THE DISTRICT OFFICES. A "district office" (Landesstelle) must be created for each Province of the Empire and be located in the capital of each Province. The minister of the interior, however, is authorized to make changes in the territory subject to each office and to make such other changes as may seem desirable, these changes to be made in agreement with representatives of the Province in question. The district offices conduct the business of the insurance in their respective territories, give notice of the extension of the insurance, attend to the collection of the dues and the granting of pensions. The official bodies of the district offices consist of the general meeting and of the committee. The general meeting is composed of delegates elected in proportion to the number of persons insured and consists of not less than 30 nor more than 100 members. The employers and the insured persons meet separately; each elects delegates by written ballot. The general meeting must hold at least one session each year. The general meeting chooses the members of the executive committee and the associates of the courts of arbitration. The executive committee of the district office consists of a chairman, who shall be learned in the law and who shall be appointed by the minister of the interior for a 5-year term, and of 10 members, composed of 5 employers and 5 insured persons elected by the general meeting. Claims for pensions must be made to the district offices by submitting the proper documents. The office through the official physician is authorized to investigate the condition of claimants for pensions; it can also make further investigation which may be necessary to.determine the status of a claimant. To examine claims for pensions, the executive committee is authorized to appoint from its midst a pension committee (Rentenkommission) consisting of the chairman of the committee, 1 insured person, and 1 employer. Decisions in regard to granting or disallowing a claim for pension, upon the amount of a pension, or upon the withdrawal of a pension must be unanimous. If a unanimous vote upon the question can not be obtained, the matter shall be transferred to the board of directors for decision. If the pension committee disallows a claim for invalidity pension, a new application for a pension may not be made until the expiration of one year unless important changes have occurred in the condition of the claimant. To settle disputes arising under the administration of the law an arbitration court is created for each district office. This court has jurisdiction of appeals against claims which have been allowed (their amount and method of computation) and in regard to the disallowing of claims provided that such appeals are made within 6 months of the time of the decision. The court consists of the following persons: A permanent chairman, 4 associates, and the necessary number of substitutes. The chairman and his substitute are appointed by the minister of justice in agreement with the minister of the interior, from the persons filling state judicial offices. The associates, half of whom are insured persons and half of whom are employers, are elected by the meeting of the district office. The decisions of the court of arbitration are final. The law also provides for the creation of courts of arbitration to settle controversies arising between the Pension Institute and the substitute institutes mentioned below. OTHER INSTITUTIONS ALLOWED TO CONDUCT THE INSURANCE. In order to protect existing institutions which provide insurance of this kind for the persons mentioned as subject to the compulsory insurance, the law allows them to continue their operations in the future. The obligation to insure is fulfilled if a person insures himself with one of these existing institutions or takes out an insurance contract which complies with certain specific regulations. The institutions which may be substituted for the central Pension Institute are private pension companies, pension funds, old-age funds, etc., as well as the existing registered aid funds. The benefits provided by such organizations must be not less than the minimum benefits specified in the law; the contributions of the insured persons and the share thereof to be paid by the employers may exceed the amount specified in the law only if the benefits provided are proportionately in excess of those specified in the law. In case the insured person changes his contract from one insurance institution to another, or to the government Pension Institute, the transfer of the premium reserve credited to this person must be not less than the amount given in the law. The institutions or organizations which are permitted to supply the insurance of this class must be subject to state supervision; first in the year 1910 and every five years thereafter an actuarial balance of these organizations shall be struck, and measures are to be taken, when necessary, to assure the payment of the obligations; the constitution, the amendments thereto, the dissolution of the organization, and the method of dissolution must also be approved by the government officials. In case the number of members is less than 100, the organization must provide sufficient guaranties, technically computed, to assure the payment of obligations. The recognition of such substitute organizations for this insurance rests with the minister of the interior, and he is authorized to set up standards which must be complied with in order to secure such recognition. All insured persons in the service of any one employer, who are not insured in the govern ment Pension Institute, must as a rule always be insured in the same substitute organization. Insurance contracts which are allowed to take the place of insurance in the government institute must be in the form of approved contracts with home or foreign insurance companies authorized to do business in the country, and these companies must comply with the general rules set forth for the substitute organizations as above explained. Arrangements are also provided for the transfer of the insurance of any one person or of all the persons in one establishment or of all the persons in any organization from one insuring organization to another; when such a transfer is desired the approval of government officials must be secured and the new organization must comply with the rules already stated. PROPOSED SYSTEM OF INSURANCE FOR OLD AGE AND INVALIDITY. As already stated, there is practically no insurance against old age in Austria for workmen in industries. The official plan for the reform of the workmen's insurance system includes a system of insurance against invalidity and old age. In general this plan may be said to bear a close resemblance to that of Germany; employer and employee each contribute one-half of the dues, the employee's part being deducted from his wages. Benefits are based on the amount of dues paid in, and the State adds a subsidy to each pension granted. The following is a summary of the principal features of the proposed system: AMOUNT OF DUES AND BENEFITS. Wage-earners subject to the insurance are to be insured against both invalidity and old age, while independent persons subject to insurance are insured against old age only. Old-age pensions begin with the sixty-fifth year of age; if a workman becomes an invalid before this time, he receives an invalidity pension. The amount of the invalidity or old-age pension is dependent upon the length of time for which dues have been paid and the amount of these dues. The survivors of an insured person are granted a lump sum, but not a pension. Female insured persons, when they marry, have returned to them one-half of the dues which have been paid. The table following shows the amount of the dues and the pensions payable at the expiration of 20, 30, and 40 years, respectively, for each class of wage-earners. AMOUNT OF WEEKLY DUES AND AMOUNT OF PENSION PAYABLE AT THE END OF 20, 30, AND 40 YEARS, RESPECTIVELY, BY WAGE CLASSES. 4.80 crowns and under ($0.974).. a Per month. PERSONS INSURED. The insured persons are divided into two classes, the dependent and the independent. The dependent persons include the following: Industrial and agricultural workmen, day laborers, domestic servants, members of the family employed, apprentices, workers in domestic shops, house tutors, house seamstresses, house laundresses, and home employees of all kinds. It is estimated that the preceding occupations include approximately 6,000,000 persons. The obligation to insure begins with the sixteenth year of age; but persons who are already invalids or who are over 60 years of age or who receive a salary in excess of 200 crowns ($40.60) monthly or 2,400 crowns ($487.20) annually are exempted from this obligation. The independent persons insured are the proprietors of an industrial or other gainful undertaking or of an agricultural or forestry establishment; those persons, however, whose annual income exceeds 2,400 crowns ($487.20) or who do not regularly employ more than two wage-workers who are not members of their family are excepted. PAYMENT OF DUES. In the case of workmen the dues are arranged in wage classes and are to be paid one-half by the workmen and one-half by the employers. The amount of these dues is shown in the preceding table. The minimum monthly dues in the case of a workman whose annual income is 480 crowns ($97.44) and under are 50 hellers (10.2 cents), and in the case of an annual income between 480 crowns ($97.44) and 2,400 crowns ($487.20) are at least 1 crown (20.3 cents) per month; these minimum rates may be increased by the various 46598°-10-27 States of the Austrian Empire for all or part of the territory subject to their jurisdiction. The insured persons are allowed to make voluntary single payments of dues in excess of the amounts specified in the table; but such voluntary payments may not exceed more than 100 crowns ($20.30) in any one year. The legislative body of each State is allowed to make regulations regarding such voluntary payments. The voluntary payments are treated as single deposits and the rights accruing therefrom are computed on an actuarial basis. The beginning of the old-age pension arising from such voluntary payments may be fixed at 55 years of age. LENGTH OF TIME FOR WHICH DUES MUST BE PAID. The length of time-the so-called waiting time-for which dues must be paid is as follows: First, in the case of workmen, to become entitled to an invalidity pension dues must be paid for 200 weeks; included in such time are weeks actually spent in military service or time lost on account of illness preventing employment. For the oldage pension the time for which dues must be paid is 30 years, computed from the beginning of the insurance and without considering any temporary interruption in the payment of dues. This period is shortened for those persons who become entitled to benefits immediately after the enactment of the law; for such persons the number of contributory weeks for which dues must be paid in order to secure a claim for an old-age pension is to be specified by a later law. In the case of independent persons, the period for which dues must be paid in order to secure the claim to an old-age pension is 200 contributory weeks. LOSS OF CLAIM TO PENSION. For workmen the loss of employment means exemption from the obligation to insure; but in such cases he may retain his rights by making minimum payments. The same holds true for independent persons, who are temporarily exempted from the insurance. In case an independent person is unable for any reason to pay the full amount of his dues, he is entitled to maintain his claim by extremely small payments. In case of bankruptcy of his employer, the rights of the workman are not lost by the failure of the former to pay the dues. LUMP SUMS PAID TO SURVIVORS. In case of the death of an insured person, lump sums of varying amounts are paid to his survivors, including the widow and legitimate and legitimated children under 16 years of age. The parents of the deceased, as well as grown children, and brothers and sisters under 16 years of age who were sustained by him may also be given a |