82 ASSOCIATION OF IRON, STEEL AND TIN WORKERS [[2I4 



The figures seem to show that the fund is on a sound 

 basis. In twelve and one-half years, the union has paid 

 out for all beneficiary features over one hundred and fifty 

 thousand dollars, an average of $12,644 per year. Until 

 1907 there was an annual deficit. With the new system 

 in'augurated in 1908. and the increased per capita cost, the 

 balance in the benefit fund grew steadily from nine to 

 thirty-three thousand in 191 3, when the original loan of 

 $13,000 was replaced in the general fund. In 1914 the 

 benefit fund was merged with the general fund. The re- 

 serve fund has since decreased, due chiefly to the payment 

 of higher death benefits graded according to length of mem- 

 bership, and the fact that very little " new blood " has been 

 added to the organization in recent years.^^ The average 

 cost of management has been thirteen cents. 



The administration of the beneficiary system is carried 

 on largely by the ofificers who manage the general affairs of 

 the Association. The secretary-treasurer is the chief offi- 

 cial concerned in administering the benefits. At first, he 

 handled the entire business himself, but in 1904, by action 

 of the convention, he was authorized to hire an assistant to 

 be known as insurance secretary at a salary of one hundred 

 dollars per month. Since that time the office has been 

 made elective, and the incumbent is a member of the na- 

 tional executive board. 



The national union handles all the funds and makes pay- 

 ment of benefits through the local unions. Naturally, the 

 adjudication of claims is the most important administrative 

 task. The national officials rely on the local unions for 

 cooperation in preventing fraud. In case of death, a cer- 

 tificate properly signed is usually indisputable evidence of 

 the fact of death. In the matter of sick and accident bene- 

 fits, the local union is a more essential part of the adminis- 

 trative machinery of the national union. The system is 

 guarded against fraud by the requirement of a physician's 

 certificate, a sworn statement of the financial secretary or 



i« Secretary Tighe's Report, Proceedings, 1912, pp. 9706-9707. 



