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Show If! RAISES II J IIHSURANCE PHOBLEIV Gigantic System in Germany Ger-many Successfully Meets All Difficulties. BIG LOSSES ARE MET Soldiers and Families Are Helped to Maintain Stand- ing- While War Is On. Special Cable to The Tribune. BERLIN, Jan. 22. A question which at the present moment greatly occupies the minds of German social economists, looking beyond the war, is the insurance problem. Here in Germany is the most gigantic system of insurance in Europe. It was created by Bismarck in the early '80 's and has since been repeatedly enlarged, the last time through the preat imperial : insurance law of 1911, to such an extent ex-tent that before the war twenty million Germans were eompulsorily insured against sickness, twenty-five millions against accident, and sixteen millions came under the provisions of the disa- i bility and old age regulations. There were weighty reasons to fear that the war would undermine and ruin these gigantic insurance institutions. At the outbreak of the war millions of workers were torn away from their places of employment and in most cases, ' of course, this meant that their insurance insur-ance was interrupted, thus greatly endangering en-dangering the economic basis of 'existence 'exist-ence of the institutions, whose revenues went down, while their disbursements did not decrease correspondingly. Contribute to War. For many months it was feared that the organs of German social insurance would not be ablo to weather the storm, but now it appears the worst danger is past. As might be expected in well-organized Germany, the Government almost al-most immediately stepped in through regulations limiting the liabilities of the insurance institutions, but gradually these proved superfluous almost everywhere every-where and the institutions themselves ceased to take advantage of the regulations. regu-lations. But this is not all. The insurance in-surance i institutions, with their enormous enor-mous resources, entered into the service of the war for the purpose of strengthening strength-ening the power of resistance of the people and the army. A paragraph in the imperial insurance law permitting the use of means to prevent pre-vent premature disability was interpreted inter-preted to mean that tho 'insurance institutions in-stitutions were justified in using five per cent of their capital on war charities. This amount, about $20,000,000, has been donated to the Bed Cross, 6pent on underwear for the troops during the winter campaigns, on bathing establishments establish-ments near the fronts, subsidies to the widows and children of fallen soldiers and Bimilar purposes. Mothers Are Helped. In the coming year the insurance institutions in-stitutions will assist the soldiers and their near relatives to an even greater extent. Efforts will be made to induce soldiers to keep up their insurance against sickness, even when they are unable to pay the premiums in full. This will be done through gifts from the municipalities and the former employers of the men. While in military hospitals, sick or wounded, the soldiers wilf then receive insurance money and their families fami-lies will be assisted. Most typically German is, perhaps, the extension of maternity assistance. Formerly, such assistance was o-ivon nnh to wives who were insured themselves, or occasionally when the . husband only was insured. But from now on every woman who gives birth to a child and who needs assistance will receive help if the father of the child is a soldier serving under the colors. No distinction is made between married or unmarried mothers. The assistance given is in some cases as much as $26. GO. This war has revealed the enormous strength of the social institutions of Gormany. The men who are in charge of them, however, are preparing to face an even harder task when the war is over When the war closes the insurance institutions insti-tutions will be prepared to receive and look after untold thousands of voting men whose physical strength has b'rokeu down. |