Congress to study the advisability of extending workmen's compensation to

seamen.

With respect to the non-war-risk cases, it is estimated that permanent totally disabled seamen received, after having paid attorney fees and other expenses, an average of about $7,500, and that seamen suffering permanent partial disabilities received an average of about $2,000 each.

Beneficiaries. The average indemnities received by seamen at the benefit rates indicated below would be equal to 5 or 6 years of benefits. Since some seamen received less and others more than the average indemnity, a normal frequency distribution of benefits was assumed, and used to determine the proportions of seamen exhausting their indemnity benefits each year. Table 6 shows these figures adjusted for mortality.

Benefit rates. The monthly benefits to be paid non-war-risk permanent total disability cases under H. R. 476 are the same as benefits specified in the United States Employees' Compensation Act, viz, two-thirds of monthly wages, with a minimum benefit of $58.33 and a maximum of $116.66. Since monthly wages (including the value of subsistence) of seamen in the lowest-paid ratings amounted to at least $175 a month during most of the war period, all permanent totally disabled war-service seamen may therefore be assumed to be entitled to monthly benefits of $116.66. In addition, the United States Employees' Compensation Act provides $50 a month for each case requiring constant service of an attendant. Since no firm figures are available, it is assumed that approximately 17 percent of the permanent totally disabled seamen would require such service. It is therefore estimated that the average monthly benefits for all permanent total disability cases will be about $125.

For permanent partially disabled war-service seamen, the loss in monthly wage-earning capacity resulting from the disability was ascertained from a sample study of permanent partial disability awards presently being paid under the United States Employees' Compensation Act. On the basis of the study, it is estimated that the average monthly payment for permanent partial disability under H. R. 476 will be about $31 a month.

Delayed and recurring disability beneficiaries who may be either totally or partially disabled, are included in the foregoing estimates.

SECTION 3. DEATH BENEFITS

It is estimated that the cost of death benefits to survivors of warservice seamen to the end of 1956, under H. R. 476, would be approximately $6,836,000, about $21,000 of which would be due retroactively, for benefits accrued to January 1, 1947. The annual amount of survivors' benefits will increase until 1954, as more and more survivors exhaust their present insurance and indemnity payments.