7 74 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



A much graver matter was that involving the question whether 

 membership should be made compulsory upon employes of the com- 

 pany, and, if at all, to what extent. It is believed to be a fact that 

 neither abroad nor in this country has an accident railway association 



although some have carried heavy endowments been successful for 



a lone term of years except where membership has been made compul- 

 sory. Many have been organized, and have lived for longer or shorter 

 periods, but their sphere of usefulness is always very limited, and they 

 gradually become inefficient and fall into disrepute or have to be reor- 

 ganized at the sacrifice of good faith to old members. 



It was urged upon the management that they should use all proper 

 means to induce membership on the part of those already in the serv- 

 ice, and that the company should adopt such measures as would at 

 least insure a thoughtful consideration of the benefits offered its em- 

 ployes. It was finally determined to adopt a modified compulsory 

 policy, the ultimate effect of which would be to bring within the asso- 

 ciation every employe of the company. It is this compulsory feature 

 which makes the association unique, and which guarantees its per- 

 manency and continuous success. It is undeniably within the strict 

 bounds of propriety for the management of a railway or any other cor- 

 poration to specify the conditions upon which it will employ, and to 

 decline the services of those who show no disposition to protect them- 

 selves and families against the vicissitudes of the service they seek to 

 enter. But to inaugurate such a policy at that particular time was to 

 trespass upon very delicate ground, and required no little determina- 

 tion, for the railroads of the country were just recovering from the 

 prostrating effects of the strike of 1877, and were cautiously re-estab- 

 lishing the status quo. This new departure from preconceived ideas 

 and practices of dealing with labor was watched with great interest by 

 railroad officials and others accustomed to dealing with the grave 

 issues constantly arising from the employment of large bodies of men, 

 and it was amid many predictions of failure that the announcement was 

 made that the company would thereafter require as a condition prece- 

 dent to employment that those seeking service should enter the insur- 

 ance organization. It started a very lively discussion as to the merits 

 of the scheme, and forced those to examine its provisions who would 

 otherwise have passed them by with indifference. 



Upon careful examination of the foregoing tabulated statement it 

 will be noted that contributions are, in all cases, deducted monthly 

 from the members' wages, so that payments are required of them only 

 when they have earned wages, and the allowance is, in all cases, pro- 

 portioned to the monthly contributions paid by each person in the sev- 

 eral classes into which the contributors have been divided. 



In cases of disablement the allowance is paid not less than once 

 every month ; before each payment, whether for temporary or perma- 

 nent disability, satisfactory evidence of its existence being required. 



