similarly in the case of orphans bereft of both father and mother, the sum of the orphans' pensions may not exceed three-fourths of the parent's pension. Pensions to orphans are continued until they complete their fourteenth year.

The payment of the pensions begins immediately after the death of the insured person. The fact that the latter has purposely caused his own death does not deprive his dependents of their right to a pension.

In case a full-benefit member marries, the right to join the widow and orphan branch of the pension fund depends on the result of a medical examination which the fund physician makes. If the examination shows that the member is not free from physical defects which make him liable to an early death, he is allowed to insure only against death caused by accident in the course of his employment. Children under 14 years of age, from a previous marriage, however, are not affected by the result of such an examination in case of a full-benefit member who is a widower about to marry. Widows and orphans have no claim to pensions if the marriage occurred after the member had begun to receive an invalidity pension.

Widows as well as orphans may not receive pensions if a court convicts them of purposely causing the death of the member. A widow who was divorced from the deceased by a court sentence pronouncing her the guilty party in the suit also is debarred from making a claim for a pension. If in the former case, the children are not involved in the sentence of guilt they are granted the pensions of orphans bereft of both father and mother, and the same treatment is accorded children of a marriage dissolved on account of the guilt of the wife.

In case of remarriage, the widow's pension stops, but she may be granted several years' pension as a settlement; this feature is not made obligatory by the law, but the Ministry of the Interior regards such a benefit as advantageous, especially because it makes more definite the status of such persons in case they later again become widows entitled to a pension.

DETERMINATION AND REVISION OF BENEFITS.

Article 4 of the law on miners' relief societies authorizes the organizations to provide pensions to members permanently disabled; this has been officially construed to mean permanent total disability, the necessary consequence being that cases of partial disability are not entitled to benefits, although it is not always feasible to distinguish total from partial disability. The physician of the fund makes a report on each application for an invalidity pension to the board of directors of the fund, and the latter then decide upon the question of granting the pension. If the member is dissatisfied with the decision of the board, he may appeal to the court of arbitration connected with each fund. While pensions are presumed to be granted only in case of permanent disablity, yet if a pensioner appears

to have recovered his working capacity, the fund has the right to cause a new medical examination to be made at any time and revoke the pension award; against such action the pensioner may appeal to the court of arbitration.

SOURCES OF INCOME.

SICK-BENEFIT SECTION.

EMPLOYEES' DUES.-The dues of the employees are based on the rate of wages used in computing the benefits and consist of 14 hellers (three-tenths of 1 cent) for each crown (20.3 cents) of wages received. Establishment officials whose annual earnings exceed 2,400 crowns ($487.20) pay double the rates of other insured persons.

The insurance of members of the families of employees must be borne by the latter alone, as the employers are required to pay dues only for the compulsory features of the insurance system.

EMPLOYERS' DUES.-The dues of the employer are equal to those of the workmen; for establishment officials whose annual earnings exceed 2,400 crowns ($487.20), the employer pays no dues. For those employees who receive no money wages, the employer must pay both his own and the employee's dues.

PENSION SECTION.

EMPLOYEES' DUES.-The dues of the funds vary according to the industry in which the establishment is engaged. In the official decree which prescribes the dues, the establishments are classified into four groups: (1) soft coal mining, (2) mineral salt mining, (3) other mining, and (4) smelting.

For full-benefit members the dues consist of two kinds, those for the invalidity benefit and those for the widow and orphan benefit. The following tables show the rates for the invalidity pension and for the widow and orphan pension. The rates given are for male members; the rates for female members are one-half of those for males.

The monthly dues, it will be noticed, vary considerably in the four groups; a person 30 years of age, for instance, would pay invalidity pension dues of $0.244 if he obtained employment in an establishment engaged in iron-ore mining or any other mining of the third group; for smelting establishments the rate is $0.248, for soft coal mining $0.272, and for mineral salt mining $0.39.

The monthly dues for the widow and orphan benefit are only partially reproduced in the following table, the years intermediate between the five-year points being omitted. The age referred to is the age of admission to the fund. Whenever a member is advanced to a higher pension class his dues from that time forward consist of the dues formerly paid, increased by the dues for the new amount com

puted at the age when the advance is made. Thus a member engaged in soft coal mining, aged 30, wife also aged 30, would pay $0.406 per month for a pension of 200 crowns ($40.60); if at the age of 35 his claim is increased by 40 crowns ($8.12), his dues will be increased by the addition of 40 per cent of the rate given in the table for the age of 35 with age of wife 35 (40 per cent of $0.235, the rate for 100 crowns) or $0.41 plus $0.094.

The members insured only against accidents occurring in the course of the employment (partial-benefit members) are not divided into classes according to the industry in which the establishment is engaged. For the invalidity pension the dues are three-fourths of 1 per cent of the wages, and for the widow and orphan pension they are one-half of 1 per cent of the wages. These dues are simply the premium necessary to provide the capitalized value of the pensions granted each year.

EMPLOYERS' DUES.-The employers' dues for the pension funds are equal in amount to those paid by the employee and are forwarded by the employer together with the dues of the employee which have been deducted from the latter's wages. The employer is not required to contribute toward any pension insurance which the employee may voluntarily assume.

MONTHLY DUES OF FULL-BENEFIT MEMBERS (MALES) ELIGIBLE FOR AN INVALIDITY PENSION OF 200 CROWNS ($40.60).

[Source: Amtliche Nachrichten betr. Unfall- und Krankenversicherung, 1890, Beiblatt 9.]

MONTHLY DUES OF FULL-BENEFIT MEMBERS (MALES) TO ACQUIRE RIGHT TO WIDOWS' PENSION OF 100 CROWNS ($20.30) AND THE CORRESPONDING ORPHANS' PENSIONS.

[Source: Amtliche Nachrichten betr. Unfall- und Krankenversicherung, 1890, Beiblatt 9.]

Age of husband.

Amount of monthly dues when age of wife is

65

15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 CO 70 years. years. years. years. years. years. years. years. years. years. years. years.

. 187

30 years.

276

.256

. 231

35 years.

40 years..

.365 .321 .276

.203 .179 .154 .130 .106 .089 .073

$0.154 $0. 138 $0.122 $0. 106 $0.089 $0.069 $0.057 $0.041 $0.024 $0.012 .166

.146 .126 .106 .089 .073 .057 .041

.024

.061

.041

.138 .114

.089

. 077

.057

.231

45 years.

.187

646

.150

.118

.089

.512

.073

.455

50 years.

.914

162

869

122

.093

55 years..

1.340

.244

. 183

1. 112

.138

60 years.

1.892

.378

65 years.

2.529

.540

2. 387

.402

.296

70 years..

1.226

3.654

3.410

.556

.406

The financial organization of the sick-benefit funds is comparatively simple; the current receipts are adjusted to meet current expenses, though the sick-benefit section is supposed to keep on hand a reserve equal to two years' expenses. The law specifies no rates of dues for

the sick funds, though the model constitution contains a rate regarded as adequate by the Ministry of Agriculture, but which is to be varied to meet fluctuations in the financial condition of the funds.

The rates adopted by the funds have apparently not been excessive; during the ten years previous to the year 1904, for instance, about 35 per cent of the sick funds operated with a deficit, while 16 per cent had no reserve whatever.

PENSION SECTION.

Insurance against old age and invalidity and the provision of pensions for widows and orphans naturally call for a more complex organization than sickness insurance. The dues are premium rates supposed to be sufficient to provide the capitalized value of the pensions arising each year; insurance of this class requires the accumulation and administration of large reserves.

Article 35 of the law on miners' funds requires them to make up every five years an actuarial balance showing the assets and liabilities of the pension section. The assets must show (1) the current value of the securities in which the reserve is invested; (2) the amount of the receipts for the current year from the full-benefit members; and (3) the amount of the receipts for the current year from the employer. The liabilities consist of (1) the value of all pensions being paid for invalidity of members and for widow and orphan relief; (2) the value of the pension claims of the full-benefit members for themselves, their widows, and their orphans; and (3) the value of the pension claims of pensioners for their widows and orphans. This actuarial statement must be submitted to the government mining officials of the Department of Agriculture, who in turn have its accuracy tested by the state insurance officials. In case three such five-year tests show that at each period the reserve has increased by more than ten per cent in excess of the requisite amount, the state insurance experts must either recommend a reduction of the dues or an increase in the benefits. If, on the other hand, the reserve shows a decrease under the same conditions, the state insurance experts must recommend either that the benefits be decreased or the dues be increased. The rates of dues now in force were published in 1890, and were computed on the basis of the experience previous to that date. The results of the use of these rates since 1890 indicate that they were not high enough to cover the expenditures caused by the system of benefits provided by the law of 1889. In the discussions in the labor council on the reform of the insurance system it was stated that in 1881 the actuarial deficit of the funds was 42,000,000 crowns ($8,526,000) and in 1889 was 56,000,000 crowns ($11,368,000), while in the year 1903 about 25 per cent of the funds were operating with an actuarial deficit. During the discussions of the labor council the unfavorable condition of the funds