45 and under 50. 500
50 and under 60. 300

Switchmen ............. No age restriction. 1200

Maintenance-of-Way
Employees ........... 18 and under 45 at
graded rates. 1000

Letter Carriers ....... 21 to 55 at graded rates. 1000 to 3000



The necessity for a reduction in the amount of insurance issued to the
older men was more urgent among the Engineers and the Conductors than
among the other railway organizations, since the latter form the school
of apprenticeship from which the engineers and the conductors are drawn.
In the Trainmen's and the Switchmen's organizations the young men
contribute materially to the cost of insuring the old men. This charge
is not so heavy as might appear at first sight, since in both
organizations many members withdraw when they are promoted to higher
positions in the service. In grading the amount of insurance offered
according to age, the brotherhoods have made a compromise between an
assessment on each individual according to the liability incurred, and a
system in which the welfare of the individual is regarded as entirely at
one with the welfare of the membership. The principle of solidarity is
still recognized, but under limitations.

Originally these unions collected assessments to meet death or
disability claims after the occurrence of the death or disability.