Cost of Insurance per Organizations. Fiscal Year Ending. $1000 a Year. Engineers ........... December 31, 1903 $17.80 Conductors .......... December 31, 1903 16.00 Firemen ............. June 30, 1904 12.00 Trainmen ............ December 31, 1903 18.00 Telegraphers ........ December 31, 1903 7.20 Switchmen ........... December 31, 1903 20.00 Maintenance-of-Way 12.00\ Employees ......... December 31, 1903 15.00 | according 18.00/ to age Letter Carriers...... December 31, 1906 9.24\ according 21.96/ to age [Footnote 84: These amounts have been furnished by the grand secretary-treasurers of the several organizations, except those of the Telegraphers and the Maintenance-of-Way Employees, which have been taken from the 1903 constitutions and represent the amount of the regular monthly assessment.] The differences in the cost of insurance are the result of several factors. The slight degree of risk in the occupation is largely responsible for the relative cheapness of the Telegraphers' and the Letter Carriers' insurance. More important differences are due to the age grouping of the membership. Thus the Firemen, whom old-line companies, for the most part, classify as extra-hazardous, furnish insurance against death and disability at $12 per $1000. The principal reason for this low rate is the rapid change in membership, the old men withdrawing and being replaced by young men. Near the close of the nineties the cry of "Something must be done to keep the old members in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen" was raised; but it was clearly shown that "the greatest favor a member of the Brotherhood could show the insurance department was to pay his assessment for ten years and then withdraw, permitting a man ten years his junior to take his place." The grand secretary-treasurer states that the membership practically changes every seven years, due to promotions to the position of engineer and to withdrawals of older men for various reasons. The withdrawal of old men conduces to a more favorable age grouping, to a decrease in the death rate, and to a consequent decrease in the cost of insurance. The Switchmen's Union presents an interesting contrast. The Union prescribes no age limit, and higher positions in the service are not so frequently open to the advancement of its members. The result is that the number of older members is relatively greater, and insurance is maintained at a considerably higher cost.