Third Largest

For ten years a Detroit insurance broker named R. T. Johnstone (neither of whose initials stands for anything) has been pestering Ford Motor Co. to take out a group insurance plan for its employes. Though balding, 37-year-old R. T. Johnstone is one of the nation's largest producers of group insurance, Henry Ford always refused on the ground that group insurance was too paternalistic. Last week, however, Broker Johnstone talked again to Edsel Ford, finally closed a deal for a $150,000,000 plan covering more than 100,000 Ford workers. Said a Ford official: "The men wanted it."

Starting June 1, any Ford employe of two years' standing may take out $1,500 in term life insurance plus $15 weekly sickness and accident benefits. The premium is $1 a month deducted from paychecks and matched by at least an equivalent sum from the company. How much Ford will kitty in remains to be calculated by actuaries, but will probably come to some $1,200,000 a year. Employes will pay $1 a month no matter what their age, need take no physical exams. Because the average age of the entire group is expected to remain constant, the insurance is offered at a steady premium, whereas an individual taking out term insurance finds his premiums mounting sharply with age. Therefore, Ford workers are getting protection far more cheaply than they could any other way.

Underwritten by Travelers Insurance Co. of Hartford, the Ford policy is the third largest in the world, being exceeded only by that of U. S. Steel Corp. ($398,000,000) and General Motors ($400,000,000).

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