It was held under the direction of the Bureau of War Risk Insurance. At the head of this great service is a person who is heartily in sympathy with all ex-service men, and is working energetically for their cause. I say so, not because he is here, but because I think so. It is a rare privilege to have the opportunity of listening to him. I have invited him to address you, and I am sure he will answer any reasonable questions. It is with great pleasure that I present to you Mr. R. G. Cholmeley-Jones, Director of the Bureau of War Risk Insurance."

Mr. Jones: “Mr. Commander and Members of the War Risk Insurance Bureau because all of you are a part of that Bureau: In conducting the affairs of the Bureau of War Risk Insurance it was very soon obvious to me that it was the duty of the Bureau to work for ex-service men, and those few men still in the service, in order that this Bureau of the government should really become a part of the ex-service man and the service man, so that in reorganizing the Bureau of War Risk Insurance I have tried to make it a service for ex-service men and service men by ex-service men. We have more than 700 ex-service men in the Bureau, most of whom are members of The American Legion. We have a very large Post, of which most of our ex-service men and women are members. There is really only one way, in my opinion, that the service that all ex-service men and women are entitled to as a result of their service can be obtained, and that is that we all become a part of it. I do not say that for the purpose of 'passing the buck' and trying to put some of the responsibilities on your shoulders, but I mean just this thing: for example, your Commander has just referred to the meeting at Washington. That meeting was called after the Minneapolis Convention because of the fact that there were certain things that The American Legion believes the government should do in its interest and for others in the service but not members of The American Legion.

"It is perfectly all right to stand here and to make these remarks, but it is not sufficient to stop there. I must get the good will of those we are trying to serve, and their co-operation. So it was that I decided to invite the State Commanders to Washington for a conference to take up further the resolutions that were passed in Minneapolis. It is also very well, in convention assembled, to pass resolutions. It is ofttimes, in my opinion, the feeling of those who pass the resolutions that after they have passed them it is up to the chair

man of the committee or the State Commander to see that the resolutions are made effective, and that thereafter the responsibilities of those who really passed the resolutions have ceased, and it is up to some one else to see it through. So we had in Washington the State Commanders of The American Legion, and at that time Mr. Logan sat in a place assigned to him as the State Commander of Massachusetts. There, he was one of a crowd of State Commanders who would acquire information and carry it back to their respective State. As a result of that meeting I believe that your State Commander came back to Massachusetts ready to take upon his shoulders the responsibility of seeing that these resolutions were carried out and made effective; and it remains for each one of you sitting in this crowd of delegates at this Convention to do exactly as your State Commander has done, to take upon himself to carry forward the service to see that these things are done. Therefore, when you go back to your Post, try to immediately assume some of the responsibilities and carry forth the work that has been started here to-day and push it through. We are now doing things that we believe are necessary for discharged men and women. We must see that they are put on their feet, and it is not an easy thing to carry out these plans which generally result in complication. The load which the War Risk Insurance Bureau carries is almost beyond comprehension. I think your State Commander will agree to that.

"One of the things in which we have been most active is to secure proper legislation which will remedy the situation which now allows only $30 a month to be given to a man who is totally disabled, which means, practically, both arms off, both legs off, or eyes out. We have been making out presentations to Congress for increased compensation, for a legislation which would make broader provisions under the Insurance Act, for the experience we have gained since the beginning of the war in April shows us that we need it.

"Three days after the Washington conference, the Sweet Bill passed the Senate, was ratified by the Senate Committee, and was then signed by the President. In my opinion this is but one of the results which will come from the co-operation which was pledged there at that meeting. If the members of The American Legion who attended the Convention at Minneapolis and the conference at Washington had felt, 'Oh, well, he is a Comrade at the Bureau of War Risk Insurance; that is his task, let him carry that burden, it is not our concern,'

what would have been the result? No such immediate action would

have taken place, I am sure. It is up to us, Comrades, each and every one of us, to concern ourselves with these matters, because we are all just such a part of the service as those who work in Washington. I think, in this connection, we are indeed our 'brother's keeper,' and that we should not take the attitude, 'Well, it is up to some chairman or some committee to secure these results,' but we must all take active part in the vindication of the resolutions passed at the National Convention at Minneapolis.

"You all understand that you may carry your insurance in its present form for five years, and one of your resolutions was that the payments of this term insurance be made in lump sums. In my opinion this is a most important provision, and it is my firm conviction that you should have that privilege, and I have so expressed myself to Congress.

"In the Sweet Bill just passed there is an article which permits the persons holding converted insurance to have the benefits paid in a lump sum, either at the maturity of an endowment policy or to the beneficiaries in the case of the death of the insured. However, this provision did not extend to term insurance. At your Minneapolis Convention you moved that that be adopted. To date, however, it has not been adopted. I have just presented to the Committee of the House of Representatives the resolutions adopted by the Minneapolis Convention and ratified by the different State Commanders assembled at Washington. Included as a part of the resolutions now before the House is the provision extending the lump sum payment to term insurance.

"Another important measure before Congress is one which will entitle all ex-service men and women to hospital and medical treatment for the period of one year after discharge. If I am correctly informed, the other nations who were at war have already granted that privilege to their ex-soldiers, England, France and Italy having done this, also Canada. This means that if you become ill or need hospital or medical treatment within one year after discharge you may apply to the Bureau for treatment and receive it without any charge. At the present time if you come into any of our offices or to the doctors, they will examine you and say: 'Now let me see your discharge.' The discharge will probably give the man a clean bill of health. 'Why, we can do nothing,' say the doctors; 'You are re

ported as being perfectly healthy when in the service and when you left the service.' It is almost impossible to tell in the majority of cases whether or not the ailment is a result of the man's service. At the present time we are obliged to go by the records that he had while in the service. All ex-service men should be entitled to service for one year after leaving the service, or one year after date of the passing of that legislation. This is a matter of importance to all of us, and I am sure that you would all appreciate such service.

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Another point which we have gained, if you please, is the change in the permitted class of beneficiaries. If a soldier made a beneficiary one who was not within the allowed class, and we were obliged to refuse payment, we shall now, because of a provision in the Sweet Bill, be able to pay that claim. The bill has been made retroactive, so that if a soldier was killed in the early days of the war the beneficiaries will receive payment from that date.

"Under the compensation section of the act the amount of compensation for total and permanent disability has been increased from $30 per month to $80.

"Another thing which should be remedied is the amount of compensation paid to the wife, children or mother of a deceased soldier. We have included a section to that effect in the so-called 'Wason' Bill now in the House. It is a difficult question to sit at a desk in Washington and decide with fairness what method of legislation to follow and advocate, because we have almost as many proposed bills as we have ex-service men. A great many people want all restrictions removed from the insurance, and want it made payable to creditors. That means that the insurance left by the deceased would be attachable or assignable. They want it to be possible to put the insurance up as security during the lifetime of the insured, and yet the responsibility of the government and of the Bureau of War Risk Insurance is to see that our dependent relatives are protected. If we make the provisions of the bill so far-reaching and elastic as some would wish, we are more or less defeating the purpose for which the legislation was enacted.

"I recently telegraphed to all the large insurance companies to obtain the percentage of claims which were paid to adults in the case of the death of the insured. I wanted to find out when people die, when you and I die, whether we leave young people or old people as beneficiaries. I found that more than 90 per cent of the claims

paid in the case of death of the insured were paid to adults. Therefore it would seem that 90 per cent of the people who die leave adults and not minors. I also made inquiries of a number of philanthropic and charitable institutions as to the length of time that people who came to them for assistance needed help. I found out that almost invariably they were all able to gain a foothold and start life again with a chance within one, two or three years. I also found that more than 85 per cent of the persons who go to these institutions for assistance need no more assistance after the first year, more than 90 per cent got on their feet the second year, and all but the disabled the third year. Therefore we recommended to Congress that the term insurance be cut from 240 monthly payments to 36 or more monthly payments, so that our dependents would be provided for during the three years of their almost certain dependency. This, I am sure, is a very wise procedure, for statistics seem to show that these people are perfectly able to care for their own needs after this period.

case.

"And so it is with compensation. We have to take into account the extent of the disability, whether it is permanent or temporary, whether it is total or partial, and other details in connection with the We are studying this very thoroughly, and are carefully observing the methods used in foreign countries where the wounded men outnumber ours considerably. We have conferences in Washington between the officials of the United States and of other governments. Any suggestions made by these foreign officials which we think will assist the men who are entitled to assistance under the laws are immediately adopted.

"One of the most important details of our work in this connection. is to supply the medical appliances, such as artificial legs, arms and other supplies of which the boys have need. So you can see that in order to render the services expected of us we have to work night and day, not alone in answering letters, or in attempting to answer them, because I know that one of the principal objections and complaints is that we answered our letters slowly and without promptness, but when you consider that we have some 40,000,000 pieces of mail a year, you will admit that we have some mail to which we must attend.

"We try to settle our claims promptly. Out of approximately 331,000 claims for compensation we have just a little more than