[Footnote 59: Constitution 1905, Art. 12, in The Postal Record, Vol. 19,
pp. 2-6.]

To aid members who are too old to take advantage of the plan offered for
securing annuities by their own financial efforts, the Association, in
convention at Portland, September, 1905, endorsed an "extended leave of
absence retirement plan."[60] The Post Office Department of the United
States was requested to grant an extended leave of absence to
"superannuated or permanently impaired" carriers on condition that they
accept 40 per cent. of their regular salary, while retired, and that
they pay the remaining 60 per cent. to the senior substitute in their
office. Under the conditions of this plan, the applicant for retirement
must submit himself to the board of examiners, who shall, after a
physical examination by the physician of the board, determine his
eligibility. The results of this plan would be two-fold: first, to
relieve the detrimental effect of superannuation upon the efficiency of
the service, and, secondly, to remove the fear of those who look for
more drastic measures of relief. Aside from a regular pension grant by
the Government this plan is considered the most efficient method of
securing adequate protection for the superannuated who are too old to
avail themselves of the opportunities offered under the system of
annuities.[61]

[Footnote 60: The Postal Record, Vol. 18, pp. 220-222.]

[Footnote 61: The Postal Record, Vol. 19, p. 6.]

The principal obstacle to the successful operation of disability insurance
has been the difficulty experienced in its administration--largely on