LINDSAY— SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' INSURANCE. 633 



surance bureau is $100,000,000, or more than the total outstanding 

 business of many a good insurance company after many years of 

 successful business experience. 



The benefits conferred by insurance are only part of those pro- 

 vided by this law and intended to safeguard the welfare and morale 

 of our army and navy. The War Risk Insurance Law of October 

 6, 19 1 7, is in reality three great measures in one. It provides for 

 three new, effective and far-reaching services of the federal govern- 

 ment, namely: (i) Allotments of pay and family allowances; 

 (2) compensation and indemnity for death or disability; (3) in- 

 surance for death or total disability. All three services, each of 

 which represents a huge undertaking on the part of the government, 

 are so combined and intertwined as to provide a scientific, compre- 

 hensive, adequate and just measure of community support and con- 

 cern for the economic security and future welfare of those families, 

 which provide the men privileged to do the fighting in this war. 

 Taken together these provisions for what has generally become 

 known as war risk insurance will render any general system of 

 pensions antequated, unfair and wholly unnecessary. 



In September, 1914, only a little over a month after the begin- 

 ning of the European war, Congress established by act of September 

 2, 1914, a Bureau of War Risk Insurance in the Treasury Depart- 

 ment, clothed with authority and charged with the responsibility of 

 insuring American ships and their cargoes, at rates which private 

 carriers could not afford, in order that the commerce of a neutral 

 nation might be maintained on the high seas. On June 12, 19 17, 

 Congress extended the authority of this bureau and authorized it to 

 provide for the issuance of insurance against war risks on masters, 

 officers and crews of merchant vessels. On these foundations, Con- 

 gress by the act of October 6, 19 17, created in this Bureau of War 

 Risk Insurance a division of JMilitary and Naval Insurance. A 

 division of Marine and Seamans' Insurance was also established to 

 attend to the previous business of the Bureau. The new division 

 began the administration of the new scheme for allotments and 

 allowances, compensation and insurance for soldiers and sailors. 

 Over 3,000 employees- are required to handle the work of this new 



~ On July I, 1918, there were 8,000 employees required to take care of 

 this work in the Bureau of War Risk Insurance. 



PROC. AMER. PHIL. SOC, VOL. LVII, PP, NOV. I. IQiS. 



