41 .
3»
I'LL. v
Q
a
.v.
r9 .
x. .J a‘ . .
£2: .e.»..,:v . . . .
i f z . . .
_ .. . . . .. .wviwrr
. . . Am. ,
. a].
.w. 14%.
. .i 5%
{514: .»
pi. . .. . . . .v . . . . . .. . a . . .. . .. . in}... .whn. . . .. . .. ;
8N5... £141.52 .. I wilw}. 5.15.. .. . .. . ,Tna1ww$.. .- a.. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . Yviwﬁrdha .. . ..~ . mmwm . . . .. .r .
. . . . . . . .. .giwswfvwwwmMr . .. . .. . . I . 5.... ﬁwwwqr . .. . . . . . . . T1 4%. . .... K??? .. .. . . .. . . .. . . Yaw”.
.. . ‘.Iftvtdlv . . . .. . . . . ,nwnruwk . . . . H. . . lNQWJt? v . .. . . . WW4... . ;. . .
.Hi. 1 . . . r. ,. ‘ .. a va... . . . . .v .. . .. . H I .:
l . . . 1r. . . . . . Lamp. . . . . . .
. .. . . . . a». 7 . .. . . . . . . . . rvvhvéurwﬂ , . 1 a1
. . .. . . . .. .. .. . . 1.. .. . .. » . iﬁmwﬁh
. . . . . . , . . t . ﬁb¢§$~§hk .. ni$fﬁﬁﬂ
3 4...? -. . Cmwﬂﬂv . . .
i... ‘$.13’? F1.\§(€l..v|
1.. u‘ i, it! .
was Fiaaiflﬁm . lite... ,. ., . _ . . . . \4.
. k3,. . . . . . . .. H . . . .
§§§§ﬂmhvw .. . . .. .. ... ...1 . . . T. .ilié...
. . . . . ' iniiv 1 11M“ , ..\\.vnnnlv\nln.! .. .
ailing“ emmmmtltﬁlﬂpgﬁpumlﬂmnllil lluammnr . . I .
. lilPlH-K {I Ivniﬂﬂvhniiﬁlﬂl . . .
.NHln‘UmMﬂ All“. 4.“...- ..
\\%g .mmmmav. wdxﬂﬂwﬂx .Jm e. .. . . .
. 33.4? . . 1 ,mﬁﬁﬁ. if; . I . 1
.lwiagr ‘ L135 r
s.
a . .
. . .. . 2.114.: .8? Us?“
... .1 @ Jﬁemwmumt .
‘I. .. 2‘ a . .24’? w .
#1 K . .. aw . 1
m, g
. iumu. . ivmmkwuw... . . . . .
. Lmwlmu. . . .. 1. u,
. . w . . @Lﬁékiiﬁi q ,
km
. b.
‘ A... \‘
.lusll fun, . . ..i ‘ .
lil'OlllII-llﬂ: l. ilhnuillla
. .Jnr uxﬁluﬂlnwlbailhlwbllhnul 21:12.‘
"a. . ‘UL-l, . Qirkwlrlwulnuvl .lmh “P . h nunumnmmwtlé . .
an” .1 1m! . 4 . . . . Humwn .J‘Ftw .

“so-mks? ‘Hummus
1E3? a .wwtimamﬁafray L
_E.25:55.:Ea: , “Z , . A’ .M 5......EEE_=_=_==._., _._
mm‘ 7
. mi"

'Tiikinoiz‘
" [m

hm

‘1
"
g???
‘51.11:; I 1?‘ ix 47
. niacin-Laval! . .Vmb .Ham... 4
lll‘aﬂlah W11 "5.?! u?
Igmh
, . ‘ A».
. . u ..ﬁ-x
. V S
aﬁii'ﬁ’i'lﬁ '
W!
a???
s.
5H
'[
,
a” .
. f
.wi
. v r- k 4 I
< f. ﬁvvw
k. a, it‘ t
I .v
, i 7% ., 1%‘
5%2aléwf»?

m. w),
. w .
. “ M ‘n. H . ..L .

35p 5- 1919 “ M B
3 Q o
.H a l
“The Redemption of the Disabled”
A Review of the Book of that Title
by Garrard Harris, of the Research
Division of the Federal Board for
Vocational Education
BY
J. Broadfield Warren
New York
I 9 I 9
“The Redemption of the Disabled” iii
\~
\
ﬁa-classeé F ~


“The Redemption of the Disabled”
In undertaking recently to review the volume entitled “The Re-
demption of the Disabled” by Garrard Harris, of the Research Division
of the Federal Board for Vocational Education (New York, 1919, D.
Appleton & Co.,) I was struck with the familiarity of some of the
material, and was, therefore, led further to seek the source.
It was found that in writing a considerable section of the book a
signed volume by another author was rather heavily drawn upon. The
volume referred to is “The Evolution of National Systems of Voca-
tional Reeducation for Disabled Soldiers and Sailors” by Douglas C.
McMurtrie, and published by the Federal Board for Vocational
Education. It appears that not all of this book was written by
Mr. MclVlurtrie but that he was responsible editorially for the whole
text. What was not actually written by him was prepared by assis-
tants on his staff and under his direction. Such work by others is
credited in footnotes to the individual chapters.
- The use of existing documents is, of course, essential in the prepara-
tion of any work of a synthetic nature. But it is usual to give credit
where extensive use is made of material from another source. In the
present instance, this is not legally obligatory because the volume
from which the material is drawn was not copyrighted, being issued
as a government document. Nor would there be any desire on the
part of writers regarding the rehabilitation of the cripple that their
data be not most fully utilized. '
The circumstances of copyright, however, do not affect the tra-
ditional obligations of writers and scholars.
In view of the extent to which material has been drawn by Mr.
Harris from one source, it would be well to examine the degree to
which he has made acknowledgment of the assistance. ‘
We read in the author’s preface:
Much of the material was obtained from original sources opened to the
Federal Board for Vocational Education in its studies on the subject of.
vocational rehabilitation of the disabled in Europe. Other data, public
documents of other nations and similar material, have been available, were
drawn upon where occasion required and ﬁtted to their places in the narra-
tive. Acknowledgment of very valuable assistance and contribution
f iv “The Redemption of the Disabled”


of material by Dr. John Cummings of the Research Department of the
Federal Board is appreciatively made, as well as the advice and interest
of the editor of this series throughout all stages of the book’s preparation.
This would, look as though most of the source material came from
the Research Department (in other places called Research Division)
of the Federal Board for Vocational Education.
It may be noted further that there is no mention at any point in .
the text of the Harris book of Mr. McMurtrie or the Red Cross Insti-
tute. Some of the illustrations which were provided direct to D.
Appleton & Company at their request by the Red Cross Institute are
properly and courteously credited.
The ofﬁcial and authoritative character of the Harris volume has
been much stressed. It contains a foreword by Dr. Charles A. Prosser,
Director of the Federal Board for Vocational Education. Says Dr.
Prosser:
As Mr. Harris is connected in an editorial capacity with the Board, he
speaks ‘with an intimate knowledge of its work and plans. Combining with
this a deep and enthusiastic interest in the whole problem of the handi-
capped man and a rare ability to write in an attractive way, he has been
able to make what I regard as a most distinct contribution to the literature
of the whole subject.
Those interested in a popular comparative study of the schemes of the
belligerents for the vocational rehabilitation of their disabled men will ﬁnd
that'the author has not only looked forward toward the work before the
Federal Board, but has also summarized clearly the plans and policies of
our allies and pointed out the essential oneness of aim and the necessary
differences in procedure between each of them and our own country.
The present review will not attempt a critical evaluation of the
literary standards of'Mr. Harris. There will simply be presented
in parallel columns extracts from the two volumes referred to.
It is to be feared that Mr. Harris went to un’due trouble in reversing
the order of sentences which already read clearly, and in changing
terms like “50 years” to “half century.” Quite likely, however, Mr.
Harris, with that “rare ability to write in an attractive way” so admired
by Dr. Prosser, did not feel he could lend his sanction to the English
style of the original, and therefore directed ‘his efforts to its improve-
ment and embellishment. ~
The volume entitled “The Evolution of National Systems of Voca-
tional Reeducation for Disabled Soldiers and Sailors,” signed by Mr.
A “The Redemption of the Disabled” v

McMurt‘rie, was, according to my information, prepared entirely at
the Red Cross Institute for Crippled and Disabled Men, and the manu-
script was deliveredcomplete to the Federal Board for Vocational
Education. Even the illustrations were furnished by that Institute.
Immediately following publication, the Federal Board sent out to the
newspaper press of the country a publicity story on the book. This
story read as follows:
The Federal Board for Vocational Education has just issued the “Evolu-
tion of National Systems of Vocational Education for Disabled Soldiers,”
being Bulletin No. 15 of the series of this board.
Coming at this particular time, when the problem of what will be done
with our own wounded and disabled men is of growing interest to the country
generally, the Bulletin has the considerable value of timeliness, in addition
to its intrinsic worth as the only complete exposition of what other nations
are doing for their own who are suffering disabilities as one of the fortunes
of war.
There is, additionally, the value of being an absolutely authoritative
publication, with material drawn from ofﬁcial sources abroad and issued
by the Federal Board for Vocational Education, which, by unanimous vote
of the Congress, has been charged with the high and great responsibility of
reeducating and rehabilitating for vocational usefulness the disabled men
of the United States land and naval forces. The Federal board has been
engaged upon the study of war rehabilitation work since August, 1917, and
was the ﬁrst of the governmental agencies to move for the reeducation of
our war wounded and crippled defenders.
The Bulletin is a volume of 320 pages illustrated with many photographs
showing progress made in other countries in reﬁtting men to take up again
the battle of civil existence. It shows how science and the wonders of
specialized reeducation are able to neutralize what would otherwise be
serious handicaps that would place the subjects thereof in the category of
human junk.
It is a most inspiring message of hope and conﬁdence to every man who
is in the armed forces, and those subject to call, and the families and rela-
tives of all of these men. 'It assuredly dispels any fear that a man may
have of becoming a wounded or decrepit burden, either upon society, the
State, or his relatives. Mere remnants of men are shown who have been
turned into useful wage-earning, self-supporting, and self-respecting citi-
zens who supplement their pensions with well-paid labor, and in many
instances have larger revenues than before being injured.
The volume deals with the subject of rehabilitation generally, its prin-
ciples, the attitude of the public toward the disabled man, and the outlook
vi “The Redemption of the Disabled” '


and viewpoint of the men themselves. It then takes up the various coun-
tries—~France, Belgium, Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Austria-Hungary,
Canada, and other British dominions.
Copies of this interesting and valuable ‘document, the ﬁrst the United
States Government has issued upon this absorbing subject, may be had
without cost upon application to the Federal Board for Vocational Educa-
tion, ()uray Building, Washington, D. C.
Doubtless the inference to be drawn from this story that the
book was the product of Federal Board enterprise, and the omission
of any reference to the author or the organization which prepared
the material from thousands of sources and at vast expenditure of time
and effort, is entirely accidental. In view of the usual generous prac-
tice of the Board in acknowledging outside assistance, such a con-
clusion is inevitable.
We may now proceed to the presentation of extracts in parallel
columns. For convenience the volumes are designated as “Harris
book” and “MclVIurtrie book.” It should be noted that the latter
volume was published months prior to the appearance of the former.
It need hardly be pointed out that I presume to make no charge
of plagiarism against Mr. Harris. I am only reprinting extracts from
two books for the information and delectation of the reader.
New York, 1919
“The Redemption of the Disabled” I


The Chapters on Germany
HARRIS BOOK
In a Government so highly centralized as
was that of Germany, it is somewhat sur-
prising to ﬁnd the position taken that reedu-
cation and care of the crippled soldier are
not a governmental function. Responsi-
bility for the wounded soldier, in so far as
he requires physical and medical care was
admitted and discharged, but all responsi-
bility for reeducation and return to civil life
was held to belong to private charity, or to
the different states of the Empire, if they
cared to assume it.
Germany at the beginning of the war was in
much better condition to deal with the prob-
lem of rehabilitation than any of the other
belligerents.
For many years she had been a leader in
orthopaedic surgery and the rehabilitation
of cripples, and possessed many specialists
of‘ international eminence in these lines.
She possessed also a society of long stand-
ing, the German Federation for the Care of
Cripples, whose membership comprised 58
cripples’ homes, some of which had a cen-
tury of service behind them.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
There are two outstanding features about
the German system of care for war cripples.
In the ﬁrst place, it is not a system in the
sense in which Italy, Canada, France, and
England have systems. In all these coun-
tries, the work is more or less uniﬁed under
one authority; they make, in varying
degrees, an attempt at even distribution of
schools and hospitals. In Germany there is
no real central authority. The schools ‘are
of varying types and most unevenly dis-
tributed. ,
The second feature is the volunteer charac-
ter of the work. The matter of reeducation
is wholly in private hands and is not even
supervised by the Imperial Government.
In this respect the German Government
takes less part in the work than the Govern-
ment of any other nation. These two fea-
tures, lack of system and lack of government
control, have been the subject of wholesale
condemnation from writers of other nations.
As far as can be seen, however, the volume
of work done and the efﬁciency of individual
institutions rank extremely high.
As a matter of fact, the lack of centralization
in the German system need not indicate
essential insufﬁciency. There are two
obvious causes for it. In the ﬁrst place,
Germany was the country, which, of all
others, had, when the war broke out, the
most foundation for caring for cripples.
The organization of the volunteer work for
the care of war cripples began a few days
after the declaration of war, through the
activity of the Deutsche Vereinigung fur
Kriippelfiirsorge (German Federation for
the Care of cripples). This society, as has
been mentioned, is an institution of long
standing, having as members 58 cripple
homes, some of them founded almost a
century ago.
2 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
There had been developed during the last
half century 54 cripples’ homes, ranging in
size from six to 300 beds. These had among
them 221 workshops, teaching 51 trades.
The German system of social insurance also
had devoted much study to the treatment
and reéducation of cripples.
The sick-beneﬁt societies and employers’
accident-insurance associations had hospi-
tals, which were also available.
The Red Cross established orthopaedic hos-
pitals at centers where needed, and in 1918
it was estimated that there were 200 insti-
tutions of the sort in the country, amply
adequate to care for all war cripples.
A few days after war was declared, at the
request of the Empress, the cripples’ homes
threw open their doors to war cripples.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
There had been developed, during 50 years’
experience, 54 cripple homes, ranging in size
from six beds to 300. Some of them were
already taking adults as well as children;
they had among them 221 workshops,
teaching 51 trades.
Another agency which had promoted the
study of the care and training of cripples
was the German system of social insurance.
Under the insurance laws there are two
agencies responsible for the care of indus-
trial cripples. The Krankenkassen (sick-
beneﬁt societies), to which employers
contribute one-third and employees two-
thirds, take charge of a workman‘ for the
ﬁrst 26 weeks of illness. After that, the
Berufsgenossenschaften (employers’ acci-
dent insurance associations) support him
for the rest of the time, or in case of per-
manent invalidity. As a consequence,
both Krankenkassen and Berufsgenossen-
schaften have excellent hospitals.
At the outbreak of the war cripple homes,
Krankenkassen and Berufsgenossenschaften,
all offered their hospitals to the war depart-
ment.
Beside this, the Red Cross established some
orthopedic hospitals in localities where there
seemed a lack, and private individuals and
charitable institutions did the same. .
Dr. Leo Mayer, recently of the Orthopedic
Hospital Am Urban, Berlin, states that
there must be at present about 200 such
institutions and that it may conﬁdently be
said that Germany’s facilities for giving
orthopedic treatment to crippled soldiers
are quite adequate.
Immediately after the outbreak of the war,
the Kaiserin, at Dr. Biesalski’s suggestion,
sent a telegram to the Vereinigung fiir
Kruppelfiirsorge, asking that the German
cripple homes throw open their doors to war
cripples.
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 3


HARRI S B OOK
The director of the Federation began a tour
of the country under the auspices of the
Red Cross, urging the formation of volun-
tary committees for the care of war cripples,
and spreading the doctrine which has be-
come a fundamental of orthopaedic treat-
ment, namely, that almost any cripple can
be made ﬁt to work again, and that educa-
tion for work should be the regular treat-
ment.
Many volunteer committees were formed in
cities, some of the states and provinces
formed committees, and the work was
started under various auspices and plans.
The general local organization had so far
progressed that the Federation called a
conference in February, 1915, to coordinate
the work.
Ofﬁcials of the various states and provinces
and representatives of the medical profes-
sion, teachers, employers, workmen,‘ the
military authorities, large social-welfare
organizations, the Red Cross, sick-beneﬁt
societies, the state accident-insurance asso-
ciations, and so on, were present.
The policy of the Imperial Government was
made clear. This was, in brief, that the
Government, through the Ministry of “far,
should be responsible for the wounded sol-
dier in so far as he required physical care,
but that all responsibility for reeducation
and return to industrial life should belong
to private charity or to the diHerent states
of the Empire.
There was a great deal of criticism in the
convention of the Government's attitude,
but as late as 1918 there had been no change.
The states, provinces, local communities
MCMURTRIE BOOK
Further than this, Dr. Biesalski undertook
a tour of Germany under the auspices of the
Red Cross, in which he visited all the princi-
pal cities, urging the formation of voluntary
committees for the care of war cripples.
The gospel he preached was one which had
been the creed of leading German ortho-
pedists for many years, namely, that
almost any cripple could be made ﬁt to
work again and that education for work
should be the regular treatment.
The immediate result was the formation of
volunteer committees in many cities and of
larger ones in some States and Provinces
and starting of work in all parts of the Em-
pire under various auspices and with various
plans.
By February, 1915, this local organization
had proceeded so far that the Vereinigung
fur Krtippelfiirsorge, under the auspices
of the Kaiserin, called a special meeting in
Berlin to compare notes and lay down the
guiding principles.
At the meeting, there were present ofﬁcials of
the various States and Provinces, represen-
tatives of the medical profession, the teach-
ers, the employers, the workmen, the
military authorities, and of the large social
welfare organizations, the Red Cross, the
sick beneﬁt societies, the State accident
insurance associations, etc.
The general principle was laid down as
above, that the Imperial Government,
through the War Department, should be
responsible for the wounded soldier in so far
as he required physical care, but that all
responsibility for reeducation and return to
industrial life should belong to private
charity or to the different States of the
Empire, if they care to take it up.
The private societies and the individual
states were left to ﬁnance their part of the
work with any support they could get.
There was obvious, even at this early
4 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
and private charity had permanently foisted
upon them the burden and the duty of the
Imperial Government in regard to the muti—
lated men who had been injured in uphold-
ing its cause.
As the work proceeded, Army authorities
expressed great appreciation, and promised
to consult with the private agencies as to
‘the assignment of men to different hospitals
and not to remove or discharge men sud-
denly, without regard to the interests of
their training.
They also promised that private agencies
should have facilities for visiting the hos-
pitals for teaching and vocational advice,
and that Army ofﬁcers should be instructed
to cooperate in every way.
There was a good deal of friction with local
military authorities and many difficulties
between individual commanders and the
volunteer agencies in their districts, but
apparently their relations, were ﬁnally
adjusted.
The work has gone forward in various ways,
the Imperial Government always evading
the duty and unloading it on civilian, local
and state charity and sense of obligation.
Germany has 26 states, and each state has
its provinces.
Bavaria alone of the states has ﬁnanced and
entirely directed the work within its borders,
with the aidof advisory committees of local
people who actually help.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
meeting, the split of opinion as to this
division of responsibility. Several speakers
stated deﬁnitely that the Imperial Govern-
ment ought to control and plan the work
or, at least, to finance it. No government
representative, however, had been author-
ized to make any promises on this subject
and the aloof attitude then assumed has
continued, under growing criticism.
The general understanding, however, was a
thoroughly cordial one. The military
authorities expressed themselves as deeply
grateful for the volunteer work and in full
cooperation with it. They promised to
consult with the private agencies as to the
assignment of men to different hospitals
and not to remove or discharge men
suddenly without regard to the interests
of their training.
They also promised that private agencies
should have facilities for visiting the hospi-
tals for teaching and vocational advice and
that army doctors should be instructed
to cooperate with them in every way.
There has, at times, been friction between
individual military commanders and the
volunteer agencies in their districts.
Germany is divided into twenty-six states
the largest of which, Prussia, has twelve
provinces, each larger than many of the
other states.
I. Work ﬁnanced and directed entirely by the
state government—Bavaria stands alone
under this head. The whole work is ﬁnanced
and managed by the state under the
ministry of the interior, assisted by an
advisory committee of representative citi-
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 5


HARRIS BOOK
All of the Prussian'provinces but one, which
means about half of Germany, have initiated
and directed the work, but with private
cooperation and support,
using to the full all existing schools, alms-
houses and hospitals;
the provinces furnished the funds with the
understanding that the Kingdom of Prussia,
and ultimately the Imperial Government,
must take over the burden.
The city of Berlin assumed responsibility for
its own cripples on the same basis,
but there was no commitment from the
Imperial Government, which merely donated
the entirely inadequate sum of 5,000,000
marks.
The Imperial Government asserted exclu-
sive responsibility for medical treatment,
through the Ministry of \Var, and all hos-
pitals where wounded receive treatment
were under military authority and disci-
pline.
The principle upon which rehabilitation
work proceeds is that practically every
cripple can be made ﬁt to work again.
This is accepted in Germany as a ﬁnality
on the subject.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
zens. The various government ofﬁcers
' throughout the state are the ofﬁcers of the
cripple welfare work and each one has an
advisory committee of local people to help
with the actual case work.
2. Work initiated and directed by the
government but with private cooperation and
support—Under this head fall all but one
of the Prussian provinces, including more
than half of Germany.
The plan was to use, to the full, all existing
provincial institutions, such as schools,
almshouses, and hospitals.
The funds were furnished by the province,
but with the understanding that the State
of Prussia and, ultimately, the Imperial
Government, must take over the burden.
The city of Berlin assumed the responsi-
bility for its own cripples on the same under-
standing.
It also is the medium through which any
funds contributed by the Imperial Govern-
ment are distributed. So far, these have
consisted only in one grant of ﬁve million
marks which is almost negligible compared
with what the private organizations are
spending.
The responsibility for medical treatment, as
stated above, is exclusively the province of
the Imperial Government, as represented by
the war department. All hospitals where
wounded soldiers are treated, whether for
ﬁrst surgical care or later convalescent
care, are under military authority and disci-
pline.
The principle upon which the orthopedic
treatment proceeds is that practically every
cripple can be made ﬁt to work again.
This attitude is assumed by all the German
writers.
6 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
The director of the Federation for the Care
of Cripples asserts that from 90 per cent.
to 95 per cent. of all war cripples treated
are returned to industrial life.
Dr. Leo Mayer states that of 400 cases
treated at the hospital of Am Urban, only
two were unable to go back to work, but
whether these were selected and hand-
picked cases to demonstrate upon is not
known.
The whole German scheme of rehabilitation,
then, is thus summarized:
No charity, but work, for the war cripple.
Cripples must be returned to their homes and
their old conditions; as far as possible, to their
old work.
Cripples must be distributed among the mass
of the people just as though nothing had hap-
pened.
There is no such a thing as being “crippled”
while there exists the iron will to overcome the
handicap.
There must be the fullest publicity on the sub-
ject; ﬁrst of all, among the cripples themselves.
There seems small difﬁculty in handling
the men.
This is due to the fact that they are partly
under military discipline, and also that the
schooling is started early, before the “pen-
sion psychosis” has taken hold of their
minds.
The appeal to them is a patriotic one, in
effect, that no man is a worthy citizen of the
Fatherland who does not use his will to
overcome his handicap.
A great deal of literature has been published
to ﬁx this idea among the cripples and the
public as well; and the motto, “The German
will conquers!” is iterated constantly.
Men are treated in the orthopaedic hospitals
from two to six months, until they are
MCMURTRIE BOOK
Dr. Biesalski states that from 90 per cent
- to 95 per cent of all war cripples treated
are returned to industrial life.
Dr. Leo Mayer says that of 400 treated at
the hospital Am Urban, only two were
unable to go back to work.
The scheme, as expressed by Dr. Biesalski,
Germany’s leading orthopedic surgeon, is as
follows:
I. N 0 charity, but work for the war cripple.
2. Cripples must be returned to their homes
and their old conditions; as far as pos-
sible, to their old work.
3. Cripples must be distributed among the
mass of the people as though nothing had
happened.
4. There is no such thing as being crippled,
while there exists the iron will to over—
come the handicap.
5. There must be the fullest publicity on this
subject, ﬁrst of all among the cripples
themselves.
Reports point. to very little difﬁculty met
with among the men.
This is due to the fact that they are partly
under military discipline and also to the
very early beginning of schooling before
“pension psychosis” has time to get a foot-
hold.
The appeal made to them is a patriotic one,
to the effect that no man is a worthy citizen
of the Fatherland who has not the will to
overcome his handicap.
Much literature has been published on the
subject, the motto being Der Deutsche
l/Ville Siegt! (The German Will Conquers!)
The time of treatment for a man in the or-
thopedic hospital is ‘from two to six months.
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 7


HARRIS BOOK
ready to go back to the Army or are pro—
nounced unﬁt for further work in the active
military establishment.
Even if reported unﬁt, the Army does not
discharge them until they are pronounced
ﬁt to go back to civil life.
But if a man has a relapse after his dis-
charge, or if a further and expensive treat-
ment might improve his condition, the mili-
tary authorities take no further notice of
him. He is at the mercy of private charity,
being rated now as a civilian.
Reéducation and medical treatment are
simultaneous, for the reason that experience
has shown that best results are had only by
getting hold of the patient at the earliest
stage of convalescence.
The fact that the Imperial Government will
not contribute anything toward reeducation
is another consideration impelling the local
committee to use the time the man is in the
hospital as far as possible, for the purpose of
saving on his maintenance.
Trade training in the military hospital thus
‘begins usually as soon as the man is out of
bed.
The local “care committee” of voluntary or
privately supported workers sometimes has
its workshops in the hospital, and sometimes
at some place outside to which the men are
transported daily.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
Men are kept here until they are ready to go
back to the army or are pronounced deﬁn-
itely dienstunfahig, unﬁt for service.
Even if they are so unﬁt, the war
department does not discharge them until
they are pronounced by the physician
physically ﬁt to go back to civil life.
It sometimes happens that a man has a
relapse after discharge or that a further,
expensive treatment might improve his
condition. In this case, the military author-
ities take no responsibility and private
charity must attend to him as a civilian.
The chief thing to be noted about reeduca-
tion in Germany is that it goes on at the
same time as the medical treatment, the
two processes are simultaneous, not con-
secutive as is largely the case in England.
This has two causes: First, there is the
strong conviction among all cripple welfare
workers that results can be obtained only
by getting hold of a patient at the earliest
possible moment of convalescence,
and second, the fact that, since the Imperial
Government does not pay anything toward
reeducation, it is more economical for the
care committees to attend to it while the
men are in the hospitals and thus save
themselves the expense of maintenance.
The usual plan of the care committees, as
has been said, is to give men their trade
training while they are still in the military
hospital, beginning it, in fact, as soon as
they are able to be out of bed.
Given this plan for the housing of the men,
there are two possible arrangements for the
workshops. Either the care committee can
maintain workshops in the hospitals, or it
can use a separate building to which the
men are transported every day.
8 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
As every city has its technical school as
part of the educational system, these fur-
nish equipment ready to hand, and usually
also a staff of teachers, specialists in voca-
tional training.
The hospital at Niirnberg is perhaps the
most complete example of the manner in
which Germany is handling the problem
of reéducating and reﬁtting her permanently
disabled men. Most of the work is carried
on in direct connection with the institution,
although some work is done in connection
with the city schools.
The discipline being military, men are as-
signed by the director to the shops to spend
a certain number of hours each day.
The civilian instructors do not attempt to
force the assigned men to work, but the
knowledge that curtailment of privileges or
rations may be ordered by the military
authorities is a compelling incentive: the
example of other pupils who are interested
and making progress, however, is generally
sufficient for even the most apathetic.
In a few of the hospitals, notably the Kor-
tan agricultural school, it has been possible
to assign disabled soldiers——oﬁicers—as in-
structors, and-in such cases the discipline is
entirely military.
There are 900 beds at the N tirnberg hos-
pital, which occupies three buildings. These
were not constructed for the purpose, but
were turned over to the authorities by the
city of N iirnberg, furnished with all modern
orthopaedic equipment.
The facilities include a large piece of land
and 12 workshops. '
The shops are ﬁtted with machinery and
tools, the gift of patriotic manufacturers.
‘
MCMURTRIE BOOK
There are excellent facilities for this, since
every town has at least one trade school.
The N tirnberg hospital is the most complete
example of this plan to hand, though even
this hospital, which was fortunate enough
to obtain space and equipment for work-
shops, does not manage the reeducation
problem exclusively within its own walls,
but works in close connection with the city
schools.
Since the discipline of the hospital is mili—
tary, the men can be assigned by the
director to different shops to spend a
certain number of hours every day.
The civilian instructor does not actually
force them to work, but the example of
other pupils is usually enough for an apa-
thetic man.
In a very few hospitals, such as the agri-
cultural school at Kortau, it has been pos-
sible to assign crippled ofﬁcers as instructors
and the discipline is entirely military.
The N ﬁrnberg hospital has 900 beds. It
occupies three new hospital buildings, turned
over to the military authorities by the city of
Ntirnberg and furnished with all the modern
orthopedic equipment.
The school facilities include a large-sized
piece of land and twelve workshops,
the latter ﬁtted up with machinery and tools
which are the gift of private manufacturing
ﬁrms.
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 9


HARRIS BOOK
The teaching is done by professional instruc-
tors, who donate their services, and by fore-
men from manufacturing shops whose ser-
vices are donated by their employers.
The instruction is in two classes—general
and theoretical instruction in the schools
of N iirnberg, and practical work in the hos-
pital workshops.
The branches taught under the auspices of
the N iirnberg institution are typical.
They embrace left-hand writing, improved
writing with right hand, typewriting, stenog-
raphy, commercial courses, general course
for industrial Workers, farm bookkeeping,
theoretic course for building trades (car-
penters, joiners, locksmiths, and the like),
theoretic course for builders (masons, plas-
terers, plumbers), decoration and design,
theoretic course for machinists, left-hand
drawing, ofﬁce management, practical work
in shops, tailoring, painting, bookbinding,
printing, locksmithing, shoemaking, sad-
dlery, weaving (both hand and machine),
orthopaedic mechanics, machine-tool work,
carpentry, farming, paperhanging, toy—
making, blacksmithing, brushmaking.
Each course has regular hours, and the
teachers, volunteers from the various trades,
demand that work be turned out that is
strictly up to commercial standards.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
The teaching is by professional teachers
who have volunteered their services, and
foremen from manufacturing shops, whose
services are donated by their employers.
The instruction at this hospital resolves itself
into two divisions—general and theoretic
instruction in the schools of Ntirnberg, and
practical shop work in the hospital work-
shops. '
The curriculum is as follows:
A. Theoretic work (special classes held by vol-
unteer teachers in Nurnberg schools,
with occasional class at hospital).
. Left-handed writing.
Improved writing with right hand.
Typewriting.
. Stenography.
Commercial course.
General course for industrial workers.
Farm bookkeeping.
Theoretic course for the building
trades (carpenters, locksmiths, etc.).
OOQOUI-bbdwv-i
9. Theoretic course for building trades.
(masons, plasterers, etc.).
10. Decoration and design.
II. Theoretic course for machinists.
12. Left-handed drawing.
13. Office management.
B. Practical work (in workshops with volun-
teer foremen or teachers).
Tailoring.
Painting.
Bookbinding.
Printing.
Locksmithing.
Shoemaking.
Saddlery.
\Veaving (by hand and machine).
Orthopedic mechanics.
10. Machine tool work.
II. Carpentry.
12. Farming.
13. Paper hanging.
14. Toymaking.
15. Blacksmithing.
16. Brushmaking.
@CQQOUI-PQJMH
These courses all have regular hours and
insist on the men turning out work which is
up to commercial standard.
10 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
At Diisseldorf there are 50 hospitals. Here
the local committee has taken possession of
a school building equipped with shops and
tools, and offer 20 courses to men from all
hospitals.
Where the men go out from the hospitals for
training, it is called “outdoor instruction”
and is not under military discipline.
Attendance is not compulsory, and men
cannot be punished for misbehavior, but the
school reserves the right to refuse pupils
who are idle or are subversive of order.
In addition to the courses given at N tirnberg
the Dusseldorf institution provides instruc-
tion in general education, telegraphy, course
for store clerks, agriculture, handicrafts,
electrical work, metal work, carpentry and
cabinet work, graphic trades (printing,
lithography, etc.), cardboard and leather
work, plastering, upholstery, and dental
laboratorv work.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
In a large town, like Diisseldorf, where there
are ﬁfty hospitals, the committee has taken
entire possession of a school building
equipped with shops and tools and gives
twenty courses open to men from all the
hospitals.
We may allude to them for convenience as
the indoor plan, that where the instruction
is given in the hospital, and the outdoor
plan, when the men are taken out to
school.
The instruction in institutions of the outdoor
type is not under military discipline.
Attendance is not compulsory and men can-
not be punished for misbehavior, but the
school reserves the right to refuse such
pupils as seem idle or subversive of order.
The Dusseldorf school, which has issued the
fullest report obtainable, offers the following
curriculum.
.4. General education.
I. Preliminary course.
(a) Civics.
(b) German—writing, grammar, etc.
2. Manual training (as preparation for
trade training).
3. Education of one—armed and left-
handed men.
B. Theoretic trade courses.
4. Building trades.
5. Metal-working trades.
(a) Course for machinists.
(1)) Course for draughtsmen.
6. Commercial course.
7. Course for railway and postal em-
ployees and lower positions in civil
service.
(a) Ofﬁce work.
(b) Telegraphy.
8. Course for store clerks.
9. Agricultural course.
IO. Course in handicraft as preparation
for journeyman’s and master tests.
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 1 1


HARRIS BOOK
It is considered in Germany that the one-
armed man has the greatest handicap, and
there are special schools for his training at
Strassburg, Baden-Baden, Heidelberg,
Munich, Wurzburg, Kaiserlautern, Lud-
wigshaven, Niirnberg, Erlangen, Frankfurt,
Hanover, Chemnitz, and Dusseldorf.
A school for one-armed men means special
courses for them given in regular city schools
where the men later will be taught trades.
The course includes instruction in the ordi-
nary acts of life made difﬁcult by the loss
of a hand.
Six weeks usually puts a one-armed man in
condition to go on with regular training.
One-armed teachers are employed, and
much of the work is in convincing the stu-
dents that the handicap can be overcome
by a little practice.
Left-hand writing is given all who have
lost the right arm, and excellent script is
usually attained in from 12 to 20 lessons.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
C. Practical trade courses with shop work.
11. Electrical work.
12. Metal work.
13. Carpentry and cabinet work.
14. Locksmithing.
I 5. Stone masonry and carving.
16. Graphic trades (printing, lithography,
etc.).
17. Bookbinding, cardboard, and leather
work.
18. Painting and plastering.
19. Upholstery and decorating.
20. Dental laboratory work.
It is recognized in Germany that the one-
armed man has the greatest handicap, and
special arrangements are made for his train-
ing. Besides exercises and instruction in
the hospitals, there are schools for the one-
armed at Strassburg, Baden Baden, Hei-
delberg, Munich, Wurzburg, Kaiserslautern,
Ludwigshafen, Niirnberg, Erlangen, Frank—
furt a. M., Hanover, Dresden, Chemnitz,
Dusseldorf.
A school for the one-armed means, as a rule,
special courses for one-armed men given in
the regular city schools where the men will
afterward be taught a trade.
The course includes instruction in the ordi-
nary acts of life which are made difﬁcult by
the loss of a hand, such as eating, washing,
dressing, tying knots, using simple tools.
Six weeks is said to be enough to put a one-
armed man in condition to go on with
regular training. A great part of the
teacher's duty is to convince the men that
these things are all possible and need only a
little practice. For this purpose one-armed
teachers, preferably industrial cripples who
have worked out their methods by long
practice are the most useful. . .
An essential part of the course is left-
handed writing for those who have lost the
right arm. Samples of left-handed
writing from Niirnberg show excellent
script after from twelve to twenty lessons.
12 ' “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
Left-hand drawing, designing and modelling
are usually added to impart deftness. Men
are taught to use the typewriter, sometimes
with a special apparatus added on the stump
of the lost arm, and sometimes with a shift
key worked with the knee.
All the schools emphasize physical training
and at Heidelberg, under a regular gym-
nasium instructor, the men do almost all the
athletic feats possible for two-armed men.
The Heidelberg school has a list of a hun-
dred occupations suitable for one-armed
men, and believes that as a rule these men
are able to continue in their old trades. Of
those being reéducated at Heidelberg, only
ﬁve per cent. have been obliged to take up
another trade. It is held that the best oppor-
tunity is in a narrower specialization in the
old trade; for instance, a carpenter can take
up polishing ‘and wood inlay, a tailor can
become a cutter, and so on. The most
important point is held to be for employers
so to arrange their work as to reserve for
one-armed men the places they are able
to ﬁll.
There are ten agricultural schools for war
cripples. The one at Berlin accommodates
200 and trains cripples as farm teachers.
The instruction in the main is of that simple
sort useful for small farms. The chief need
is to ﬁt the small peasant farmer to go back
to his own holding where, with the help of
his wife and children, he may manage truck
gardening, poultry raising, and the like.
The possibilities of farm machinery seem not
to have been gone into.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
Left-handed drawing, designing, and model-
ling are often added as a matter of functional
reeducation. Men with clerical experience
are taught to use the typewriter, sometimes
using the stump, sometimes a special
prosthesis, and sometimes with a shift key
worked with the knee.
All the schools put great emphasis on phys-
ical training. In the school at Heidelberg,
under a regular gymnasium instructor, the
men do almost all the athletic feats possible
to two-armed men.
Dr. Kilnssberg, of the Heidelberg school,
states that he has made a list of one hundred
occupations suitable for the one-armed man.
He gives the following conclusions drawn
from his own experience:
I. One-armed men are, as a rule, able to con-
tinue with their old trade. Of those at Heidel-
berg, only ﬁve per cent were obliged to take up
another.
2. The best opportunity for the one—armed
man is in narrower specialization within his
own trade. For example, the carpenter can
take up polishing and wood inlay, the tailor can
become a cutter, etc.
3. The most important point is for employees
to rearrange their work so as to reserve for one-
armed men the places they are able to ﬁll.
There are in the empire ten regular agri-
cultural schools for war cripples, which are
listed in the appendix. The largest appears
to be the farm at Struveshof, Berlin, which
accommodates 200 and trains cripples as
farm teachers.
It would appear that the instruction is of the
simple type useful for small farms, and that
the matter of farm machinery and its
adaptation to the war cripple had not been
gone into. The chief need is to ﬁt the small
peasant farmer to go back to his own
holding, where he may, with the help of his
wife and children, manage truck-gardening
or'poultry-raising.
“The Redemption of the Disabled” I 3


HARRIS BOOK
Among additional agencies, nearly all of the
larger employers of labor, such as Krupp,
are maintaining hospitals to take care of
their former employees who return disabled
from the front, and in many of these there
is room to care for other disabled men.
Work is provided after discharge according
to the capabilities of the disabled men.
Most of the large concerns have shown
much enthusiasm.
The matter of placement is simpliﬁed by the
German creed that “a man must go back to
his former trade, and if possible to his
former position.” There are several agen-
cies to which the cripple can turn, but there
is no uniform manner of ﬁtting the men
back into industry, the regular municipal
system of employment bureaus working in
conjunction with private enterprise and
associations.
The Government has an enormous number
of places at its disposal, as the railways are
Government-owned. The Government has
promised that all disabled former employees
will be taken on, if not in their old posi-
tions, then in kindred ones; and according
to a late decision of the Government, these
men are to be paid without consideration of
their pensions.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
Many ﬁrms have made experiments toward
retraining their own crippled employees.
The ﬁrm of Friedrich Krupp, at Essen, has a
hospital on its own grounds to which its
former employees are transferred from the
military reserve hospital for ﬁnal ortho-
pedic treatment. While at this hospital,
they work as many hours a day as they
are able, under medical supervision, in a
special shop built for reeducation purposes.
They receive, while working, a minimum
payment of ten marks a month, and any-
thing they make which can be used is paid
for at regular piecework rates. When their
training is complete, a place is made for
them in the shop. Cripples who were not
former employees are also trained whenever
there is room for them.
The problem of placement is much simpli-
ﬁed by the German creed that a “man must
go back to his former trade and, if possible,
to his former position.” This makes place-
ment more a matter of resorting and
ﬁtting a man into the niche reserved for him
than of studying possible new combinations.
Although the creed is uniform, there is no
uniform machinery for putting it into
practice. The agencies to which a cripple
may turn are ﬁve:
The care committee.
The public employment bureau.
Government service.
Employers’ and workmen's associations.
Miscellaneous charitable and private initia-
tive.
Ul-bbdkoi—i
The Imperial Government has, of course, an
enormous number of positions at its disposal,
since the railways, as well as all the post
ofﬁce and civil service positions are included.
The government has already promised that
all former employees in any of these lines
will be reemployed, if not in their old ca-
pacity, in a kindred one. These men,
according to instructions from the imperial
chancellor, are to be paid without considera-
tion of their pensions.
14 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
The Post Ofﬁce will give all future agencies
and sub-agencies in agricultural districts
to war cripples, provided they are ﬁt for the
positions and wish to settle on the land.
There are no reliable statistics of the general
proportion of cripples who return to work.
The German habit of bragging taints all
their statements with suspicion. However,
the provincial care committee of the Rhine
Province for June, 1917, gives the following
ﬁgures: number of unemployed cripples
dealt with by the 43 local care committees
under the provincial committee, 927; of
these there were, willing to work, 209; work
shy, 92; temporarily unﬁt for work, 395;
permanently unﬁt, 231.
As to the proportion of cripples going back
to their old trades, of 454 applicants for
work at Coblenz in two months, the per-
centage of men going back to their old
trades was 89, although only 42 per cent.
had so intended. At Baden, out of 204
applicants, 188 went back, although only
95 had so intended.
From 115, middle of page to top of page 1 18
are statistics, etc., followed by Austria-
Hungary.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
The post-office department has decided to
give all future agencies and subagencies in
the rural districts to war cripples, provided
they are ﬁt for the positions and want to
settle on the land.
There are no statistics to show to what
extent the ideal of the volunteer workers is
realized and the cripple is reabsorbed into
the mass of the people. Dr. Biesalski states
that from 90 to 95 per cent are thus re-
absorbed. The general statement is made
by most writers, that the difficulty of getting
cripplessettled in work is lessening very
much, owing to the wide publicity employed
and the systematic way in which the care
committees get hold of the men. Figures
from the provincial care committee of the
Rhine Province, for June, 1917, give the
proportion of cripples who go back to work
as follows: “The total number of - unem-
ployed cripples dealt with by the 43 local
care committees under the provincial com-
mittee was 927. Of these, there were:
willing to work, 209; work shy, 92; tem-
porarily unﬁt to work, 395; permanently
unﬁt, 231.”
As to the proportion of cripples going back to
their old trade, an indication may be-had
from the statistics published by the com-
mittees of Coblenz and the agricultural
advice oﬁice at Baden. Of the 454 appli-
cants for work at Coblenz in two months,
the percentage going back to their old
trade was 89 per cent, although only 42 _
per cent had so intended. At Baden, out
of 204 applicants, 188 went back to their
former trade, although only 95 had so
intended. a
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 15


The Chapters on Austria-Hungary
HARRIS BOOK
In November, 1914, the Ministry of the
Interior of Austria-Hungary made the ﬁrst
move toward an organization to assist the
disabled soldiers of the Dual Monarchy.
For many reasons, but mainly that of diver-
sity of linguistic and economic conditions, the
care of the war disabled and invalids was
entrusted to the various “crownlands,” or
states. ‘
f
A commission for each crownland was cre—
ated, its duties being to provide medical care
and vocational reeducation for the war in-
valids of the crownland and the necessary
facilities therefor.
The institutes for the advancement of in-
dustry which exist in every crownland were
ordered to cooperate, and the same order
was given to all the public trade schools.
A decree of the Minister of \Var dated June
8, 1915, made vocational reeducation of war
invalids obligatory and deﬁned the functions
of the various agencies.
The military authorities provide the wounded
with all medical assistance, bear the cost of
manufacture and repair of artiﬁcial limbs
as long as the patient stays in the military
service, and bears the cost of maintenance of
the soldiers in non-military institutions.
They keep the wounded under control until
recuperated to capacity to work or until dis-
charged as invalids.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
The ﬁrst ofﬁcial step in the care for disabled
soldiers was made in November, 1914.
About the same time, the Austrian ministry
of the interior also started an organization
for assistance to disabled soldiers.
In view of the great variety of linguistic
and economic conditions in the empire, it
was deemed advisable to intrust the care for
invalids to the several crownlands.
In the capital of each crownland a Landes-
kommission was created, for the purpose,
among other things, of providing medical
care and vocational reeducation for the war
invalids of the crownland, and of creating
the necessary institutions.
The ministry of public works also took up
the matter of reeducation through the in-
stitutes for advancement of industry (Ge-
werbeforderungsinstitute), which exist in
every crownland. These institutes, as well
as all the public trade schools, were
instructed to help in the reeducation
work.
A decree of the minister of war, of June 8,
1 91 5, made vocational reeducation of invalids
obligatory. At the same time, the functions
of the military and of the civil authorities
were delimited as follows:
I. The military authorities provide the
wounded with the ﬁrst medical assistance;
they bear the cost of manufacturing and re-
pairing the artiﬁcial limbs as long as the
patient stays in military service; they bear
the cost of the maintenance of soldiers in
non-military institutions; they keep the
wounded under their control until he has
recuperated his capacity to work, or until he
is discharged as an invalid.
16 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
The military authorities, in cooperation with
the civil authorities, provide the ﬁnal treat-
ment and vocational reeducation.
The civil authorities organize the employ-
ment service. A wounded man is not dis-
charged from military service until he is able
to return to a civilian occupation.
The Government early proceeded to open
orthopaedic hospitals, at Vienna and other
points. The Vienna hospital is the largest.
It had 2,000 beds in January, 1915, and
preparations were under way to add 1,000
more. It has been ﬁlled with patients since
it opened.
Reéducation is the principal purpose of this
institution. The aim is to reﬁt the man
to enable him to go back to his former occu-
pation or a related occupation in the same
trade. This hospital claims to have attained
this result in 95 per cent. of the cases treated.
After having undergone preliminary treat~
ment, each patient in the Vienna hospital
is assigned to a workshop. There are 42
barracks capable of accommodating 100 men
each, and the shops are scattered among the
barracks.
In one of the halls is a collection of agricul-
tural implements and machinery, with such
modiﬁcations as are necessary to ﬁt the
devices for the use of men with artiﬁcial
limbs, and the men who go into agriculture
are encouraged to handle them.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
2. The military authorities, in cooperation
with the civil authorities, provide the ﬁnal
treatment and the vocational reeducation.
3. The civil authorities organize the em-
ployment service.
The wounded is not to be discharged from
military service until he is able to return to
a civilian occupation.
The largest institution for the care of
invalids is the Vienna orthopedic hospital
with its schools for invalids. It opened on
january 20, 1915, with 1,000-beds. Four
weeks later it was ﬁlled to capacity; it has
since been extended several times.' By
the end of 1915 the hospital, with its
branches and annexes, had 2,000 beds and
preparations were under way to add 1,000
more.
The purpose of the educational action is
the vocational reeducation of invalids.
The ﬁrst object in view is always reeduca-
tion in the former occupation of the patient,
or in a connected occupation in the same
trade, and, according to the commander
of the hospital, this result is attained in all
but 5 per cent of cases.
Each patient, after having completed the
preliminary orthopedic treatment, is as-
signed to a workshop. The workshops were
at ﬁrst established in a public school.
But later a garden city was created, con-
sisting of 42 barracks, with 100 men in each.
The shops are now distributed among those
barracks.
With the assistance of several agricultural
schools there has been assembled in one
hall a collection of agricultural machines
and implements. The men wearing prosthe-
tic appliances are trained in’handling them,
and the necessary modiﬁcations are made
in the implements so as to adapt them to
the prostheses.
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 17


HARRIS BOOK
There is an estate in connection with the
hospital where training in agriculture is
carried on under the direction of a physician
and a one-armed teacher.
A_ special school has been created for one-
armed men, directed by a one-armed archi-
tect.
The Vienna schools for invalids do not
attempt to turn out thoroughly skilled work-
ers. The education is complete only in the
case of the invalids who can be entirely re-
stored to their former callings or adapted to
some easier branches of their former trades.
The primary purpose is to ﬁnd the most
suitable occupation for the invalid, and then
to give him the preparatory instruction, the
elements of a theoretic and practical trade
education.
The specialization in skilled trades is left
to other institutions or regular vocational
schools, with which arrangements have
been made regarding the training of these
men.
Instruction is given in photography, lithog-
raphy, printing, compositor’s work, metal
working, electricity, motion-picture oper-
ating, and the like.
The Vienna school is under military control
but the administration is mixed. The medi-
cal director is a military ofﬁcial; the tech-
MCMURTRIE BOOK
An estate has been put at the disposition of
the hospital by a private person, on which
_practical training in agriculture is carried
on under the direction of a physician and of
a one-armed teacher.
A special school has been created for one-
armed men, which is directed by the one-
armed architect, Karl Grosselﬁnger.
The Vienna schools for invalids do not see
their object in preparing thoroughly trained
skilled workers. The reeducation which
they give is complete only in the case of
invalids who can be completely restored to
their former occupation, or of those who
have to be adapted to some easier work in
their former trade.
Its primary purpose is to ﬁnd the most
suitable occupation for the invalid, and to
train him in the use of prostheses. In ad-
dition it gives him the ﬁrst elements of
a theoretic and practical trade educa-
tion.
The specialization in skilled trades is left
to other institutionshnamely, to the regular
vocational schools, which, through the
cooperation of the ministry of public works
' and of the trade associations, except for
ﬁnal training the men sent by the schools for
invalids.
Thus, in September, 1915, the ministry of
public works instituted courses in graphic
arts for former workers of the graphic
trades (photographers, lithographers, prin-
ters, compositors, etc.). In March 1916,
the same ministry started at the Imperial
Technological Trade Museum at Vienna a
special course for training war invalids, in
the ﬁrst place former metal workers, residents
of Vienna and Lower Austria in the super-
vision and management of electro-technical
works, and also as moving-picture operators.
The school is under military control, but its
administration is mixed. Besides the
“medical director,” who seems to be a
18 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
nical director is not. These two direct all
the reeducation work and advise the pa-
tients in the choice of an occupation.
Patients are not discharged until able to re-
turn to the Army or to their former occupa-
tions in civil life. In the latter case, the
patient does not leave the hospital before
employment is found for him.
In this placement of men, the hospital works
with the public Board for Vocational Advice
of Vienna and with representatives of the
Ministry of Public \Vorks.
When the patient is an independent land-
owner or artisan, the hospital before dis-
charge makes an inquiry to ascertain
whether the revenue to be expected from
his enterprise would be sufﬁcient for the
support of the invalid.
All cases discharged are kept on the records
of the hospital and observed as to condi-
tions of work and earnings.
The policy of the Austrian Government has -
been to handle the physical disablements
in institutions of large size located in the
large cities, usually in the capitals of the
various crownla nds.
At the beginning of 1915, such institutions
were in operation in Prague, Reichenberg,
Troppan, Teschen, Graz, Cracow, Linz,
Mehor-Ostrian, and several of the larger
industrial centers.
The railways have an organization of their
own to take care of injured employees and
. O ‘
maintain a convalescent home as well.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
military ofﬁcial, there is a “technical
director,” supplied by the Vienna ofﬁce for
the advancement of industry, of the ministry
of public works. These two ofﬁcials advise
the patients in the choice of an occupation
and direct all the reeducation work.
The patient leaves the institution only
when he is able either to return to the
army, or to his former occupation in civil
life. In the latter case, he is not‘ discharged
before the hospital ﬁnds employment for him.
In procuring employment, the hospital co-
operates with the public board for vocational
advice of Vienna, to which it assigns its own
physicians, and with a representative of
the ministry of public works.
In the case of independent landowners or
craftsmen, the hospital, before discharging
them makes an inquiry to ascertain whether
the revenues that can be expected would be
sufficient for the support of the invalid.
The discharged men are in all cases kept on
the records of the hospital and observed as
to the conditions of work and earning.
The general tendency in Austria has been to
create institutions of a large size, on the
Vienna model, and to concentrate them in
large cities, of which there are relatively
few in Austria. They are created mostly in
the capitals of the different crownlands and
by the initiative of the local Landeskommis-
sionen.
By the end of 1915, institutions for crippled
soldiers existed in Prague, Reichenberg,
Troppau, Teschen, Graz, Cracow, Linz,
Mehr-Ostran, and in several of the largest
industrial cities. ’
The railway administration has an organiza-
tion of its own for the care of its employees
disabled in the war. It has created a home
for convalescents at’ the cost of 600,000
crowns. . . ' -
“The ‘Redemption of the Disabled” 19


HARRIS BOOK
The placement of~ the rehabilitated was
made a governmental policy on june 28,
1915, when a decree was issued causing the
creation of an employment service in every
kingdom and crownland of the Empire with
ofﬁces at the various capitals.
The effort is always made to get the inva-
lid back with his former employer or fail-
ing this, to get the man back in his former
occupation, or one closely allied with it,
and, if possible, always at the man’s home or
near by. Those injured men unable to re-
turn to their previous occupations are passed
upon by the vocational council and if
necessary transferred to the schools for
invalids.
A record of each invalid is kept for at least
six months after his placement, and his wel-
fare is closely watched.
_If he is discharged from his employment
the matter is looked into and reinstatement
accomplished when possible.
All injured men who are'able to work and
willing to work are maintained until they
are placed in positions.
They are given board, lodging and clothes
at the Vienna barracks and a small subsidy
in cash.
Men entirely disabled and incapable of work
are assigned to special homes prepared for
them.
Employers are asked to give the invalids,
even those with diminished capacity, suita-
ble employment at fair wages. Invalids
whose capacity has not been diminished are
to receive the same wage as other workmen
in the same group, and are to be covered by
the same collective wage agreements when-
ever such are in force.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
The placement of war invalids became a fea-
ture of public policy when the minister of
the interior, by a decree of June 28, 1915,
prescribed'the creation of an employment
service in every kingdom and crownland. . .
The bureau always endeavors ﬁrst to ﬁnd
employment with the former employer of
the invalid, or if this is possible, in his former
occupation, or in one related to it. Those
invalids who are unable to return to their
former occupation are examined by the
vocational council and given the necessary
advice. If necessary, they are referred to
the schools for invalids. Efforts are always
made to place the man at his old home.
All invalids for whom employment has been
procured by the bureau are kept on record
fo least six months and are controlled
through inquiries addressed to their em-
ployers, to the local authorities, etc.
If the man is dismissed, the cause of the
dismissal is ascertained and, when possible,
an attempt is made to have it repealed. .\
All invalids who are ﬁt and willing to work
are suppported until employment is obtained
for them.
They receive board, lodging and clothes
at one of the barracks of the Vienna ortho-
pedic hospital, and exceptionally a small
subsidy in cash.
Those who are entirely disabled for work
are assigned to special homes.
The employers are asked to give the invalids
——even those with diminished capacity—a
suitable employment at a fair remuneration.
Invalids whose capacity has not been
diminished are to receive the same wages as
other workmen in the same group; they
are to be covered by all collective wage
agreements wherever such are in force.
20 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
Remuneration of invalids with diminished
capacity is to be ﬁxed by agreement be-
tween employers and employees, or, when
the employee deals with the labor organiza-
tion, the terms are arranged between the
latter and the employer.
When work is paid for by the piece, no dis—
tinction is to be made between invalids and
others, and the pension received by the in-
dividual from the military authorities in no
case shall be taken into account.
Appeals are issued to the working classes to
help the returning invalid to develop his full
capacity for work.
In Hungary the problems of the war invalids
were ﬁrst attempted by the Red Cross and
private organizations. This system was
abandoned where a Government institution
called the I nvalidment was created.
The same law decreed that orthopaedic appli- '
ances should be supplied gratuitously, and
made the reeducation of disabled soldiers
obligatory, the treatment and reeducation
to last not more than a year.
Final treatment and reeducation could be
given in State institutions, or institutions
under military control, or by the Hungarian
Red Cross.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
The remuneration of invalids with dimin-
ished capacity is to be ﬁxed by agreement
between the employers and the employees,
or, wherever the employer as a rule deals
with the labor organization with regard to
conditions of employment, between the
employer and the organization.
Wherever work is paid by the piece the
invalids are to receive the prevailing rates.
The pension paid by the military authorities
shall in no case be taken into account in
ﬁxing the wages.
The working class is appealed to help the
returning invalids to develop their full
capacity to work. '
Following a decree of the Hungarian pre-
mier, a census was taken, at the end of 1914
and the beginning of 1915, of all war invalids
in Hungary. On February 1, 1915, a national
conference on the problem of war cripples
took place. An executive commission was
elected with the secretary of state as chair-
man. The commission at ﬁrst conﬁned it-
self to the organization of medical care and
of the reeducation of cripples. The employ-
ment functions were not considered as a
state affair and were left to a commission of
the Red Cross. In September, 1915, how-
ever, several decrees put all the matter of
care for war cripples on a highly centralized
basis. Both commissions were dissolved
and replaced by a Royal Hungarian Ofﬁce
for Invalids.
These decrees provided‘ that orthopedic
appliances should be supplied gratuitously.
The reeducation of disabled soldiers in their
former or in a new occupation was made
obligatory. The treatment and reeducation
were not to last more than one year.
Final treatment and reeducation could be
given in state institutions which were to be
created by the Ofﬁce for Invalids or in
the institutions under military control,
or in those of the Hungarian Red Cross.
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 21


HARRIS BOOK
Special reexamination commissions were
established at Budapest, Pressburg, Kolozo-
var and Zagreb, appointed by the Hungarian
Premier from medical and industrial circles.
Injured men refusing prostheses or treat-
ment, or to follow the plans for reeducation,
have to appear before these commissions.
Those who persist in their refusal against the
ﬁndings of the commissions forfeit all or a
part of their claims to pensions, except in
the case of those who have been in active
military service for ten years or more.
All of the medical institutions were created
anew under the Inoalidment.
The start was made at Budapest with four
hospitals accommodating 4,500, and by the
middle of 1916 there were over 10,000 places
at the hospitals at Budapest alone.
Similar institutions exist at Pressburg,
Kolozavar, Kassar, and other cities.
The school at Budapest is the largest, ac-
commodating 700 in 1916.
The object of the education appears to be
mainly to turn out independent small crafts-
men. As high as 90 per cent. of the pupils
are peasants, and the classes with the
largest attendance are those for shoemakers,
tailors, harnessmakers, cartwrights, lock-
smiths, and cabinet makers.
Illiterates are trained in reading and writ-
ing, and stenography and typewriting are
taught in some of the schools. Similar insti-
tutes exist at Pressburg, Kassar and K010-
zovar.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
Special reexamination commissions were
established at Budapest, Pressburg, Kolozs-
var, and Zagreb; the chairman and mem-
bers are appointed by the premier from
medical and industrial circles.
Invalids refusing to use prostheses, to
submit to the treatment, or to follow the
reeducation, have to appear before these
commissions.
Those who persist in their refusal, in spite
of the ﬁndings of the commission, forfeit
all or part of their claim to a pension, except
those who have been in active military
service for 10 years or more.
The institutions under the control of the
Ofﬁce for Invalids are ofﬁcially divided in
three classes: (I) Institutions for medical
care. All the medical institutions
were created anew.
These creations started in Budapest with
four hospitals for 4,500 patients; by the
middle of 1916, there were over 10,000 places
at the Budapest hospitals for invalids.
Besides Budapest, similar institutions exist
at Pressburg, Kolozsvar, Kassa, and several
other cities.
Of the schools for invalids, the largest is that
of Budapest (700 pupils at the beginning of
1916).
Up to 90 per cent of the pupils are peasants.
The object of the reeducation is to form
small independent craftsmen. The shops
having the largest number of pupils are those
for shoemakers, tailors, harness makers,
cartwrights, locksmiths, cabinetmakers.
Similar schools are found in Pressburg,
Kassa and Kolozsvar. Alongside with
vocational training, instruction in reading
and writing is given to illiterates. Those
who have interrupted the elementary or
22 _ “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
At the Institute for the Blind at Budapest
the inmates are taught carpet weaving,
brushmaking, massaging, and the like.
As there are a number of invalids who can-
not advantageously be placed in industry,
special cooperative schools have been
created to deal with them.
An employment service is maintained by the
I nvalidment which does not ask for private
or local or trade cooperation. -
Casualties of the Austro-Hungarian armies
from the beginning of the war to the end of
May, 1918, according to oﬁ‘icial statistics
were slightly over 4,000,000; of these it is
claimed that from all causes the total of
' lives lost was over 1,500,000.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
high school education are given an oppor-
tunity to continue it. In some of the schools
instruction is also given in typewriting,
stenography, and bookkeeping.
At the Institute for the Blind at Budapest
(140 patients) blind soldiers are taught
car-pet making, brush making, massage, etc.
For the beneﬁt of those invalids who can
not be advantageously placed in private
enterprises, special cooperative shops have
been created.
The employment service of the Ofﬁce for
Invalids seems to be organized in a rather
bureaucratic way. No cooperation has been
asked either of local or of trade organiza-
tions.
The Chapters on Australia
HARRIS BOOK
In the ﬁrst years of the war, the work of
“repatriation,” as it is called, in Australia
was entirely in the hands of private philan-
thropy and patriotism.
An Australian Soldiers’ Repatriation Fund
of considerable proportions was raised, but
it ﬁnally became evident that private efforts
were not meeting the problem.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
The work of reinstating returned soldiers
in civil life is known in Australia as “repa-
triation.” When the necessity of providing
aid for returned soldiers ﬁrst began to claim
public attention in Australia, a number of
patriotic men, acting in a private capacity,
formed an organization to take up the work.
Through private contributions, supple-
mented by Government grants, this organi-
zation raised a large fund, known as the
Australian Soldiers’ Repatriation Fund,
which was used to supply systematic aid to
discharged and disabled Australian sol-
diers. .
“The Redemption of the Disabled ” 2 3


HARRIS BOOK
They were diverse and divergent, without
central cohesion or authority.
The conviction grew that, as the country
had called the men for overseas service, the
Nation should direct their return to and
establishment in civil life.
As a result, the Australian Soldiers Repa—
triation Act was passed by the Common-
wealth Parliament in September, 1917, plac-
ing the whole work in the hands of the
Repatriation Commission of seven members.
The Minister of State for Repatriation is
chairman, and two of the members are re-
turned soldiers.
The Commission's duty is to plan the general
course of repatriation and supervise the
work of putting it into effect.
The active work of carrying out the plan is
done through state repatriation boards,
which, under the Act, are established in the
capital of each state.
Each state board has seven members, all
appointed by the Governor-General, and
each board has as members two returned
soldiers or sailors.
Under the direction of the state boards
are district or local boards.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
It was seen that the work would be more
costly than had been anticipated, and that
its nature and extent were such that it could
not be properly discharged by undirected
and uncoordinated private endeavor.
The nation had put forth an organized effort
to enroll these men in the army, and it was
felt that it should make an equally organ-
ized effort to return them to civil life.
Acting on this principle, the Government
introduced a bill creating the machinery
necessary to enable it to undertake the work
of repatriation. The bill was passed by the
Commonwealth parliament in September,
1917, and is known as the Australian sol-
diers’ repatriation act. It places the control
of the general policy of repatriation in the
hands of a repatriation commission of seven
members.
The minister of state for repatriation is-
chairman of the commission, and the other ‘
members are persons appointed by the
governor general. Two of the members of
the commission must be returned soldiers.
The duties of the commission are to plan
the work of repatriation and to see that its
plans are carried into effect.
The actual work of carrying out the plans
of the central commission is placed in the
hands of state repatriation boards, created
in the capital city of each state by the
repatriation act.
Each state board, like the central commis-
sion, consists of seven members appointed
by the governor general. Two members of
these boards also must be returned soldiers
or sailors.
Further decentralization of the work is pro-
vided for by the creation of local or district
boards in each state to act as agents or
deputies of the state boards.
24 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
The Repatriation Commission was author-
ized by the Act to take over all the properties
and securities of the Australian Soldiers
Repatriation Fund, but all sums needed for
carrying on the work are appropriated by
the Government.
N o voluntary contributions are sought for
the central Fund, ‘this being supported by
the national treasury, but local committees
are given rather a free hand in raising and
disbursing funds, except that their activities
are controlled and their books are audited
by the state boards. - ‘
The ﬁrst duty of the Repatriation Com-
mission is to register the condition and re-
quirements of all returned soldiers before
their arrival in the country. The voyage
out on the returning transports is utilized
for this purpose.
All registrations of soldiers that show a
need for help are dealt with by the state
boards assisted by local committees.
The latter are expected to investigate em-
ployment opportunities and they use the
system of placement agencies for the re-
turned men.
Curative workshops are attached to the
larger hospitals, and advanced technical
training is given to those who are so dis-
abled as to require it.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
By the terms of the repatriation act the
repatriation commission was authorized to
take over the properties and securities of the
Australian soldiers’ repatriation fund. All
additional sums necessary for carrying on
the work are to be appropriated by Parlia-
ment for the purpose. ~
The commission will make no appeals for
private contributions to the central fund, as
that fund is to be entirely supported by the
national treasury, but the local committees
may raise funds in their districts and dis-
burse them. Their activities in this connec-
tion are controlled by the state board, and
their books are subject to auditing by the
state board.
The ﬁrst task of the repatriation commis-
sion, according to Senator Millen, would be
to register the condition and requirements of
all returning soldiers. An effort would be
made to secure this registration before the
arrival of the soldiers in the country, possi-
bly on the transports or even before their
departure from England, in order that the
commission might know as early as possible
with what numbers they would have to deal
and the needs, wishes, and aptitudes of the
individuals.
All registrations, which in fact amount to
applications for employment, would be
dealt with, according to Senator Millen’s
statement, by the state boards, assisted by
the local committees.
Local committees would be expected to
investigate employment opportunities and
to form really a chain of labor agencies for
returned soldiers.
In order to provide the proper help for men
whose disabilities prevent them from secur-
ing remunerative work without retraining,
the repatriation commission, according to
Senator Millen, will provide preliminary
training in curative workshops attached to
the hospitals and more advanced training in
some way yet to be determined upon. The
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 2 5


HARRIS BOOK
For the totally disabled, homes are estab-
lished for those who choose to become in-
mates, and a special allowance of 10s. a
week is granted those who prefer to be cared
for by relatives or friends.
Artiﬁcial limbs are provided by the Govern—
ment military authorities.
The matter of establishing men upon the
land has received a great deal of attention.
Probably in none of the countries engaged
in the war has there been a higher per-
centage of men who desire to get on the
land. A questionnaire submitted to the
Australian soldiers brought replies from
40,000 who wished to become land holders
and Cultivators.
At a conference held in February, 1917,
between representatives of the Common-
wealth and the state Governments on the
subject of land settlement as a repatriation
measure, a plan was worked out whereby it
could be accomplished.
As the states possess the crown lands, have
land departments and control land legisla-
tion, they undertook to provide the land
and place the soldier settlers on it. A
The Commonwealth Government was to
have as its part the lending to each settler of
a sum of money sufﬁcient to enable him to
make improvements and buy seeds, plants,
stock, and the like.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
repatriation commission, in conjunction
with the minister of defense, has already
taken steps to establish curative workshops
in connection with the hospitals in Sydney
and Melbourne.
For the totally incapacitated, Senator Mil-
len suggested that homes might be estab-
lished for those who chose to become inmates
of them, and that a special allowance of 10
shillings a week might be granted to others
who preferred to be cared for by their
friends or families.
Artiﬁcial limbs are provided by the defense
department, which manufactures them in
two factories established as an emergency
measure in Melbourne and Sydney.
Land settlement is an important part of
Australian repatriation plans. . .
Some time ago Australian soldiers in camp
both at honie and abroad received cards on
which they were asked to state their wishes
as to future occupation. From their replies
it appeared that some 40,000 wished to go
upon the land.
At a conference held in February, 1917,
between representatives of the Common-
wealth and the State governments, the
usefulness of land settlement as a repatria-
tion measure was recognized, and arrange-
ments were made to divide the cost between
the Commonwealth and the several States.
It was agreed that as the States-possessed
Crown lands, had land departments, and
controlled land legislation, they should
undertake to provide the land and to place
the soldier settlers on it.
The Commonwealth government undertook
to loan to the settler a sum of money which
would enable him to make improvements,
and to buy seeds, plants, stock, etc.
26 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
The usual limit of advance is 500l. sterling
but in some cases 750l. sterling is allowed.
The land is usually given free for the ﬁrst
ﬁve years; after that period small payments
are required.
The money for equipment is loaned‘at
seven per cent., of which ﬁve per cent.
covers the interest charge and two per cent.
goes toward amortization of the capital
amount.
It has been agreed also between the Com-
monwealth Government and the states that
training farms should be established in
order to equip the soldier settlers in some
measure for their new tasks, the cost of
such training farms to be divided equally
between the Commonwealth and the state.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
The limit of these loans was ﬁxed at ﬁrst
at £500, but the States have asked the
Commonwealth to increase this to £750
in some cases.
In general, land is given free for the ﬁrst ﬁve
years; after that small payments are
required.
The money for equipment is loaned at 7 per
cent, of which 5 per cent covers the interest
charge and 2 percent goes toward amortiza-
tion of the capital amount.
It has also been agreed between the Com-
monwealth government and the States that
training farms should be established in order
to equip the soldier settlers in some measure
for their new tasks. The cost of such
training farms is to be divided equally
between the Commonwealth and the State.
The Chapters on New Zealand
HARRIS BOOK
The Government of New Zealand has
established machinery called the Discharged
Soldiers’ Information Department, which
is charged with obtaining employment for
returned soldiers and‘ assisting them by
every possible means in the readaptation
to civil life, with especial reference to the
men who have suffered impairment of '
earning power and are permanently disa-
bled;
The Department is actively assisted in its
work by local committees in all principal
towns.
These committees are composed of influ-
ential citizens and representatives of local
patriotic societies.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
There has been established in New Zealand
a special department of the Government to
obtain suitable employment for the returned
soldier and also, by any other means, to
assist in his readaptation to civilian life.
As most of the men discharged from the
forces up to the present time are those who
have been invalided home from the front,
it follows that the major activity of the
Discharged Soldiers’ Information Depart-
ment has been looking out for the welfare
of crippled and disabled men.
An important factor in the departinent’s
work is the chain of local committees.
The personnel of these committees is drawn,
almost without exception, from-inﬂuential
citizens who are ofﬁcers or members of the
local patriotic societies.
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 9 27


HARRIS BOOK
They afford an enormously valuable as-
sistance in dealing with particular cases.
New Zealand is able, by reason of her
geographical location, to obtain complete '
data of every man invalided home. The
long voyage of the transports gives time for
every man to be recorded and classiﬁed and
a full report of his case card indexed before
arrival at a home port.
The Government has instructed all of its
departments that ex-members of the expe-
ditio'nary forces are to be given preference
for all vacancies they are qualiﬁed to ﬁll,
and the Information Department has con-
ducted a propaganda to obtain preference
in employment opportunities for the re-
turned men. All agencies have been utilized
—farmers’ unions, patriotic organizations,
local authorities, and private employers have
all been interested.
The Department keeps a card index of
. men waiting for employment, one set being
classiﬁed according to occupation and an-
other according to residence; offers of
employment also are suitably indexed.
A statement of the number of candidates
for employment in each district is sent
weekly to the local committee.
MCMURTRIE Boox
In fact the committees are often sub-
committees of these societies, and if not in
this relation, are in most intimate touch
with them. Knowing the resources and
opportunities in their home community, the
members of a local committee are able intelli-
gently to advise regarding the course of action
in an individual case under discussion.
The New Zealanders have laid special
stress on the importance of getting in touch
with every single returning man, inquiring
regarding his situation, and offering such
assistance as is available. To this end
arrangements were made for representatives
of the department to board each incoming
transport, and to obtain in preliminary
form from the men themselves the items of
information desired for record. Later on
this sytem was further improved through
arranging to have the principal data listed
by the military authorities on board the
transports while still at sea. The infor-
mation is then completed by the depart-
ment’s ofﬁcers upon arrival in port, and the
cards for the central register are written up
without delay.
The department has conducted a propa-
ganda to secure preference in employment
opportunity for returned men. It has com-
municated with local authorities, patriotic
organizations, farmers’ unions, and private
employers and has found the response, on
the whole, extremely favorable. The Gov-
ernment has instructed all the departments
that ex-members of the expeditionary force
are to be given preference for all vacancies
which they are qualiﬁed to ﬁll.
The department keeps a double card index
of the men awaiting employment. One
set of‘ cards is classiﬁed according to occu-
pation; a second according to district of
residence. Offers of employment are like-
wise suitably indexed.
A statement indicating the number of candi-
dates for employment in each district is sent
out weekly to thelocal committees.
28 “T he Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
Up to january, 1918, the total number
of men registered was 14,240, this including
the general type of invalid as well as physical
disablements.
Of this total 10,195 cases had been dis-
posed of, that is, had found employment,
returned to old employment, rejoined the
forces, failed to reply to repeated communi-
cations, or left New Zealand. There were
1,420 cases in course of being personally
interviewed—men not ready for work,
and the like. There were 219 on the register
of those wanting employment, this class
being composed mainly of men who had
just been discharged. There were 2,406
recorded as “not ready for action”—men
not discharged from the Army, and 2,000
of this number represented a contingent
that arrived in two weeks preceding the
date of the report.
The efforts to get men to_ take special
training are reported as “not encouraging;
and the response has been indifferent.”
The Department endeavors to dissuade
men capable of more skilled occupations
from taking on such casual employment as
those of messenger and elevator boys, but
many of the returning soldiers decline to
avail themselves of the facilities offered for
training in new trades. One of the reasons,
entirely erroneous and unfounded, is given
as fear that the man’s pension will be cut
down if he increases his earning capacity.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
Up to January, 1918, the total number
of men who had been registered by the
department was 14,240. This number in-
cluded the general type of invalid as we'll
as the men physically disabled.
The cases were subject to the following
classiﬁcation :
Disposed of (i. e., employment found,
returned to old employment, re-
joined forces, failed to reply to re-
peated communications, left New
Zealand. etc.) . 10,195
Under action (i. e., men in course of
being personally interviewed, men
who have stated that they are not
yet ready for work, etc.) 1,420
On “Employment wanted register”
(chieﬂy men who have just been dis-
charged from the army) . . . . . 219
Not ready for action (i. e., men who
have not yet been discharged, in-
cluding upwards of 2,200 men ar-
riving during the two weeks pre-
ceding date of this report) 2,406

Total 14,240
The results of an effort to provide special
‘training or reeducation for disabled men
have not, on the whole, been encouraging.
Although the opportunities are brought
systematically to the attention of the men,
the response has been indifferent.
The advantage of training for disabled men
in contradistinction to acceptance of imme-
diate makeshift employment is ‘argued by
the department in a recent booklet:
Although the department endeavors to dis-
suade men capable of more skilled work from
taking up billets such as messengers, lift men,
and other temporary jobs, with the risk of con-
stantly recurring unemployment, very many
disabled soldiers decline to avail themselves of
the facilities offered for training them in new
trades, either because of wrong ideas on the
subject or through ignorance of‘ the thorough
tuition that can be afforded them. Some no
doubt are tempted by the immediate offer of
good wages; others, although assured to the
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 29


HARRIS BOOK 0
Arrangement has been made with the De-
partment of Agriculture to take on a limited
number of men for instruction at state
farms.
Here will be taught dairying, fruit farming
cropping, poultry raising, bee culture and
market gardening.
In scientiﬁc training, Lincoln College, at
Wellington, takes a limited number of stu-
dents in agricultural and pastoral subjects.
Clerical training for disabled soldiers is
provided free of expense to the Govern-
ment or the men by the New Zealand Society
of Accountants.
Reports are that “a considerable number
have entered the classes, but with few ex-
ceptions the attendance has been desultory
and progress poor, and it has lately been
intimated to the Department that the coun—
cil of the Society is now considering whether
it is justiﬁed in continuing the expenditure
of some hundreds of pounds sterling, for
such unsatisfactory results.”
Disabled men incapacitated for returning
to their former occupations are offered free
tuition at the various technical schools
through the country.
At \Vellington Technical College, courses
are provided in building construction, paint-
ing, decoration and sign writing, carpentry
and joinery, plumbing, machine work,
jewelry making, metalwork, plastering and
modelling.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
contrary, appear afraid that their pensions will
be reduced in consequence of their training.
This fear is baseless.
For agricultural training arrangements have
been made with the agricultural department
to accept a limited number of men for in-
struction at the State farms.
Among the various branches of farm work
are dairying, fruit farming, cropping, poul-
try raising, bee culture, and market gar-
dening. '
In scientiﬁc training in agricultural and
pastoral subjects the authorities of Lincoln
College, Wellington, have placed at the
disposal of ex-soldiers ﬁve scholarships of
£20 each, and have agreed to take non-
resident pupils at a nominal fee.
Clerical training for disabled soldiers is being
provided free of expense to the Government
or the men by the New Zealand Society of
Accountants. I
According to the annual report of the Dis-
charged Soldiers’ Information Department,
“a considerable number of men have from
time to time entered for the classes, but it
is understood that with few exceptions the
attendance has been desultory and the
progress poor, and it has lately been inti-
mated to the department by the secretary
that the council of the society is now con-
sidering whether it is justiﬁed in continuing
the expenditure of some hundreds of pounds
for such unsatisfactory results.”
For disabled men who can not return to
their former occupations there is offered
free tuition at various technical schools
throughout New Zealand. I
At the \Nellington Technical College, for
example, instruction is provided in building
construction, painting, decoration and sign
writing, carpentry and joinery, plumbing,
machine work, jewelry making, metal work,
plastering and modeling.
30 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
Training for the disabled soldiers has been
inaugurated also at the technical schools at
Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill.
The most popular subjects are reported as
being wool-classing and machine-tool work.
Up to December, 1917, there had been en-
rolled in reeducation classes only 63 men.
Men partially or totally blind are given
training at the Jubilee Institute.
The Government grants to men taking
training a “training allowance” of one pound
per week, irrespective of pension payments,
and the Government has allowed disabled
men to accept positions at rates of pay less
than those ﬁxed by current awards or agree-
ments and minimum-wage legislation.
The Government also allows the training
of disabled men in private factories; this
legislation was necessary because of the
peculiar labor situation in New Zealand.
The establishment of special schools for the
reéducation of war cripples has been urged
by various individuals and organizations:
The minister in charge of the Discharged
Soldiers’ Information Department, how-
ever, declined to approve or support the
scheme, giving as his reason the very limited
use that had been made of existing facilities
and the unlikelihood that special buildings,
MCMURTRIE BOOK
Training for disabled men has more recently
been inaugurated at the technical schools at
Christchurch, at Dunedin, and at Inver-
cargill.
The most popular subjects of instructions in
these schools are wool-classing and machine-
tool work. '
Up to December, 1917, there had enrolled
in reeducational classes 63 men.
By arrangement with the Jubilee Institute
for the Blind training is provided for men
partially or totally blinded at the front.
To remove any possible ﬁnancial obstacle
to men desiring to undertake training, the
Government some time ago decided to
grant maintenance allowances not in excess
of £1 a week—irrespective of pension pay-
ments—to men attending classes.
The question of allowing disabled men to
accept positions with private employers
at rates of pay less than those ﬁxed by
current awards or agreements and minimum
wage legislation was taken up by the labor
department early in 1916, and under an
order in council then approved, 14 under-
rate permits prescribing weekly wages of
from £2 10s. to £1 15s. have been issued.
A later order in council, of greater impor-
tance, provided for the training of disabled
men in private factories or workshops.
As this question represents one of the
moot points in the rehabilitation ﬁeld, the
rulings of the order will be given in full detail.
The establishment of special reeducational
institutions for war cripples has been urged
by various individuals and organizations.
The recommendation has elicited from the
minister in charge of the Discharged
Soldiers’ Information Department the fol-
lowing comment:
During the last few weeks the question of the
establishment of special training colleges for
“The Redemption of the Disabled” I 31


HARRIS BOOK
apparatus and institutions would be used
to any greater extent. Because of the
doubt that the results would justify the ex-
pense, nothing has been done toward creat-
ing special schools.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
disabled men has been urgedon the attention
of the department. The gentlemen concerned
in this movement have shown most praise-
worthy interest in the welfare of our returned
men, and which, in so far as it manifests a lively
interest in our soldiers, must command the
sympathy and respect of us all. I gather from
the correspondence which has come under my
notice that the promoters of the ‘scheme have
in mind the provision of training colleges and
farms for men still undergoing hospital treat-
ment, and if this is correct the question more
properly appertains to the work of the Depart-
ment of Public Health than to the Discharged
Soldiers’ Information Department. So far as
the latter department is concerned, I regret
that I can not at present see my way to support
a scheme of the character suggested. The
small extent to which existing facilities have
been availed of would not, in my opinion, jus-
tify the large expense which the institution of
special training colleges with expensive buil-
dings, apparatus, and staff would involve.
The Chapter on South Africa
HARRIS BOOK
Men of the British forces disabled in opera-
tions in Africa are given medical care in‘
hospitals in principal centers of the Union
of South Africa. Those requiring artiﬁcial
limbs are sent ultimately to the hospital at
Richmond, near London.
N0 provision appears to have been made
by the Union Government for the reeduca-
tion and placement of disabled men.
The matter is left to local and private
initiative.
In Capetown and other places there are
local boards for vocational education which
attempt to provide both reeducation and
employment.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
Soldiers disabled in operations in Africa
receive medical care in‘institutions in the
principal centers in the Union, those of them
in need of artiﬁcial limbs being sent ulti-
mately to Richmond to be looked after
while they‘are being ﬁtted.
With regard to reeducation and placement
of the disabled it does not seem that any
provisions have been made by the Union
Government.
The matter'is practically left to local and
private initiative.
There are found in Cape Town and in some
other places local boards for vocational
education of disabled soldiers, who endeavor
to provide both reeducation and employ-
ment.
32 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
In other places associations have ‘been
formed for the purpose of ﬁnding work for
and extending general relief to discharged
and returned men.
The association at Johannesburg is reported
to have obtained a promise from the Union
Government that no man would be dis-
charged from the base hospitals until he
was ﬁt to receive civil employment or his
relatives were willing to undertake his care.
In 1917 the Johannesburg Relief Associa-
tion organized for the care and relief of re-
turned soldiers and declared reeducation of
these men to be one of its chief purposes.
Plans were made to ascertain the capabili-
ties of each man, decide the proper class of
work for him, and so on. The training was
to be given in technical institutions and in
public and private workshops. A survey of
these facilities was made, preliminary organ-
ization work done, and employers inter-
ested and asked to give places to the
men.
The South African soldiers disabled in mili-
tary operations in Europe, on the other
hand, are well taken care of as regards reedu—
cation. At Richmond Park, near London,
the South African Military Hospital has
been in operation for some time. _
To enter the course of training is optional,
but having entered, the man must submit to
military discipline and incur military penal-
ties for failure to obey the rules.
The idea of obtaining the beneﬁts of reedu-
cation has appealed strongly to the South
African disabled and the percentage of those
going in for reeducation is as high as 90
per cent.
The work begins at an early stage of con-
valescence.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
.In many places returned soldiers’ associa-
tions have been formed for the general
relief of discharged men.
The Johannesburg Association is reported
to have obtained, in November, 1916, from
the Government a promise that no man
would be discharged from the base hospital
until he was ﬁt to resume civil employment
or until his relatives were willing to under—
take his care.
In July, 1917, a Johannesburg and Reef
organization for the relief of returned
disabled soldiers declared reeducation to
be one of its chief purposes.
It was planned to ascertain for each man
the suitable form of employment; training
was to be given in technical institutions
and in public or private workshops; em-
ployers were asked to assist in the work.
For the treatment and reeducation of South
African soldiers, of those mainly who
belong to forces engaged in Europe, the
South African Military Hospital in Rich-
mond Park, near London, has been created.
The training is voluntary, but if a man
elects to undergo it, and so long as he elects
to continue it, he is obliged to submit to
military discipline and is liable to military
penalties if he fails to conform to the
rules. '
The percentage of disabled men who go
in for reeducation is extremely high—over
90 per cent at present.
The reeducation begins at a very early stage
in convalescence.
“T he Redemption of the Disabled” 33


HARRIS BOOK
When a man arrives at the hospital he is
classiﬁed in one of three classes: (I) cer-
tainly unﬁt for further military duty; (2)
doubtful; (3) expected to become ﬁt.
If he falls into the ﬁrst class his reeducation
commences at the earliest possible moment.
The curriculum is varied and broad. It in-
cludes bookkeeping, shorthand, typewriting,
secretarial work, accounting, metal working
carpentry and cabinet making, electricity,
stationary-engine operating, and the like.
Only instructors of high skill are employed.
The result is that work fully up to expert
standards is turned out. The men realize
that they are being given an extraordinary
opportunity and they are very anxious to
avail themselves of it.
The training does not cease when the men
are discharged from the hospital. Quarters
have been provided on the grounds where
those not needing further hospitaltreatment
can live comfortably until they ﬁnish their
courses.
They remain in uniform and under military
discipline as long as they are in the school.
A number of the graduates have passed ex~
aminations of the London Chamber of
Commerce and the National Union of
Teachers.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
When a man reaches the hospital he is at
once put into one or other of the three
categories, namely: (I) certainly unﬁt
for further active military service, (2) doubt—
ful, (3) expected to become ﬁt.
If the commanding medical ofﬁcer is of
the opinion that he will not be able to
return to active military service, no time is
lost in commencing his reeducation.
The subjects taught include those of general
education, including bookkeeping, short-
hand, typewriting, secretarial work, and
accounts; and also, metal working, carpen-
try, cabinetmaking, electricity, cinemato-
graphy, and engine working, etc.
The arrangements are noticeable in that
highly skilled professional instructors are
employed.
As the result, not only.is work up to the
standards of experts being turned out, but
the men realize that an extraordinary op-
portunity is being afforded them, and are
proportionately keen to avail themselves
of the courses.
The training does not stop when a man is
discharged from the hospital, a comfortable
hostel having been erected in the grounds,
where those no longer in need of hospital
treatment can live while they continue their
courses.
Such men continue to wear their uniform
and remain under military discipline.
Several of them have already passed exam-
inations of the London Chamber of Com-
merce, and the National Union of Teachers,
ﬁrst classes being obtained in quite a
considerable proportion of instances.
34 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


The Chapter on India
HARRIS BOOK
The Imperial Indian Relief Fund‘, among
other functions, has that of extending relief
to permanently disabled soldiers and their
families.
Bureaus have been established at various
centers for the employment of disabled men,
for placement purposes, and the like.
Chambers of commerce and such associa-
tions are cooperating in ﬁnding civil employ-
ment for disabled, discharged and pensioned
soldiers.
There are military hospitals at Bombay,
Cawnpore and Umballa, and Red Cross
hospitals at Mussorie and Delhra Dun. The
marine hospital at Bombay takes care of all
cases requiring artiﬁcial limbs. Orthopaedic
and organic treatments are given at the
other hospitals.
In May, 1917, a technical school for dis-
abled soldiers was established at Bombay,
called Queen Mary’s School. Funds were
raised mainly through efforts of Lady Wil-
lingdon, wife of the Governor of Bombay.
The institution accommodates 200 men.
Disabled soldiers in various parts of the
country who want to attend are provided
with railway fare, a return ticket and travel-
ing expenses.
The school is under joint military and civil
administration and ﬁnance. The military
authorities defray the charges of ﬁtting arti-
ﬁcial limbs and teaching their use.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
The imperial Indian relief fund has among
its many functions, that of assisting per-
manently disabled soldier and their families.
Bureaus have been formed at various cen-
ters for the employment of disabled men.
The Bengal Chamber of Commerce early in
the war addressed a circular to its members,
calling attention to the subject of civil
employment for pensioned soldiers and
indicating the ways in which they could be
reached through their military units.
Orthopedic and electrotherapeutic treat-
ment is given at a number of hospitals,
namely, at the military hospitals at Bom-
bay, Cawnpore, Umballa, and the Red
Cross hospitals at Mussorie and Dehra
Dun. Artiﬁcial limbs are provided at the
Marine Lines War Hospital at Bombay,
which takes in all cases requiring these
appliances.
In May, 1917, through the efforts of Lady
Willingdon, wife of the governor of Bombay,
a technical school for disabled soldiers was
established at Bombay, under the name of
Queen Mary’s Technical School for Dis-
abled Indian Soldiers.
There is accommodation for 200 men.
Men from upcountry who desire to enter
the school are provided with a return
railway ticket and traveling expenses.
The school is under a joint military and
civil administration and is ﬁnanced jointly.
The military authorities defray the charges
of ﬁtting of artiﬁcial limbs and teaching of
their use.
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 35


HARRIS BOOK
The educational side of the work is under
civilian auspices, the cost being met in part
by the Bombay Women’s Branch of the
Indian War Relief Fund and in part by
private subscriptions.
Training courses average six months in
_ length.
The selection of a trade to train for is
optional; each man takes that which most
appeals to him and in which he thinks his
chances are best. The men are fed, supplied
with clothes and given quarters, and those
graduating in a trade requiring tools are
usually supplied with a set on leaving.
Among the subjects taught are tailoring,
hosiery knitting, dyeing, making of arti-
ﬁcial ﬂowers, carpentry, elementary engi-
neering, motor-car mechanics, stationary
engineering, agriculture, poultry farming,
truck gardening, and the like.
A placement committee is attached to the
institution, constantly endeavoring to ﬁnd
employment for the men.
They are used as tailors in regiments and
at Army clothing departments and as chauf-
feurs in the Army mechanical-transport de-
partments. Others are used as turners,
ﬁtters, machinists, engine drivers, ammuni-
tion-box makers, and the like, in Govern-
ment dock yards, ordnance factories, and
arsenals. Private factories and workshops
also absorb numbers of them.
It is estimated that the skilled men ‘are
able to add from 20 to 100 rupees per month
to their pensions as a result of their training
and subsequent placement in some line of
work.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
The educational part of the work is under
purely civilian auspices. The costs are
provided partly by the Bombay Women’s
Branch of the Indian War Relief Fund, and
partly by private subscription.
The duration of the training is of six months
or more. ‘
Each man is at liberty to select his trade.
The men are supplied with clothes, bedding,
food, etc., during their stay at the school. At
leaving, they are in many cases supplied with
a set of tools.
There are classes in tailoring, hosiery
knitting, dyeing, making of artiﬁcial ﬂow-
ers, .carpentering, elementary engineer,
motor-car driving, oil-engine driving, agri~
culture, poultry farming, etc.
A committee of the institution endeavors to
ﬁnd employment for the men.
They are placed as tailors in regiments or
at the army clothing department; as
chauffeurs at the army mechanical transport
department; as turners, ﬁtters, machine
men, engine drivers,_ammunition-box mak-
ers, in Government dockyards, ordnance
factories, and arsenals; ﬁnally in private
factories and workshops.
It has been estimated that skilled men
should be able to add from 20 to 100 rupees
a month to their pensions.
36 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


The Chapter on Italy
HARRIS BOOK
Italy at the beginning of the war had
practically no facilities for the work of
caring for and rehabilitating disabled men.
There wereifew social organizations compe-
tent to undertake it; there were only a few
homes for cripples, really no system of edu-
cation for them, and no factories for the
manufacture of artiﬁcial limbs.
Diverse and scattered private agencies began
the work, and these initial efforts were later
adjusted and coordinatedfortheworkinhand.
The Milan Institute dei Rachitice, which
served as a model for succeeding institutions,
was the only institution really started to
meet the emergency during the ﬁrst year of
Italy’s participation in the war.
A provincial committee was organized in
Lombardy in connection with the Milan
Institute for the purpose of giving ortho-
paedic treatment to injured men. This com-
mittee was planned to work in close coopera-
tion with the military authorities, and the
institution was made a military reserve
hospital, the ofﬁcers being given military
rank. Men were sent there direct from the
ﬁeld hospitals and given orthopaedic treat-
ment under military discipline. The Gov-
ernment and the Lombardy committee
shared the expense of buildings and upkeep,
the Government paying an agreed sum per
day for each man’s board, and the com-
mittee making a small allowance to the
man. After the men have been given
orthopaedic treatment, if they desire it and
the committee decides they are suitable
subjects for vocational education, they are
transferred to a subsidiary convalescent
home for trade training, this also being
carried out under military control.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
This is very natural, because Italy, on her
entrance into the war, had almost no facili-
ties for such work. She had no artiﬁcial- ‘ '
limb factories, scarcely any cripple homes
or system of education for cripples, and
very few social organizations competent to
undertake it.
It began in scattered private efforts which
were later coordinated and brought more or
less under Government control.
The Milan school, which is still the largest
and most scientiﬁc, became the model for
succeeding institutions. The other Pro-
vinces were much slower in organizing, and
after the ﬁrst 12 months of Italy’s partici-
pation in the war, the Milan school was still
the only one fairly started.
Even before Italy entered the war Lombardy
had organized a committee, the Comitato
Lombardo per i Soldati Mutilati in Guerra
(Lombard Committee for Soldiers Crippled
in War), which worked in connection with
the Milan Instituto dei Rachitici (Institute
for Rachitics) to give orthopedic treatment
and trade training to war cripples. The
work was done in close cooperation with the
military authorities. The institute was con-
stituted a militaryv reserve hospital, its
ofﬁcers being given military rank; men were
sent there direct from the ﬁeld hospitals and
given their orthopedic treatment under mili-
tary discipline. After this, if they desired it
and the committee found them suitable, they
were transferred to a subsidiary convales-
cent home for trade training, this also under
military discipline. The Government and
the Lombard committee shared the expense
of buildings and maintenance. The Govern-
ment paid the committee 3.50 a day for each
man’s board, and the committee allowed the
men a small allowance.
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 37


HARRIS BOOK
The choice of trade or occupation is volun-
tary with the patient.
In November, 1917, there were in all 24
provincial committees operating on the
Lombardy plan, capable of accommodating
about 20 per cent. of all the war cripples.
There was no coherency among the provin—
cial committees, and the lack of coordination
led to the formation of a voluntary national
federation of committees for the assistance
of blind, lame and crippled soldiers.
Its function was, in the main, advisory, and
the local committees were independent of it.
These local committees have no common
standard of organization.
In Lombardy and Sicily, for instance, there
is only one committee for the whole province
and the work is concentrated in the largest
city; in other provinces there are groups of
small committees working in coordination
and running several small separate schools.
The main function of the federation was to
coordinate and supervise the work of local
committees, to inform them of new develop-
ments in the work, and to devote its main
energies to legal measures for the care of
War cripples.
A monthly magazine was published by the
federation, handling topics of special
interest.
The Italian government on March 25,
1917, passed a law creating the National
MCMURTRIE BOOK
All the schools were modeled on that at
Milan, where training was under military
discipline, but the choice of training was
voluntary.
In November, 1917, there were altogether
24, accommodating about 20 per cent of all
the war cripples.
The committees in each Province worked
together in a sort of loose afﬁliation, but a
more deﬁnite coordination was felt to be
necessary, so the next step in organization
was taken and there was formed a voluntary
national association, the Federazione Na-
zionale dei Comitati di Assistenza ai
Militari Ciechi, Storpi, Mutilati (Federation
of Committees for the Assistance of Blind,
Lame, and Crippled Soldiers).
The function of the federation is mainly
advisory, and the local committees keep
their independence and initiative.
Their method of organization varies in
different Provinces.
In Lombardy and Sicily, for instances,
there is only one committee for the whole
Province, and the work is concentrated in
the largest city. In Tuscany and Venetia
there is a group of small committees, all
working in coordination and running several
small separate schools.
The work of the fedeoation is to coor-
dinate and supervise the work of the local
committees and to keep them informed of
new developments in the work and to con-
cern itself with legal measures for the care of
war cripples.
It publishes a monthly magazine, describing
the work of local committees and discussing
possible new measures.
Finally, March 25, 1917, there was passed
the law providing for the Opera Nazionale
38 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
Board for the Protection and Assistance of
‘War Invalids.
This law is the real basis for Italian reedu-
cational work.
The scope of authority of the Board is to
provide medical treatment if treatment sup-
plementary to that given by the Army
medical authorities is needed, and to afford
material relief for reeducation, placement,
claiming and adjustment of pensions.
The National Board, which replaced the
voluntary federation of committees, did not
take over these duties. It is supervisory
and cooperative, and ﬁlls in gaps where
they appear.
The schools of reed ucation remain under the
management of local committees, the Board
acting in a supervisory and inspecting
capacity. It issues charters to new com-
mittees and calls in those previously granted
when suitable standards are not reached.
The Board is composed of 19 members.
Four are elected by Parliament, two Sena—i
tors and two Deputies.
The Crown appoints the other 1 5 on the sug-
gestion of the Prime Minister, as follows:
ﬁve ministerial nominees representing the _
ministries of the Interior, War, Navy,
Treasury, and Industry and Labor; two
nominees of the Surgeon-General possessing
special technical qualiﬁcations; three nomi-
nees of the volunteer associations for the
care of war cripples; and four elected by the
National War Cripples Association.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
per la Protezione ed Assistenza degli
Invalidi della Guerra (National Board
for the Protection and Assistance of War
Invalids).
This law and the supplementary regulations
published by the Minister of the Interior in
August, 1917, forms the basis for all reedu-
cational activities and states the limits of
Government and private responsibility.
The functions of the board are stated to be
assistance to war cripples in—
1. Medical treatment (in so far as this is not
covered by the military authorities).
Material relief.
Reeducation.
Placement.
Claiming of pensions.
(.A-IAOJN
This does not mean that these activities are
actually to be taken over by the board. It
merely supervises and assists, ﬁlling in the
gaps wherever necessary.
The reeducation schools are to remain, as
before, under the management of the local
committees, but the board is to supervise
and inspect, giving charters to new commit-
tees and revoking charters of those which do
not come up to the standards. . .
This board consists of 19 members. Four
are elected by Parliament—2 senators and 2
deputies.
The other 15 are appointed by royal decree
on the suggestion of the prime minister, as
follows: Five ministerial nominees, repre-
senting the departments of the interior,
war, navy, treasury, and of industry, com-
merce and labor; two nominees of the sur-
geon general, who shall have special tech-
nical qualiﬁcations; three nominees of
the volunteer associations for the care of
war cripples, one from the actual institu-
tions caring for war cripples; four elected
by the National War Cripples’ Association.
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 39

HARRIS BOOK
Annual appropriation is made for the sup-
port of the Board from the budget of the
Ministry of the Interior, and it is under the
direction of the Minister of that govern-
mental division. A report must be made to
him annually which he is required to present
to Parliament.
The headquarters of the Board is in Rome,
the office quarters and force being supplied
by the Government.
It is supposed to have an authorized repre—
sentative in every locality and thus to work
in close connection with all the societies and
institutions over the country having to do
with war cripples and their rehabilitation.
The law creating the National Board pre-
scribes generally the system for treating
‘cripples in all parts of Italy.
After the ﬁrst surgical treatment, cripples
are to be sent to one of the nine military
reserve hospitals for orthopaedic treatment,
located at Turin, Milan, Genoa, Verona,
Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples and
Palermo.
The soldier in each case is to be assigned to
the hospital nearest his home, or when this
is not possible, to the next nearest.
At these hospitals the men are given func-
tional reeducation, massage and mechano-
therapy, and furnished with temporary arti-
ﬁcial limbs at the expense of the Govern-
ment.
\Vhen the cure has progressed to a point
at which reeducation can be commenced,
the patient is given usually a month’s leave
and allowed to visit his home.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
The board is under the minister of the in-
terior. It must render a report to him
every year, which he in turn must present
to Parliament._ A yearly appropriation is
set .aside for it from the budget of the
department of the interior.
The board has its ofﬁce in Rome, with
the ofﬁces of the ministry of the interior,
its ofﬁce force being furnished by the
Government.
It is supposed to work in very close con—
nection with the societies and institutions
all over the country, which are concerned
with war cripples, and thus to have an
authorized representative in every 10-
cality.
The law above mentioned, in addition to
creating the national board, ﬁxes the general
system for treatment of cripples all over the
country.
Crippled soldiers, after their ﬁrst surgical
treatment, are to be sent to military centri
di cure ﬁsiche ed orthopediche (centers for
physical and orthopedic treatment). There
are nine of them in the country, located
in the army corps districts of Turin, Milan,
Genoa, Verona, Bologna, Florence, Rome,
. Naples, and Palermo.
A soldier is in each case to be sent to the
center nearest his home, or if that is not
possible to the next nearest.
At the centers the men are to receive
functional reeducation, massage, and me-
chanotherapy, and to be furnished with a
temporary artiﬁcial limb at the expense of
the Government.
When their cure has so far progressed that
they will proﬁt most from reeducation,
they are dismissed from the orthopedic hos-
pital on breva licenza (short leave) and al-
lowed to visit their homes. ‘
40 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
On the expiry of the furlough, those desig-
nated by the hospital as capable of reedu-
cation must present themselves, under mili-
tary orders, at the nearest reéducational
schooL
The men not so ordered are only those hope-
lessly crippled or those who have given
proof that they do not need reeducation or
can attend to their own rehabilitation.
Under the law the compulsory stay at the
school is limited to 15 days.
In that time the man is ﬁtted with his per-
manent artiﬁcial limb or other apparatus,
which is selected for him by the Government
experts.
During the time of adjustment, the authori-
ties bend every effort to convince him of the
value of reeducation.
If he agrees to take the training, he remains
under military discipline; if he refuses, he
is discharged by the local military authority
and must shift for himself as best he can
with his pension.
When a man is'accepted for reeducation,
he remains a member of the Army, and may
stay at the school pursuing his course for a
maximum of six months.
The Ministry of War pays the school for his
maintenance, and maintains his family at
the same rate as though the student were in
active service.
If the training is not complete at the end
of six months, the Board may keep the stu-
dent longer at its own expense.
If ready to go sooner, or if ,he is unruly or
proves to be unﬁt for training, the local
military commander may discharge him at
any time.
MCMURTRIE BOOK .
After the term of leave, generally a month,
has expired, those designated by the center
as capable of reeducation must present
themselves as part of their military duty at
the nearest reeducation school.
The men excused from this duty are those
hopelessly crippled or those who give proof
that they do not need reeducation or can
attend to their own.
The compulsory stay of any man at the
school is limited by the law to 15 days.
During that time he is ﬁtted with his
permanent- prosthesis, which is selected for
him by the school at the expense of the
Government.
The school also has every opportunity to
convince him of the value of reeducation.
If he consents to training he remains under
military discipline. If he refuses he re-
ceives his discharge from the local military
authority.
When a man is accepted for reeducation he
remains as a regular member of the army.
He may remain at the school for a maximum
period of six months.
During this time the war department pays
the school 3.50 lire a day for his main~
tenance, pays the man a regular sum, ac-
cording- to his rank (a private has 20
centesimi, 4 cents a day) and maintains
his family at the same rate as though he
were in active service. '
If his training is not complete at the end
of six months, the national board may retain
him longer at its own expense.
If he is ready to go sooner, or if he is un-
ruly or unﬁt for training, the local military
commander may discharge him at any
time. '
“T he Redemption of the Disabled” 41


* HARRIS BOOK
\Vhen a man enters the school, a commit-
tee consisting of the head physician, direc-
tor of the school, and an inspector from the
Ministry of Industry and Labor or a person
designated by the National Board passes
upon his case. Proper consideration is
given to the wishes of the cripple or his
relatives or representative and of the repre-
sentative of the \Var Cripples Association
attached to the staff. The trade the man
is to be trained for is then decided upon.
The same committee decides when a man's
training has been completed, and authorizes
his dismissal from the school.
A cripple leaving the institution, after hav-
ing done conscientious work and become
really able to support himself, may be given
a money prize by the National Board.
After discharge from the schools and the
Army, the National Board is expected to
assist the cripples.
Those needing continued medical care, on
account of developing illness or relapse, are
provided for in convalescent homes.
For men who have no families to return to,
yet require some looking after, it pays board
in private families, who are required to render
regular accounts and reports to the Board.
For all men capable of earning their own
living, the Board is supposed to ﬁnd positions.
Public employment bureaus are subsidized
by the State, and provincial and communal
employment bureaus also are expected to
attend to the placement of war cripples
without charge.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
As soon as a man has entered the school his
trade is decided upon. The decision is made
by a committee consisting of the head physi-
cian and the director of the school, an
inspector from the department of industry
and labor, or a person delegated by the
national board, due consideration being
given to the wishes of the cripple and to the
representative of the war cripples attached
to the staff.
The same committee decides on the man’s
dismissal from the school when his training
is complete. On his dismissal the national
board and the local military authority must
be notiﬁed.
If a man leaves the school furnished with
a certiﬁcate that he has satisfactorily
completed his reeducation, the national
board may give him a money prize. Certi-
ﬁcates are to be given only to those‘men
who have done conscientious work and who
have become really able to support them-
selves.
After men are discharged from the schools
and from the army the national board is ex-
pected to provide as well as possible for
their future.
For those who need further medical care
because of relapse or developing illness
it provides in convalescent homes at which
it pays for their treatment.
For those who have no families to return to
and yet need a certain amount of care it
pays for board in private families, which
must render a regular account to the board.
For all men capable of earning their own
living it is supposed to ﬁnd positions.
Public employment bureaus subsidized by
the State and also provincial and communal
employment bureaus are to attend to the
placement of war cripples without charge.
42 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
All employees in civil service or in charita-
ble institutions who have become war disa-
bled have a right to reinstatement if physi-
cally able to do the work.
A list of civil-service positions to be re-
served for war cripples has been published.
Men applying for them must have a physi-
cian’s certiﬁcate that they are able to do
the work, and of such men the most eligible
will be chosen.
In competitive examinations for civil-service
positions, other things being equal, war
cripples will be given the preference.
Private ﬁrms are obliged to reinstate their
employees crippled in the war if the em-
ployee can pass an examination, medically,
proving ﬁtness for the particular work.
The examination and certiﬁcate are fur-
nished by the National Board, which also
arbitrates between the cripple and his
employer in case the latter refuses reinstate-
ment without reason.
The National Board looks after the inter-
ests of the cripples in settling pensions or in
any legal difﬁculties in which they may be-
come involved, and also acts as guardian
for those of unsound mind.
It is the means of procuring loans for in-
jured soldiers on the security of their pen-
sions to be used for the purpose of buying land.
Pensions are not to be affected in any way
by either reeducation or employment of
those receiving them.
Accident-insurance companies are obliged to
insure war cripples on the same terms as any
other workman, and the companies are not
allowed to charge a higher premium to stores
or factories where war cripples are em-
ployed unless the number of these passes a
certain proportion.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
All employees in civil service or in charitable
institutions who have become war cripples
have a right to reinstatement if pronounced
physically able to do the work.
There is published also a list of civil-
service positions which will be reserved for
war cripples.
‘ Men applying for them must have a physi-
cian's word that they are able to do the
work, and among such men the most eligible
will be chosen.
In competitive examinations for civil-service
positions, other things being equal, war
cripples will be given precedence.
Private ﬁrms are obliged to reinstate their
employees crippled in the war if the em-
ployees can pass a medical examination
proving their ﬁtness for the particular work.
The medical examination and the necessary
certiﬁcate is to be'furnished by the national
board, which also arbitrates between the
cripple and the employer in case the latter
refuses reinstatement without reason.
The national board looks after the. interests
of cripples in the settling of pensions
and in any legal difﬁculties in which they
may become involved and acts as guardian
to any who are of unsound mind.
Loans for' buying land or establishing
themselves in business are made to soldiers
on security of pensions.
Pensions are not in any way to be af-
_ fected by either reeducation or employment
of war cripples.
Accident insurance companies are obliged
to insure war cripples on the same terms as
any other workmen. They are not allowed to
charge a higher premium to stores or fac-
tories where war cripples are employed
unless the number of these passes a certain
proportion. '
“The Redemption of the Disabled”
43

HARRIS BOOK
If there is a particularly large number of
war cripples in any establishment, a slightly
higher premium may be agreed upon with
the Ministry of Industry and Labor.
The problem of reeducation in Italy is com-
plicated by the fact that 80 per cent. of
the population are peasants with no back-
ground of experience in any trade and very
illiterate.
The result is that the reeducation schools
must include a much longer elementary-
school course than is required in other coun-
tries, and that the trades taught cannot be
so advanced and specialized.
_ The character of the Italian school is formal
and institutional, in order to impress the
primitive minds with which it has to deal.
The general plan of the schools has more in
common with that of a regular public school
for children than with those in Germany, for
instance, where the discipline is not mili-
tary and the trades taught are suited to
mature and experienced men.
Most of the Italian students reside in the
schools under military discipline, although
day pupils are taken.
The men are required to take an elementary
course when necessary, and an intermediate
course before beginning a trade.
On ﬁnishing each course they are graduated
with ceremonies, and given a diploma be-
fore being promoted to the next.
On completing the school work, they receive
a certiﬁcate stating their ﬁtness to follow a
trade and support themselves, and usually
are given prizes from the committee and
chief citizens of the town.
It has been found that these ceremonies are
a decided help in keeping up the men’s inter-
est and pride in their work.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
If there is a particularly large number of war
cripples in any establishment, a slightly
higher premium may be agreed upon with
the minister of industry and labor.
Reeducation constitutes a special problem
in Italy, because such a large proportion
(80 per cent) of the men to be reeducated
are peasants with no background of experi-
ence in any trade and very often illiterate.
The result is that the reeducation schools
must include a much longer elementary
school course than is necessary in other
countries and that the trades taught can
not be so advanced and specialized.
The whole character of an Italian school
is formal and institutional, as it must be
in order to impress the primitive mind with
which it has to deal.
The general plan of the schools has much
more in common with that of a regular
public school for children than is the case in
Germany, for instance, where discipline is
not military and the trades taught are suited
to mature and experienced men.
Most of the men reside in the school under
military discipline, though day pupils are
takeniftheyreturntotheirhomesatnight. . .
Almost all the men are required to take an
intermediate and sometimes an elementary
school course before beginning a trade.
At the conclusion of each course they are
graduated with proper ceremonies and given
adiploma before being. promoted to the next.
On being graduated from the school they
receive a certiﬁcate stating their ﬁtness
to follow a trade and support themselves
and generally prizes from the committee and
the chief citizens of the town. .
It is found that this sort of ceremony is
a decided help in keeping up the men's in-
terest and pride in their work.
' .
44
“The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
This opportunity for education, even though
compressed into the short space of six
months, has proved a great opportunity for
the illiterate peasants of Italy.
It means a mental discipline and a founda-
tion of learning that is foreign to the small,
remote hamlets from which many of them
come and to which the feeling of national
unity has not really penetrated. Many of
the promoters of these schools feel that the
seeds of national development and real
patriotism are being planted thereby.
Much is expected of private initiative.
Each school is under the direction of a volun-
teer local committee which works in close
touch with the National Board.
Its work includes founding the school,
arousing public interest in it, attending to
the practical direction with help in disci-
pline, raising funds to aid in its support,
and placing the men when they leave.
The National Board supports the commit-
tees and stimulates their organization in
the areas where none exists.
The National Board operates an employ-
ment ofﬁce to help the local committees in
the placement of graduates of the reeduca-
tion schools, and publishes employment in-
formation in its bulletin.
The trade school of the Institute at Milan
accommodates 500, and the courses are
basketry, leather work and inlay, tailoring,
O
MCMURTRIE BOOK
This chance at an all-round education, even
though compressed into a six-month period,
is a real opportunity for the illiterate agri-
cultural laborers of southern Italy.
It means an amount of mental discipline and
a general background of information which
is unkn n in the small hamlets from which
they (we. Many of these hamlets are so
remote and primitive that the feeling of
national unity has not really penetrated
to them and the promoters of the schools
feel that aside from special help to cripples
they are of real use in national develop-
ment.
This means that a great deal is still expected
of private initiative.
Each school is under the direction of a vol-
untary local committee called a Comitato di
Assistenza, which must work in close touch
with the national board.
The work of this committee includes found-
ing the school and arousing public interest
in it, attending to the practical direction
with help in discipline from the war depart-
ment, raising funds to aid in its support,
since the 3.50 lire a day paid for each man
by the Government does not cover expenses,
and placing the men when they leave.
The national board is, of course, expected
to be of great support'to the committees
and to stimulate their formation in the
still large areas where none exist.
The national federation had almost from the
ﬁrst an employment ofﬁce, whose function
was to assist the committees in placing
their discharged pupils. This ofﬁce made
inquiry among large ﬁrms in the country
as to their willingness and ability to employ
cripples and was able to publish in its
monthly magazine the names of several.
The trade school is situated in the suburbs
of Milan. It has become so popular that it
has had to be twice enlarged and now ac-
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 45


HARRIS BOOK
shoemaking, wood carving, making of
wooden shoes, saddlery, broom and brush
making, telegraphy, and general mechanics.
The courses are adapted to the Italian
civilization, which includes a larger propor-
tion of handicraft trades than that of any
‘of the other countries, with notable speciali-
zation work, such as at Florence, which is
celebrated for its toys, Venice, long famed
for its art in wrought iron and stamped
leather, and other points that are famed for
particular handicraft work of one kind or.
another.
Italy recognizes her backwardness in agri-
culture, and in ﬁve of the schools—~Perugia,
Palermo, Spezia, Turin and Padua, agricul-
tural courses have been instituted, with
indications that, owing to its importance,
this education will be given in all of the
institutions.
It has been difficult to convince the Italian
cripples of the value of reeducation. At
Bologna 28 per cent. of the men eligible
refused to take it. “The conservative
peasant mind,” declares an Italian report,
“is hard to appeal to.”
Military discipline in the schools appears to
be the only workable plan, and even under
this system 12 men were expelled from the
Bologna institution for various causes in
one year.
The idea of the value of reeducation does
not seem to sink into the mentality of
many of them, but it must be considered
that the percentage of ignorance and illite-
racy is perhaps higher in Italy than in any
of the other leading Allied countries.
Italy although late in entering the war, has
nevertheless developed in a remarkably
MCMURTRIE BOOK
commodates 500. These teach car-
pentry, tailoring, shoemaking, basketry,
leather work, wood inlay and wood carving,
the making of wooden shoes, saddlery,
broom and brush making, mechanics.
For men with some education the most
popular course is telegraphy.
The trade courses taught at Milan are in
general those of the other institutions.
Italy is particularly fortunate in having
a great many famous handicrafts which still
fetch high pay and are well adapted to
cripples. Many schools, for instance, have
a course in bookbinding, which has reached
great artistic perfection in Italy. Florence
is famed for its manufacture of toys, and
Venice teaches the old Venetian arts of
wrought iron and stamped leather.
This is beginning to be realized by a
few of the schools, and there is an ardent
propaganda to spread the idea further.
At present there are agricultural courses
in only ﬁve schools—Perugia, Palermo,
Spezia, Turin, and Padua.
It has been hard to convince the Italian
cripples of the value of reeducation. At
Bologna, 28 per cent of the men eligible
refused it. The conservative peasant mind
is hard to appeal to.
When they are in school, military discipline
is agreed to be the only plan workable. Even
thus men are sometimes expelled for in-
fringement of rules, at Bologna, 12 in a year.
The idea of reeducation is too new for men
to be willing to stick to it the length of
time necessary without some external
authority.
The interest in scientiﬁc care for cripples‘
is very keen. Though the subject was not
46 “T he Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
short space of time, efﬁcient facilities not
only for caring medically for her disabled,
but also for conserving them economically
and vocationally.
The work is progressing, and the war crip-
ples of Italy have formed a National Associa-
tion with headquarters at Milan.
The spirit of brotherhood is being fostered,
and the Association also acts as intermediary
between cripples and employers, maintain-
_ ing the rights of its members when neglected
either by the Government or by the public.
An oﬂicer of the Association declared at the
time of its organization:
Our country will be grateful for the defense
we have given of her glory and her spirit, but
We shall be even more worthy of her if, united
in a ﬁrm organization, we regain the strength
and will to be real men, useful to ourselves and
to our families. The eyes of all are turned to-
ward us, as of the elect, and this high consider-
ation should guide us to right conduct and
straight living. The Association will be the
kindly guardian of every member, but it will
not hesitate to take stern but necessary mea-
sures against all of those who fail in their civil
duty.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
much studied before the war, specialists are
doing remarkable work on it now.
In Italy, as in Germany, the cripples have
formed a society of their own, The Associa-
zione Nazionale degli Invalidi della Guerra
(National Association of \Var Cripples)
with headquarters at Milan.
The aims of the association are stated to
be—
1. To foster the spirit of brotherhood.
2. To give mutual assistance, moral and
material.
3. To act as intermediary between cripples
and employers.
4. To maintain the rights of cripples when
they are neglected, whether by the Govern-
ment or by the public.
5. To secure work for its members.
At its meeting of organization the secretary
summed up the general feeling:
Our country will be grateful for the strength
we have given in defense of her glory and of her
spirit. But we shall be even more worthy of
her if, united in a ﬁrm organization, we regain
the strength and the will to be real men, useful
to ourselves and to our families. The eyes of
all are turned toward us, as toward the elect
and this high consideration should guide us to
right conduct and straight living. The associa-
tion will be the kindly guardian of every mem-
ber, but it will not hesitate to take stern but
necessary measures against those who fail of
their civic duty.
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 47


The Chapter on France
HARRIS BOOK
As in Belgium, the system of reeducation
and rehabilitation of disabled soldiers in
France has been an evolution from a start
initiated by one man. '
In the late summer and fall of 1914, the hard
ﬁghting along the Belgian border and the
great Battles of the Marneand the Aisne
had ﬁlled the French hospitals. Presently
the hospitals began to discharge the disabled
for whom there was nothing more to be
done in a medical or surgical way. A large
proportion of them had recovered and re-
joined their commands at the front. There
was another percentage which would never
again ﬁght on a battleﬁeld. Their wounds
and their amputations were healed and
they were equipped with the necessary arti-
ﬁcial legs or arms, but these men, in so far
as further usefulness to the French Army
was concerned, were permanently out of
consideration. It is true that the minute,
not to say inﬁnitesimal, French pension was
awarded them, but this was utterly insuf-
ficient to maintain them.
Back to the city of Lyons drifted a quota of
these broken men. That they deserved
better than to have their eager gift of superb
young manhood requited only by an insuf—
ﬁcient pension seemed a general view, but
no one thought of anything more substan-
tial. They were lionized for a few days or
weeks, but the Nation was so busy with the
vital ﬁght that the heroes of last week
were pushed to the rear by the heroes of a
later battle. So matters went until the
Mayor of Lyons, M. Edouard Herriot, be-
gan wrestling with the problem.
Mayor Herriot initiated his experiment by
suggesting that the municipality of Lyons
should organize a school in which men ren-
dered unﬁt for their former occupations
should be taught other crafts for which,
despite their wounds or handicaps of physi-
cal condition, they could qualify.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
In the autumn of 1914, large numbers of
men wounded in the retreat from the
Belgian border and the battles of the Marne
and the Aisne were being turned out from
the military hospitals. They were, perhaps,
cured of their wounds, but they were unﬁt
for further military duty, and were there-
fore discharged from the army. That many
of them were equally unﬁt for civilian life
did not at that time concern the French
Government. It bestowed upon them the
tiny pension allowed under a long-standing
law and sent them to their homes. How to
help them to earn a decent living and to
become again useful, self-respecting citizens
became then questions for each community
to solve.
A solution that went deeper than mere char-
itable giving was ﬁrst worked out in the city
of Lyons through the initiative and fore—
sight of the mayor of the city, M. Edouard
Herriot.
M. Herriot proposed that the city should
organize a school where men incapable of
resuming their former occupation should be
taught a new trade compatible with their
disability.
48 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
The idea was approved, and on December
16, 1914, the municipal school of Lyons
opened with three pupils. By the following
May its accommodations were taxed to the
utmost and another school was opened in
the suburbs of the city. The ﬁrst institu-
tion was called the Ecole Joﬁi'e, in honor of
the hero of the Marne, and the second, the
Ecole de Toumeille.
As in the case of Belgium, whose Govern-
ment was quick to recognize the value of the
work initiated by M. Schollaert at his
Dépdt des I noalides, the French Govern-
ment saw great possibilities in M. Herriot’s
E’cole Joﬂfre and as promptly took action.
At St. Maurice, near Paris, there was an
industrial home for cripples. It was taken
over, and in May, 1915, the Institut
national professionnel des invalides de la
gueri'e, with accommodations for 300 stu-
dents, was opened, and soon ﬁlled.
As knowledge of the marvels of reeducation
extended and the public became aware that
the disabled men could have their handicaps
neutralized by reeducation to take advan-
tage of their remaining capabilities, steps
were taken in other parts of the Republic
to inaugurate the work. Municipal authori-
ties, departmental governments, trade unions
and private philanthropy showed intense
interest and went earnestly into the scheme
of restoration. The idea of rehabilitating
the disabled men caught the popular fancy.
The people had recognized that a mere
pension and, perhaps, a decoration for
valor were inadequate for the long, hard
years when peace should come again. They
were willing and anxious to do more, and
eagerly followed when M. Herriot showed
the way.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
He secured for his project the approval of
the municipal council, and on December 16,
1914, he opened a school. Three pupils only
were enrolled at the beginning, but applica-
tions came in rapidly, and by May of 1915
the school was full to overﬂowing. A second
school was then established in the suburbs
of the city. These two institutions—the
ﬁrst, known asthe Ecole Joffre, and the
second, called the Ecole de Tourvielle—have
served as models for most of the other
schools since formed in nearly every city of
importance in France.
Shortly after the organization of M. Her-
riot’s pioneer trade school for disabled men,
the National Government recognized the
need for work of this kind and took steps to
create a national school of reeducation.
A home for industrial cripples at Saint-
Maurice on the outskirts of Paris was taken
by the Government for this purpose, and in
May, 1915, was opened as the Institut
national professionnel des invalides de la
guerre. The government made this institut
a model school capable of training 300 men,
but it left the establishment of similar
schools throughout France to other agencies.
The realization that the problem of the
mutilés could be solved by reeducation soon
became general, and various public and
private agencies began to organize re-
educational institutions. In Paris and in the
Provinces, national associations for aiding
the mutilés, departmental and municipal
governments, local committees, chambers of
commerce, trade unions, and private
philanthropists took up the work. All
through 1915 schools of various kinds
sprang up throughout the country.
“T he Redemption of the Disabled” 49


HARRIS BOOK
Schools were organized at many points
and speedily ﬁlled with pupils. The injured
men who sought them went at the work
with the same ﬁre and determination with
which they had fought. They realized that
if they could take the places of men back
of the lines, the latter could take the places
the wounded men had left vacant at the
front. It was a sort of vicarious ﬁghting
which appealed to them immensely. And
the practical side of it was not overlooked
—the advantage of supplementing the little
pension with ample wages after the war.
The Minister of Commerce adapted the
vocational schools under his jurisdiction so
they might be used to reeducate the disa-
bled men.
In some of the schools the soldier students
entered the regular classes where the work
was suitable for them; in other instances
special classes and instructors were provided.
Some of the existing schools organized sepa-
rate branches for the mutilés under the
supervision of the Minister of Commerce.
The Ministry of Agriculture undertook to
organize such branches of agricultural edu-
cation as would be suitable for the disabled.
Trade organizations and arts and crafts
schools joined in the effort to develop the
new education. By the fall of 1915, France
had embarked deﬁnitely upon a policy of
restoration for every injured man, ﬁtting
him for some phase of usefulness compatible
with the abilities remaining to him.
The Government had bent every effort to
have the National Institute at St. Maurice
as nearly perfect as possible in appointments,
teaching staff, curriculum and methods, so
that it might be used as a model for other
‘ largely realized.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
The minister of commerce was one of those
who early perceived the need of providing
trade training for discharged soldiers. He
proceeded, therefore, to do everything
possible to adapt the existing vocational
schools under his jurisdiction to the needs of
disabled men.
In some schools it would be possible to
receive men into the same classes as the
regular pupils. In others special sections
for disabled men could be formed.
The directors of a few schools undertook
to organize separate schools for the mutilés
under the control of the minister of com-
merce and to make them new centers of
special technical instruction.
The minister of agriculture also attempted
to organize reeducation in the existing
agricultural schools.
Ten months afterwards this program was
In national schools of
arts and crafts, national trade schools, and
practical business and industrial schools,
courses were arranged to teach disabled
men how to be self-supporting.
The Government made this institut a
model school capable of training 300 men,
but it left the establishment of similar
schools throughout France to other agen-
cies.
50 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
institutions to be established throughout
the Republic by agencies other than the
national Government. Public attention he-
came much engrossed with the duty of the
country to the mutilated ﬁghting man, and
very rapid strides were made in rehabilita-
tion and placement work.
A survey conducted by the Ministry of
Commerce in 1916 disclosed that at that
time there were more than 100 schools
available for restoration work. Some of
these were capable of receiving only a few
pupils, while others were large’ enough to
accommodate from 200 to 300.
Most of these schools were the creation of
public and private patriotism, and they
were designed only for discharged soldiers.
None of them was operated in connection
» with a military hospital except the National
Institute, another school in Paris, and a
third at Neuilly.
Some of the schools soon began to complain
of lack of pupils. Not that there was a
scarcity of men proper to be reeducated,
but the men, especially those who had been
discharged from the hospitals a considerable
length of time, would not take the training.
Some of them had been spoiled and demor-
alized by the adulation of friends and the
public; they considered it beneath the
dignity of a local hero to go back to un-
MCMURTRIE BOOK
The schools of all kinds now in operation for
the reeducation of disabled soldiers number
more than 100. Some have no more than a
dozen pupils, while the larger ones can
accommodate from 200 to 300 men.
The great majority of schools thus formed by
public or private initiative had no connec-
tion with military hospitals and received as
pupils only discharged soldiers. The
National Institute at Saint-Maurice was,
however, in close proximity and connection
with a large hospital, and its pupils were not
only discharged soldiers but also men under-
going treatment in the hospital. There
were two other notable exceptions to the
rule in two schools organized by the Union
des colonies étrangeres, a group of foreign
residents in Paris, who have raised large
sums for the establishment and maintenance
of schools for French soldiers. One of their
schools was organized in the Grand Palais,
in Paris, where there is a large physiothera-
peutic hospital; another is connected with a
convalescent depot for amputation cases at
Maison-Blanche, Neuilly-sur-Marne. In
both of these schools the pupils are inmates
of the adjoining hospitals.
In spite of the campaign of propaganda and
the obvious advantages to be gained from
trade training, an investigation conducted
by the national ofﬁce showed that in June,
1916, the number of men in reeducation
schools was extremely small when compared
with the number of mutilés incapable of
resuming their former occupations. Lack of
facilities for reeducation was not the cause
of this situation, for the national ofﬁce fur-
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 51


HARRIS BOOK
heroic work. Others thought the training
a war service and ﬂatly declared that they
had done enough. More feared that if they
equipped themselves to earn more, their
pensions would be cut down. Still others,
after the excitement of army life and the
long siege in the hospital, could not get
down to matter-of-fact existence again.
There had not yet crystallized a sound,
general, public sentiment on the subject to
force the men into the schools. Having
been discharged from the Army, there was
no authority to compel these men to take
the training, and thus the situation was
rather chaotic. '
It was found that the men who were ap-
proached in the hospital, before they had
had an opportunity to have their heads
turned or taste of the sweets of liberty,
idleness and adulation, almost invariably
responded to the suggestion, went directly
from the hospital into the training school,
and pursued the courses with diligence and
enthusiasm. The authorities soon became
convinced that vocational training should
really be started before discharge from the
hospital. A decree of June 2, 1916, pro-
ceeded to initiate the work in connection
with the large physiotherapeutic hospitals
and amputation depots, and such schools
as were in existence in their neighborhoods
MCMURTRIE BOOK
ther reports that the existing schools could
take care of all the demands for training
that might be made on them.
The difﬁculty lay rather with the men
themselves. Many men refused to enter upon
a course of training through fear that if
their earning capacity were increased, their
pensions would be correspondingly dimin-
ished. Others became demoralized by the
adulation and pity of their family and
friends, and thought that no work should
be expected from men who had sacriﬁced
so much for their country. Still others
looked forward to obtaining a small place
with the Government, a sinecure in which
they could putter comforta'bly for the rest
of their lives. For the widely current belief
that reeducation would affect a man’s
pension there was absolutely no foundation,
and the Government has recently contra-
dicted it in public announcements by the
different ministries and in notices to dis-
abled soldiers. A deﬁnite statement that
“in no case shall the amount of the pension
be reduced because of vocational reeducation
or readaptation to work” is incorporated in
the Rameil law, which ﬁrst passed the
Chamber of Deputies in April, 1916, and
ﬁnally became law in January, 1918. Fur-
thermore the minister of the interior has
ruled that the ﬁnal adjustment of pension
claims shall be effected more rapidly for men
in vocational schools than for any others.
In 1916 the Government became convinced
that vocational reeducation should- be
started before discharge, and it decided
therefore to organize schools in connection
with the large physiotherapeutic hospitals
and amputation depots scattered over the
country. The decision was made public in
a decree issued by the undersecretary of
state for the medical service (corresponding
to our Army Medical Service), dated june
2,1916.
As the government did not wish to
enter into competition with the schools
already running or to duplicate their work,
the undersecretary of state announced
later that he would make use, wherever
52 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
were annexed to the hospitals. The Govern“
ment also began at once the policy of estab-
lishing hospitals of physiotherapy in con-
nection with each reeducational school of
sufﬁcient importance to warrant such an
installation. ~
After schools were organized in connection
with the hospitals, it became easier to get
pupils, and now practically all of the men
who are offered the opportunity of taking "
a course of reeducation are delighted to
do so.
Thus is demonstrated the value of starting
the work of restoration before the patient
has a chance to gain the idea that he should
be immune from work, or should be pre-
sented with a sinecure government position
in which he can loaf comfortably for the
remainder of his life.
The great diversity of control, ﬁnancial
arrangements, and the like was found very
confusing.
and in March, 1916, a National Ofﬁce for
dealing with the war wounded and disabled
was created. The headquarters were
located in Paris, and subofﬁces were estab-
lished in the 80 and more administrative dis—
tricts of the Republic. The National Ofﬁce
was the result of an interdepartmental
decree in which the Ministries of War,
Labor, and the Interior participated. The
Paris ofﬁce coordinates generally the work
of reeducation; the departmental ofﬁces
see that the work proceeds in accordance
with the general plan.
The general scheme of the work in France
has now deﬁnitely settled into a programme
arranged. by the National Ofﬁce. In every
important region of the Republic a “center
of readaptation” has been established. This
MCMURTRIE BOOK
possible, of the schools in the neighborhood
of the hospitals by annexing these schools
to the hospitals. He has also stated that he
intends to establish hospitals of physio-
therapy in connection with every reeduca-
tional school doing effective work. These
plans are being gradually carried out.
After it was decreed that schools should be
organized in connection with hospitals of
physiotherapy and prosthetic equipment
and that certain existing schools should be
annexed to hospitals, it became easierfor
those schools to recruit their pupils.
This division of authority resulted often in
overlapping or conflicting activities, in the
failure to give a common direction to the
work . . .
With this need of coordination in mind, the
ministers of war, labor, and the interior
created in March, 1916, by an interminis-
terial decree, the Ofﬁce national des mutilés
et réformés de la guerre. This national
ofﬁce comprises a central ofﬁce with head-
quarters at Paris, and departmental ofﬁces
or committees located in the eighty odd
départements, or administrative districts of
France. The function of the central ofﬁce
is to coordinate the work of reeducation all
over the country; that of the departmental
offices to see that the work done in the
several departments is in harmony with the
plans of the central office and has internal
unity.
The three committees of the national ofﬁce,
united in a general session, have drawn up a
plan for a system of reeducation to be spread
over the whole of France. There should be,
they have said, in every important part of
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 53


HARRIS BOOK
center is not localized, but is distributed
over several towns and cities. It comprises
a hospital of physiotherapy, where treat-
ment is given and fundamental functional
reeducation applied; an institution where
artiﬁcial limbs are made, distributed and
adjusted; and a school or schools where
reeducation is provided in trade, commer-
cial and agricultural subjects. There are
now over 30 of these centers.
A wounded man needing functional treat—
ment is sent from the general hospital to a
physiotherapeutic hospital, preferably the
one nearest his home.
In each of the II military regions there are
hospitals of physiotherapy with vocational
training schools annexed.
While undergoing the prescribed treatment,
the patient at the same time commences his
trade education. One of the difﬁculties en-
countered was that at the conclusion of his
treatment he expected his discharge, and
this obtained, it was often very difﬁcult, if
not impossible, to hold the man to ﬁnish
his education. This has been met by hold-
ing up the discharge until the man has com-
pleted his course of training.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
France, a “center of readaptation,” by which
they meant a group of those activities by
which wounded men are restored to func-
tional health and economic independence.
In most of the districts this group was not to
be localized in one town or city, but was to
be distributed over several. A complete
center of readaptation should comprise
(a) a hospital or hospitals of physio-
therapy, where the invalided soldier receives
his functional reeducation and ﬁnishes his
treatment; (b) an institution of prosthetic
equipment, where artiﬁcial limbs are made
and distributed; and (o) a school or
schools of reeducation, where there is
provided agricultural, commercial, or trade
training. The ofﬁce has grouped all the
schools in France into thirty of these centers,
and has deﬁned clearly which departments
should be tributary to each center.
According to the order issued by the under-
secretary in June, 1916, a man needing
functional treatment for his injury is to be
sent from the general hospital to the physio-
therapeutic hospital into which that general
hospital empties, or to the one nearest his
home.
At the present time, as a result of the new
policy, there is in every military region of
France a hospital, or hospitals, of physio-
therapy to which has been annexed a school
of vocational training. Eleven of these
combined institutions are connected with
shops for manufacturing artiﬁcial limbs and
other appliances.
NVhile undergoing the needed treatment, or
while waiting for his appliance, he can com-
mence his trade training in the annexed
school. A difﬁculty encountered with this
system is that when a man has received all
the functional treatment which will beneﬁt
him, or when he has received his appliance,
he expects his discharge. On receiving it he
leaves the institution and breaks off his
course of training. In order to overcome
this difﬁculty, the undersecretary of state
for the medical service has stated that he
54 “ The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
A registry is kept of every disabled soldier.
A blank is ﬁlled in by the hospital authori-
ties where he is ﬁrst received after his in-
jury, and again before the patient leaves.
This shows the man’s residence, his depen—
dents, his civil or military status, his edu-
cation, the nature of his disability, his
former occupation, reeducation if any, and
the nature of the employment desired. The
ﬁlled blank and a card with “medical obser-
vations,” describing the man’s needs for
artiﬁcial limbs or further treatment, if any,
and his capacity for vocational reeducation,
are ﬁled with the National Ofﬁce. When a
man ﬁnds employment, a placement card
relative to his situation makes the record
complete.
The departmental committees, composed of
local representatives of the Ministries of
Labor, War, Education, and Agriculture,
together with other members appointed by
the prefect of the department, who is ex
oﬂicio the president, exist for the purpose of
looking after the men arriving in the particu-
lar departments or provinces.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
will, when the case demands, defer the dis-
charge until the course of training is com-
plete.
As a basis for intelligent effort on behalf of
the mutilés, the committee of administration
has undertaken to keep a registry of every
invalided soldier. To this end it has pre-
pared a registration blank on which can be
indicated a man’s residence, his dependents,
his civil or military status, his schooling, the
nature of his disability, his former occupa-
tion, the reeducation, if any, that he has
received, and the kind of employment he
desires. This blank is ﬁlled out by the
medical service for every man in hospital
before he leaves. To it is attached a card
of “medical observation,” describing his
prosthesis if he has one, his functional
capacity, and his aptitude for vocational re-
education. The blank and the card are then
sent back to the national ofﬁce. When a
man ﬁnds employment, a placement card
describing his situation completes the record.
The composition and functions of the de-
partmental and local committees have been
set forth in a notice issued by the national
ofﬁce, dated June 30, 1916. In general, the
committees shall consist of representatives
of different civil and military administra-
tions and certain other interests. For
instance, the minister of labor may be repre-
sented by the local labor inspector and by
the head of the departmental employment
bureau; the minister of war, by a delegate
of the general in command of the regional
subdivision, by an ofﬁcer of the pension
bureau, and by an army medical ofﬁcer.
The departments of agriculture and educa-
tion will be similarly represented. Other
members of the committee are to be chosen
from medical men, employers’ associations,
trade-unions, insurance societies, and rural
credit banks. Members will be appointed
by the prefect of the department and the
president of the committee shall be the pre-
fect, or a person delegated by him. Existing
departmental committees will be gradually
reconstituted to represent these interests.
“The Redemption of the Disabled”
()1
U1


HARRIS BOOK
These committees see that the wounded sol-
dier receives the training best suited for him.
As taking up the work is purely voluntary
on the part of the wounded man, members
of the committee of his department call
upon him and impress upon him the advan-
tage to be derived from the opportunity, and
in some instances his relatives are sent for
to consult with him and urge him to agree
to retraining. Effort is always made to get a
man of the same trade as the injured to call
upon him and convince him ofthe probability
of his making a good living, notwithstanding
his handicap, if he will take the reeducation.
The schools that exist solely for the dis-
charged soldiers have found much difficulty
in getting the men to take up training.
Advertisements in papers, handbills, post
cards, notices in hospitals, and a booklet
issued by the Ministry of the Interior and
presented to each discharged man are used,
and the mayors of towns and the prefects of
departments are urged to impress upon these
men the value of training. It has been
found, nevertheless, to be a most difﬁcult
matter to get them into the reeducational
work once they have got away.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
The ﬁrst task of the departmental commit—
tees is to see that each wounded soldier
receives the training of which he is in need.
It is recognized that each man should be
offered a chance to acquire a trade suited to
his capacities, and that every effort should
be made to induce him to take advantage
of the opportunity. To this end represen-
tatives of the committees call on the men
in hospitals and point out the advantages of
trade training. If the visitors are men of
the same trade as the injured man, they can
often convince him of the possibilities for
work still open to him.
Schools which take only discharged soldiers
have found it difﬁcult to get men to embrace
the opportunities offered.
They have used advertisements in news-
papers, notices posted in hospitals, handbills,
and postcards, and have still been disap-
pointed in the response. In an endeavor to
increase the schools’. sphere of usefulness,
the minister of the interior presents to each
man discharged from the army a booklet
which informs him of the schools in the
different parts of the country to which he
can go for training, and urges him to take
advantage of one of them. The booklet
contains a list of the trades taught in each
school and the average wages in each trade,
and men are told exactly what steps they
should take to secure admission to any
desired course.
booklet show maimed men at work.
In order to reach men who have returned
to their homes, the Government conducts
re-education propaganda in the form of illus-
trated lectures, moving pictures, and pos-
ters. And it urges prefects and mayors to do
everything possible to induce men to take
up training. In some of the departments
the prefect collects from the mayors of the
different communes in his department the
lists of disabled soldiers and their present
means of existence. He then summons to-
gether at the prefecture those who could
beneﬁt from reeducation, and explains to
them what opportunities are open to them.
Three photographs in the '
56
“The Redemption of the Disabled”
. day.


HARRIS BOOK
The men are maintained free in the schools
annexed to the hospitals, and the regular
Army separation allowance to the families is
continued during training and before the
pension begins, on ﬁnal discharge.
In some of the schools wages are paid, be-
ginning with 50 centimes or one franc a day,
and later reaching four to six francs a
In others, the product of the work-
shop is sold and the proceeds, less the cost
of the raw materials, are divided among the
workmen. At St. Maurice half the amount
earned is paid out every fortnight; the
other half is retained and paid to the man
when he ﬁnishes. At Tourveille the value
of the labor on the articles made is paid
for whether the articles are sold or not, the
money being divided among the workmen
at the end of the month according to their
productive capacity. The men are encour-
aged to save half of this in order to have a
small capital on leaving. Other schools
have variations of these two plans.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
The greater number of the large schools on
the internat plan furnish instruction, board,
and lodging, and usually clothing and laun-
dry free of charge. No deduction is made
from a man’s pension for these beneﬁts, but
if instead of a pension, he is drawing the
temporary allowance of 1 franc 7o centimes
a day granted to men awaiting their dis-
charge at home, he has the sum of 1 franc
20 centimes a day deducted from his
allowance. This would seem to be an injus-
tice to men, the settlement of whose pension
is pending, but the minister of the interior
has ruled that as the sum is granted for
maintenance to men awaiting their dis-
charge at home instead of in a hospital, it
cannot be given to men who are being sup-
ported by the State in a reeducation school.
As soon as their pension begins, no deduc-
tion is made from it to defray the cost of
their training. Up to that time the family
continues to draw the separation allowance.
Afterwards, if the separation allowance was
larger than the pension, the difference
between the two is added to the pension
during the man’s period of training. The
length of the period of training during which
the family draws this beneﬁt is determined
by the departmental committee.
In many schools wages are paid, beginning
with 50 centimes or 1 franc a day and
reaching later 4 to 6 francs a day. In others
the product of the workshop is sold and the
proceeds, less the cost of the raw materials,
are divided among the workmen. This is
the case at Saint-Maurice, where a half of
the sum thus earned is paid out at the end
of every fortnight, and the other half saved
by the school and paid to the man in a lump
sum when he leaves. At Tourvielle the
value of the labor put into articles made in
the shops is paid for whether the articles
are sold or not, the money being divided
among the workmen at the end of every
month according to their productive capac-
ity. Men are encouraged to save at least a
part of it so that when they leave they will
have money to buy needed tools or equip-
ment.
“ The Redemption of the Disabled”
57

HARRIS BOOK
The matter of discipline in the French‘
schools is the acme of simplicity. The
director of the National School at Mont-
pelier deﬁnes it as follows:
MCMURTRIE BOOK '
At Saint-Claude, in the school for dia-
mond-cutters, pupils are paid 2 francs a day
during the ﬁrst month, and then a gradually
increasing sum until during the sixth month
they earn 4 francs a day. During the next
three months they receive 75 per cent. of
the average wages of a workman outside,
and during the eleventh and twelfth months
full wages, less 50 centimes a day for the
. running expenses of the shop. In this school,
however, pupils are required to pay a small
weekly sum for their board and lodging. At
Saint-Etienne the net proceeds from work
done in the shops are divided into three
sums—25 per cent goes to the school for the
upkeep of tools and equipment; 25 per cent
to the foremen as an addition to their
salaries and to encourage them to increase
the productiveness of the shops; and 50
per cent is divided among the pupils. Half
of the pupil's share is paid to him in cash,
and half is deposited for him in the savings
bank, to be drawn only when he leaves the
school. At Tours, where there is carried on
a model system of apprenticeship with
private employers, apprentices receive from
the employers the wages which their services
are worth. At the beginning the pay may be
very small, but it is eked out by a small
monthly allowance from the association in
charge, the Assistance aux convalescents
militaires, which adopts this method of
encouraging the men to continue the work.
Without such help the men might yield to
the temptation of leaving the Work in which
they were receiving valuable training for
more immediately remunerative employ-
ment. Men who receive from their employ-
ers less than 50 francs a month receive for
the ﬁrst six months 20 francs from the
association. Half of this sum is paid to
them in cash, and the other half is deposited
to their savings account and can be drawn
at the expiration of their apprenticeship, when
they may wish to set up a shop of their own. -
The matter of discipline in the schools seems
to be very simple. It cannot be better
stated than in the words of Dr. Jeanbrau, the
ﬁrst head of the Montpellier school:
58 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
Every pupil whose conduct, work, or atti-
tude of mind does not give satisfaction is sent
away. If a pupil could commit any fault and
give a bad example to others at the price of a
mere reprimand, the school would not be what
we want it to be. There are no punishments
and there should be none. Every new pupil is
given this explanation of the school, and is
made to understand its full signiﬁcance.
This school is neither a barracks nor a col-
lege, nor a workshop of the kind you have
known in the past. It is an institution estab-
lished by philanthropists to teach disabled men
how to make an honorable living. You will be
boarded, lodged, clothed, and instructed, all at
the cost of the institution. If you are indus-
trious and become a good workman, we will
try to ﬁnd a position for you or help you to set
up your own shop.
In return we demand only two things: that
you work industriously, and that you have the
right spirit. If a man forgets he is here for
Work. he must go. Here are no punishments.
You are not obliged to come: we are not
obliged to take you. If we are not satisﬁed
with you, we will send you away and give
your place to a more earnest pupil, But if
you do your best, we will aid you with all the
means in our power.
Sometimes, in order to be fair and to make
certain of justice, a warning is given, and in
a few instances, a repetition with depriva-
tions of leave, but in the main the attitude
deﬁned above prevails and no triﬂing is
tolerated, for preparing for the battles of
peace with shattered forces is quite as
earnest a business as that of preparing for
war.
The departmental committee also has the
duty of investigating the labor situation.
_Bureaus of information have been opened
for maimed men on all matters affecting
their interest or advantage.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
Every pupil whose conduct, work, or attitude
of mind does not give satisfaction is sent away.
There are no punishments, and there should be
none. If a pupil could commit any fault and
give a bad example to others at the price of a
mere reprimand or of being kept in, the school
would not be what we want it to be.
To every new pupil at Montpellier the atti—
tude of the school authorities is explained
as follows:
This school is neither a barracks nor a college,
nor a workshop of the kind you have known in
the past. It is an institution established by
philanthropists to teach disabled men how to
earn an honorable living. You will be boarded,
lodged, clothed, and instructed, all at the cost
of the institution. If you are industrious and
become a good workman, we will try to ﬁnd a
position for you or help you to set up your own
shop. In return we demand only two things——
that you work industriously, and that you have
the right spirit. If a man forgets that he is
here for work, he must go. Here there are no
punishments. You are not obliged to come;
we are not obliged to take you. If we are not
satisﬁed with you we will send you away and
give your place to some more earnest pupil.
But if you do your best we will aid you with
all the means in our power.
This is the principle underlying the discipline
in practically all the schools. But sometimes,
in order not to do a man an injustice, it has
been found necessary to give him a warning,
and then even to repeat this warning, with
an accompanying deprivation of leave.
A second task for the departmental com-
mittees is to investigate the labor situation
in order to discover which trades are least
crowded, and in which, therefore, disabled
men will have the best chance of ﬁnding
employment.
The notice issued by the national ofﬁce
states further that the departmental com-
mittee should open a bureau of information
to maimed men on the subject of any new
inventions or improvements of existing
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 59


HARRIS BOOK
Extensive inquiries among placement agen-
cies, labor inspectors, manufacturers and
other employers have enabled the National
Ofﬁce to compile a list of occupations possi-
ble for men of various disabilities and a list
of disabilities compatible with different
occupations. This survey disclosed many
instances of men injured in the industrial
ﬁeld making good livings, notwithstanding
their handicaps, and the examples are used
to arouse the emulation of wounded soldiers.
Large industrial plants are asked to put in
special workshops for war cripples, where
they can serve apprenticeship at their old
trades or new ones.
In the larger schools the training offered
is divided into instruction in manual trades,
ofﬁce work, and general schooling. Figures ‘
show that the manual trades most in demand
are shoemaking, tailoring, basketry, harness-
making, saddlery, tinsmithing and car-
pentry.
The reason for the popularity of these trades
is that they will afford a living almost any-
where, in the city or in a tiny village. They
do not require expensive equipment, and
they are the trades selected by the men
themselves.
Most of the soldiers are from villages and
small towns, and these desire to acquire a
trade that, when eked out with their pen-
sions, will give a good living and yet not be
too exacting. These men will open shops
in their homes, and have time also to work
in the garden, cultivate their tiny farm
patches, and attend their vines.
Among other trades taught are those of
mechanic, typography, lithography, type-
founding, bookbinding, vthe manufacture of
MCMURTRIE BOOK
apparatus which come to its notice. It
should also give out information to help
men to understand the workings of any
laws from which they might beneﬁt.
By means of extensive inquiries among
placement agencies, labor inspectors, and
manufacturers, it has been able to draw up
tables showing on the one hand the occu-
pations open to men with all the different
disabilities, and on the other the disabilities
compatible with different occupations. The
investigation brought to light many cases in
which men who had suffered industrial
accidents were earning good livings. These
cases the committee has held up as encour-
aging examples to the victims of the war. .
Large industrial concerns are asked to
install special workshops in which war
cripples can serve an apprenticeship in
either their old trade or a new one.
In the larger schools the curriculum is
usually divided into three parts—instruction
in manual trades, instruction in ofﬁce work,
and general schooling. The manual trades
most often taught are shoemaking, tailoring,
basketry, harness making and saddlery,
tinsmithing, and carpentry.
These trades seem to have been selected for a
number of reasons. They afford a good
living in the city or country; they do not
require expensive equipment; and they are
asked for by men seeking reeducation.
That they are good village trades is im-
portant in view of the fact that a large
proportion of the mutilés were before the
war in rural occupations. In order not to
contribute to the movement cityward, the
schools must teach these men trades which
they~can practice in their former homes.
In addition to the standard trades men-
tioned, a large number of reeducational
schools teach the trade of mechanic, and
60 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


. HARRIS BOOK
artiﬁcial limbs, expert workers in wood, iron
and leather, locksmith, brushmaking, toy
and paper-box making, oxy-acetylene and
electrical welding, metal and wood turning,
electricians, mould making and stucco work,
carriage and vehicle painting, upholstery,
fur work, photography, jewelry making,
diamond cutting, sabot and galoche making,
stone carving, hairdressing, ‘dental mechan-
ics, wireless telegraphy, and many others.
Several of these trades are being emphasized
on account of the number of Germans en-
gaged in them prior to the war. As the
Germans have been either killed in battle
or sent back to Germany and will not ﬁnd
France a congenial place of sojourn for
many years to come, the vacancy in these
industries is going to be taken advantage of.
In various districts where particular indus-
tries prevail, men are being instructed in
them, such as diamond cutting at St. Claud,
and the celluloid industry at Oyonnaux.
The ofﬁcials are having a great deal of dif-
ﬁculty in persuading the wounded men
from taking up the commercial lines, and in
showing them that there is inﬁnitely better
chance of proﬁtable employment in the
trades. It seems to be the consuming am-
a MCMURTRIE BOOK
many teach different branches of the print-
ing industry—typography, lithography,
type founding, binding, etc. The manu-
facture of artiﬁcial limbs and other appli-
ances—a growing industry in France—is
also considered a good trade for disabled
men, and several schools have organized
shops in which men can learn the different
branches of the work. Workers in wood,
iron, and leather are employed in such shops.
Other trades taught are brush making,
chair caning, clock making, toy making,
paper-box making, welding, forge work,
founding, electric wiring, locksmithing,
engraving, metal turning, wood turning,
mold making, stucco work, pottery, carriage
painting, varnishing, upholstery, fur work,
photography, jewelry making, sabot and
galoche making, stone carving, hair dressing,
dental mechanics, and wireless telegraphy.
Certain of these trades have been selected
for the mutilés on account of a shortage
of workmen in the trade, due to the large
numbers of Germans and Austrians for-
merly employed; others because they are
peculiarly suited to the reduced powers of
disabled men.
Smaller schools teaching only one trade or
group of trades have been started in districts
where there is a predominant local industry.
Their aim is to give men the training which
will meet the labor demands of the vicinity.
Thus at Oyonnax men are taught the dif-
ferent branches of the celluloid industry, so
that they can go into the numerous factories
which make celluloid articles. At Saint—
Claude, where diamond cutting is an
important industry in the town and sur-
rounding villages, a school organized for
mutilés teaches diamond cutting only.
Under the heading ofﬁce work may be
grouped the commercial courses—book-
keeping, stenography, and typewriting—
and industrial design. Much is written in
France about the shortage of the labor
supply and the necessity of returning men
“ The Redemption of the Disabled” 61


HARRIS BOOK
bition of the majority of disabled workmen
to become clerks. There are courses to ﬁt
these men, and if they insist, they are given
them.
The Chapter
HARRIS BOOK
In the tragic, earlier days of the war, after
Belgium’s army was overwhelmed and all
save a single corner of the heroic little
country was overrun by German hordes,
the plight of the disabled Belgian soldier
was a most unhappy one. Handicapped
though he was by sickness and wounds, he
could not return to his own country, for it
was in the hands of the invaders. If he had
been in a hospital in Belgium, there was
little he could do to help himself after dis-
charge unless he was able to make his way to
England or France. The Belgian Govern-
ment was not able to help him, not because
of indifference, but because it did not know
what to do. It was, besides, in a death
grapple for its very existence.
Some of the disabled men, after discharge
from the hospitals, made their way to France
and across the Channel. Many of them
were skilled artisans who were not so badly
shattered that they could not work at their
trades, and the munitions and other fac-
tories of the Allies readily gave them em—
ployment. But there was a larger propor-
tion of the disabled Belgians who were
totally demoralized and bereft of either
initiative or hope. They wandered about
over France, lamenting their fate and that
MCMURTRIE BOOK
to industry, but in spite of these recognized
facts large numbers of workmen are being
trained by the reeducational schools for
ofﬁce positions. Hardly a school in France,
except the specialized schools, is without
its commercial courses. In these courses,
moreover, there are generally more pupils
than in any‘manual trade, except possibly
shoemaking. It appears that schools have
opened these courses in answer to the great
demand for them from men who believe
themselves unﬁt for any manual work. To
become a clerk is the great ambition of
most disabled workmen.
on Belgium
MCMURTRIE BOOK
In the early days of the war before reeducaé
tion had been decreed, many disabled
soldiers were discharged from the hospitals
and from the army and left to shift for
themselves. Those who were strong enough
and had ambition readily found work in
France or England, but many were so
shattered in body, or so demoralized by their
experiences, that they wandered from place
to place, bewailing their lot and begging for
charity.
62 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
of their country. They were in rags of uni-
forms; they had wounds or disease, or
shell shock; they were bewildered, aimless
and hopeless; they were beggars and sub-
sisted on charity. Certainly they were not
improving their own condition, and they
were not only an economic burden upon
the-generous householders of France, but
they were spreading demoralization and fear
of the enemy behind the lines.
M. Schollaert, President of the Belgian
House of Representatives, had a country
home at St. Addresse, near Havre, France,
to which he had retired when it was no
longer possible to remain in his own coun-
try. Some of these poor, broken and desti-
tute wounded Belgian soldiers applied
there for food, clothing, and dressing for
their wounds, unhealed by lack of atten-
tion. The men were taken in of course;
they were fed, washed, clothed, and given
the medical and surgical help needed. Other
men came, and all found a refuge in which
they could recuperate and win back their
strength and nerve. Some of them wanted
to work and endeavor to requite the good
Schollaert for his kindness. He, of course,
refused to permit this, but told the men
that if they could make anything during
the period of convalescence and could dis-
pose of the goods, they were more than wel-
come to keep the proceeds. Several who
were brushmakers set up a temporary shop
in the stable. The entire house by now was
ﬁlled with wounded, and a shoemaker had
started a shop in the parlor. Some turn-
ers in wood were working in the kitchen,
and others who had crafts were endeavoring
to work wherevera place for their opera-
tions could be found.
The good effect of work, of something to
occupy the minds of the wounded and disa-
bled men was at once apparent. They be-
came more cheerful and improved physi-
cally. Those who had no trades, or were
in’eapacitated for following their own trades,
began tentatively trying to help those who
were working and to adapt themselves in
respect of their several handicaps. All of
MCMURTRIE BOOK
The Depot des Invalides at Sainte-Adresse,
near Havre, as has been said, was founded
by M. Schollaert, the president of the Bel-
gian House of Representatives. Like many
of the French schools organized by private
persons, it receives ﬁnancial support from
the Government, but the control of its
policy remains in the hands of M. Schol-
laert. The school was organized in the early
days of the war when Belgian war cripples
were wandering through the country asking
for charity. Two of them knocked at the
door of M. Schollaert, who was so shocked
by their condition that he asked leave of
the minister of war to provide a home and
medical care for them and similar destitute
men. The home was rapidly ﬁlled, an
organization was formed, and arrangements
were made for providing both functional
and vocational reeducation.
NVorkshops were started on an extremely
modest scale, wherever a place could be
found for them in the vicinity of the manor—
house which housed the patients. The brush-
makers were installed in a stable, the turn-
ers in a kitchen, the carpenters in a hired
shed, and the shoemakers in the parlor of a
villa. Equipment was of the most ele-
mentary sort, and instruction was given by
philanthropic artisans of Havre. Later, as
the work grew in importance, all the shops
and dormitories were gathered together in a
cantonment in portable wooden barracks.
At the present time the school teaches the
trades of carpentry, toy making, brush
making, wood turning and pattern making,
sabot making, cooperage, mechanics, metal
turning, electrical work, plumbing, uphol-
stering, shoemaking, tailoring, paper bind-
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 63


HARRIS BOOK
these men began to show marked improve-
ment.
M. Schollaert at this point presented the
matter to the Belgian Minister of War and
asked permission to maintain regularly a
house and school for a larger number of
wounded soldiers in need of care and reedu-
cation. It was granted, of course, together
with some ﬁnancial assistance. Portable
“knock-down” houses were set up on the
estate to serve as workshops and barracks,
and thus came into existence the Dépot
des I n'oalides.
An organization was formed to provide
nursing, medical care and vocational in-
struction. The citizens of Havre were
interested and gave assistence. Artisans of
that city volunteered to help in the work of
reclamation and reconstruction of their un-
fortunate allies. The curriculum of the
school was speedily enlarged to include
carpentry, brushmaking, toymaking, plumb-
ing, sabot making, cooperage, mechanics, metal
turning, electrical work, upholstering, wood
turning, patternmaking, shoemaking, tailor-
ing, paper binding, printing,envelope making,
and the manufacture of artiﬁcial limbs.
The school was organized with a competent
medical department, a technical depart-
ment, and an academic department. The
pupils were made to take academic work in
addition to the practical shop work.
The institution admitted all disabled or in-
valid soldiers assigned to it by the Belgian
“far Department. The Government paidiit
two francs 5o centimes per day for each
man. Out of this 25 centimes was paid to
each pupil. The Quartermaster furnished
clothing, and the Medical Corps beds and
bedding. Men of the older classes, unﬁt for
active service, were detailed from the army
as instructors, and nurses and stretcher
bearers were assigned as nurses and disci-
plinarians. While the men were in the
MCMURTRIE BOOK
ing, printing, making of plaster casts, manu-
facture of orthopedic appliances and arti-
ﬁcial limbs, and the manufacture of enve-
lopes.
The organization of the school is practically
the same as at Port-Villez, with a medical
department, an academic department, and a
technical department. Nominally the
physician-in-chief is the director of the
school, but actually M. Schollaert controls
its activities and program. As at Port-
Villez, all pupils must study school subjects
in addition to the work they do in the shops.
Since December, 1914, through agreement
with the minister of war, the depot admits
all disabled or invalided soldiers sent to it by
the army. It receives from the Govern-
ment 2 francs 5o centimes a day for each
man, out of which it pays 25 centimes to the
man. The quartermaster furnishes clothing,
and the medical corps beds and bedding.
Men of the oldest classes unﬁt for further
active service and nurses and stretcher-
bearers have been detached from the army
to serve as instructors and to maintain disci~
64 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
“apprentice class,” they received wages of
from 50 centimes to one franc a day. When
they acquired journeyman’s skill, they
made, on an average, two francs 50 centimes
per day, or 60 francs per month. Ten francs
of this was given each man for pocket
money; the rest was deposited in a savings
account for the man, to be paid to him on
his discharge. Each man also acquired a
complete set of tools, when such were needed
for his trade, and paid for them gradually.
The Belgian War Minister was quick to see
the advantage of the institution as it was
being developed by M. Schollaert. The
economic possibilities of the work at once
became manifest. To a small country which
had suffered grievous losses in man power,
the salvaging of the scrapheap offered many
opportunities to reduce the loss. The
disabled men could be taught to do the
things necessary to maintain the remnant
of the Belgian armies—repair shoes, harness
and guns, make munitions, and do the
thousand and one things needful to keep an
army in going condition as regards equip-
ment. Besides, every man not able to
return to the ranks could be used to replace
an ablebodied man, and to release the latter
to take his part in the actual work of driving
the invaders from Belgian soil.
A patriotic Belgian presented to the Govern—
ment a considerable tract of land on the
River Seine, at Port Villez, near the town of
Vernon, almost midway between Paris and
Rouen. The French Government was
entirely agreeable as host to the exiled
Belgians, and a reconstruction hospital and
curative workshop on a large scale was
projected at Port Villez.
A section of army engineers and other
workers commenced to clear the land on
July 12, 1915, as the preliminary to building
operations. On August 21, before any but a
small portion of the work was done or the
establishment was ready, disabled men be-
gan to arrive; they had been discharged
from the hospitals, but were decided to be
proper subjects for reeducation and restora-
MCMURTRIE BOOK
pline. While inmates of the home are
classed as apprentices, they receive wages of
from 50 centimes to 1 franc a day, but later
when they have acquired the skill of normal
workmen, they receive an average of 2
francs 50 centimes a day, or 60 francs a
month. Ten francs of this is given to them
for pocket money and the rest deposited in
their savings account. Each workman
possesses a complete set of tools, which he
pays for gradually.
The school at Port-Villez‘was built by the
minister of war on land presented to the
Government for the purpose by a Belgian
gentleman. It is situated on a plateau
overlooking the Seine, about halfway be-
tween Paris and Rouen, in the midst of a
beautiful and fertile country. The nearest
town is Vernon in the department of the
Eure.
On July 12, 1915, a detachment of auxiliary
engineers of the Belgian army began to clear
the ground of stumps and copses in prepara-
tion for the erection of buildings. On Au-
gust 21, when only about a tenth of the
construction had been completed, the ﬁrst
group of pupils arrived from the hospitals.
In a year from that time 1,200 men were
being reeducated there.
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 65


HARRIS BOOK
tive work. In one year from the time
ground was broken, the Ecole nationale
belge des mutilés de la guerre (National
Belgian School for War Disabled) was in full
operation, and 1,200 men were in training
and being reclaimed, reéducated and
reﬁtted for usefulness to their country and
to themselves.
As soon as the school was determined upon,
in November, 1914, the Belgian Govern-
ment issued a decree making reeducation
compulsory for men still in the army hospi-
tals. This decree was at once extended to
include all discharged men who were
wounded or disabled.
The discharge papers were revoked, and all
of the discharged soldiers were rounded up
and given a physical reexamination. Those
who had been drifting around the country
were sent to the military hospitals for such
further treatment as seemed necessary.
Some were sent direct to Port Villez or to
M. Schollaert's Dépo‘t des In-valides. Those
of the discharged men who had found steady
jobs in France or England were not dis-
turbed, but were put back on the rolls as
on leave without pay.
There are shops in connection with the
Belgian hospitals at Rouen, France, which
also are being used now for reeducational
purposes.
The institution at Port Villez has grown to
a vast establishment of more than 90 long
wooden barracks, each of the same type as
the portable ﬁeld-hospital hut, with double
walls and cement foundations. Some build-
ings on the place when it was taken over
have also been utilized. At one end of the
rows of barracks there is a large meeting
hall, and beyond it the inﬁrmary and oﬁicers
MCMURTRIE BOOK
The outstanding fact about vocational re—
education for Belgian war cripples is that it
is absolutely compulsory. According to a
decree issued by the minister of war, No-
vember 5, 1914, Belgian soldiers who are
incapacitated by their wounds from follow-
ing their former trade or occupation are not
discharged and sent home at the end of
their hospital treatment, but are declared
“candidates for discharge” and sent to a
reeducational school. They remain nomi-
nally soldiers, under army control and
subject to all military laws and regulations.
All discharge papers were revoked, and all
discharged soldiers were required to undergo
a new physical examination. Those that
had found steady’ work were allowed to
remain where they were, on leave of absence
without pay; those that were drifting about
the country were sent to the military.
hospitals and to the reeducational schools.
In addition to these two large schools, shops
for readapting men to work have been
organized in connection with the military
hospital of Bon Secours at Rouen.
The school has the appearance of a vast
camp with its 92 wooden barracks arranged
in three rows, each barrack being of the type
of the portable ﬁeld hospital huts, with
double walls and cement foundations. At
one end of the row of barracks is the large
meeting hall and beyond that the ofﬁcers’
quarters and the inﬁrmary. At the other
end area steam sawmill and joinery which
66 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
quarters. At the other end of the row is a
steam sawmill, a joinery, and a shed for
hand carpentry. The sawmill and car-
penter and joiner’s shops were used in re-
ducing trees on the place to lumber and
ﬁxtures to be utilized in the construction of
the cantonment.
Beyond the sawmill is the garage and repair
shops and y motor-mechanics school, and,
farther on, the stables and the poultry yards
where poultry farming is taught; from the
latter institution substantial help for the
Commissary for the invalids in the way of
chickens and eggs is obtained. There is a
large and intensively cultivated garden
and truck farm in front of the institution,
which serves the doubly or trebly useful
purpose of serving to teach market garden-
ing to some of the pupils, to give needed
curative exercise to others, and to furnish
a considerable amount of good food for the
support of the men. The erection of neces-
sary buildings has kept pace with the needs
of the institution.
A colonel is superintendent, and there is
strict military discipline. The school is
divided into three departments—medical
service, academic, and technical training.
The main duty of the medical service is to
provide functional reeducation for those
who need it, to study and catalogue the
men according to their capacities. It also
manufactures orthopaedic appliances which
make it easier for crippled men to work at
certain trades. The physiotherapy and
regular gymnastics given the men to restore
atrophied muscles and stiffened joints and
to develop muscles in stumps is supple-
mented by exercise in the workshops.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
were already on the place and a shed which
has been transformed into a shop for hand
carpentry.
Beyond are the garage and repair shops for
trucks and automobiles, and farther still
the stables and the poultry yard. In front
of the barracks is a large garden. Buildings
have been put up as there was a demand
for them, and greater additions are being
planned for the future. It is hoped that the
shops can soon be transferred to large new
halls so that the existing barracks can all be
used for dormitories.
The work of the school is divided among
three departments—the medical service,
the academic department, and the depart-
ment of technical training . . .
an army colonel has been made the general
superintendent.
The chief duty of the medical service
is to provide functional reeducation for
those that need it. This service is also
charged with keeping a ﬁle showing the
vocational capacity of each man and with
watching over his vocational training. In
addition it superintends the manufacture
of orthopedic appliances.v Men sent to
Port-Villez from the base hospitals at Rouen
have been provided with artiﬁcial limbs, but
special appliances which make it easier for
crippled men to work at certain trades are
manufactured and supplied at the school.
In the experience of the school the
improvement effected through physiothe-
rapy and regular gymnastics is greatly
augmented by the beneﬁcial exercise which
the pupil gets in the workshop. . . .
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 67


HARRIS BOOK
The academic department provides school-
ing for men learning trades, and gives
theoretical instruction in the trades and
special courses for men who desire to ﬁt
themselves for clerical occupations.
The general plan of theoretical instruction
is the same for all the trades. It includes
the study of tools and machinery, raw
materials and sources, processes in the
trades, and methods of determining sale
price and of placing the output on sale. The
director of the department, together with
the technical director, holds a meeting of
all the shop foremen and instructors to dis-
cuss methods and technical questions, and
everything possible is done to make the
theoretical instruction a real aid in the
practical work. Wood and metal workers,
for instance, attend classes in drafting, so
that they may learn to read and to make
working drawings.
The commercial courses are for men of
suitable previous experience and education
who wish to take up ofﬁce or clerical work.
There are four main branches—primary,
preparatory for civil-service positions, a
regular commercial division, and a normal
division for the training of teachers. Pupils
in the primary section are taught French,
Flemish, arithmetic, geometry, elementary
principles of business, history, geography
and the elements of social economies. The
Belgian Government, owning the railways
of the country, employed before the war a
great many men as engineers, brakemen and
porters. Those who on account of their
injuries cannot resume their former occupa—
tions are now being trained as clerks, cash-
iers, telegraphers, ticket sellers, station
MCMURTRIE BOOK
The academic department provides general
schooling for men learning trades, theoreti-
cal instruction in the trades, and special
courses for men who wish to ﬁt themselves to
be clerks with business concerns or with the
Government.
The plan of the theoretical instruction is the
same for all the trades. It includes the
study of tools and machinery, of raw
materials—their physical and chemical
properties, their source, conditions of
purchase, etc., the processes of the trade,
how to determine the sale price of the
articles made, and how to place them on
sale. The director of this department has
aided the shop foremen by suggesting to
them good teaching methods and by
sketching lesson plans. Once a week he and
the technical director hold a. meeting of all
the shop foremen and instructors to discuss
methods and technical questions. Every-
thing is done which can help to make the
_ theoretical instruction a real aid to the
practical work. Wood .and metal workers
attend special classes in draughting, not to
become draughtsmen but so that they may
with facility read and make working
drawings.
The commercial courses are for men who on
account of their previous education and
circumstances wish rather to obtain an
ofﬁce position than to learn a trade.
The school has four main groups of subjects
or departments—a primary department, a
department preparing for civil service posi-
tions, a commercial department, and a
normal department for the training of
teachers. Pupils in the primary department
are taught French, Flemish, arithmetic,
geometrical forms, elementary principles of
business, history, geography, and elements
of social economics. Many of these men are
former railroad employees whom the
railroads, being government concerns, are
in honor bound to take back into service.
Since they are unable owing to their wounds
to resume their old work of engineers, brake-
68 ‘ “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
agents and ofﬁce employees. The course
generally has been divided into two terms
each of six months’ duration.
The course of the department for civil-
service positions includes the two national
languages, a third language, writing, his-
tory, geography, business and constitu-
tional law, arithmetic, elements of algebra,
plane and solid geometry, elements of
physics, social economics, stenography and
typewriting. This work is divided ‘into
three terms of four months each.
The commercial course is divided into two
terms of six months each. During the ﬁrst
term all students study the elements of
bookkeeping, commercial arithmetic, four
languages, commercial geography, stenog—
raphy and typewriting. In the second term
they specialize as expert bookkeepers,
commercial correspondents, or wireless
operators.
The normal course covers two terms of six
months each.
In most instances the teachers were, before
the war, school and college teachers, expert
accountants in large banks, or men holding
important administrative posts.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
men, or porters, they are'being trained for
ticket sellers, station agents, and ofﬁce
employees. A few are learning telegraphy.
Other men in this department are being
trained for clerks, cashiers, and shop
salesmen with private concerns. All
together 170 men were enrolled in this
department at the end of 1917. The courses
are divided into two terms of six months
each;
The courses of the department preparing for
civil service positions include the two na-
tional languages, a third language, writing,
history, geography, business, constitutional
law, arithmetic, elements of algebra, plane
and solid geometry, elements of physics,
social economics, stenography, and type-
writing. Fifty pupils were in this depart-
ment at the end of 1916. The work is
divided into three terms of four months
each.
The commercial or bookkeeping depart-
ment is divided into two terms of six months
each. During the ﬁrst term all pupils
study the elements of bookkeeping, commer-
cial arithmetic, four languages, commercial
geography, and stenography and typewrit-
ing. During the second term they specialize
as expert bookkeepers, commercial corre-
spondents, or wireless operators. There
were thirty-ﬁve men in this department.
The ﬁfteen men in the normal department
at the end of 1916 were mostly non-commis-
sioned ofﬁcers obliged, because of their re-
duced physical powers, to give up the
careers they had planned for themselves.
They receive their training as teachers
during two terms of six months each.
The teachers in the four departments of the
“school of clerks” have been borrowed from
the stretcher-bearers’ corps and other
auxiliary branches of the service. Before
the war they were school and college
teachers, expert accountants in the large
banks, and men holding important adminis-
trative posts.
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 69


HARRIS BOOK
When men arrive at Port Villez, they are
ﬁrst given a thorough medical examination
to determine what sort of physiotherapeutic
treatment they require. They are next
examined as to their previous general school-
ing and their mental qualiﬁcations. This is
done for the double purpose of grouping
them in classes for further instruction and
to help in directing the subjects to a suitable
occupation to be studied in the school.
There are, of course, certain callings that
are unsuitable for men who are without a
good general education or a quick men-
tality.
A third examination is. conducted by the
technical director, who is a man of unusual
understanding and sympathy, with a won-
derful capacity for getting in touch with
the subject’s or pupil’s real self and inner
consciousness and of communicating enthu-
siasm and optimism. He accompanies the
new arrivals on' informal tours of the
workshops, lets them talk to the men
engaged in studying and working at the
various trades, and endeavors, thoroughly
to understand the latent aptitudes and
tastes of the new man who has not yet
decided what he wants to take up.
After this preliminary survey each indi-
vidual is brought separately before a
committee composed of the examining
physician, the academic director and the
technical director. The members of the
committee compare their individual notes
as to the man’s capacities. They confer and
consult with him as to his inclinations and
preferences, and then decide that he shall
be given a trial apprenticeship at a certain
trade. If after a week’s trial it appears that
the man has been misplaced, the case is
reconsidered and he is assigned to some other
trade more congenial or better suited to his
capabilities.
Over 40 trades are taught in the department
of technical training, among them being
machine carpentry, hand carpentry and
MCMURTRIE BOOK
When men arrive at Port-Villez, they under-
go a thorough medical examination, which
determines what kind of physiotherapeutic
treatment will beneﬁt them. They are next
examined as to their previous general
schooling and their mental qualiﬁcations.
This is done not only for the purpose of
grouping them in classes for further instruc-
tion, but also to help in directing them to-
ward a suitable trade. Certain occupations
are barred to men without a fairly good
general education or a quick intelligence.
A third examination is conducted by the
technical director, Captain Haccour, an
educator of unusual understanding and
sympathy, with a gift for drawing out a
a man’s real self and with a contagious
enthusiasm. Captain Haccour accompanies
the new men on an informal tour of the
workshops, lets them talk with the men at
work in the various trades, and tries to
discover their latent aptitudes and tastes.
Each man is then brought separately before
a committee consisting of the examining
physician, the academic director, and the
technical director. The members of the
committee compare their individual notes
as to the man’s capacities, consult with him
as to his inclinations, and ﬁnally decide
that he shall make a trial of apprenticeship
in a certain trade. If after a week it appears
that a man has been misplaced, his case is
reconsidered and he is directed toward
another kind of work.
Over forty trades are taught in the shops
managed by the department of technical
training.
70 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
cabinet making, patternmaking, making of
toys and small articles for armament and
for household use, woodcarving, wooden-
shoe making, wood polishing, pyrography,
brass and leather repousse work, general
mechanics, oxy-acetylene welding, a course
for chauffeurs and automobile mechanics,
plumbing and zinc working, clockmaking,
electricians, shoemaking, saddlery, tailoring,
furriers, upholstery, basketry, typesetting,
both by hand and linotype, printing press-
men, engraving and lithography, photo—
gravure, motion-picture machine operators,
hairdressing, brushmaking, industrial de-
signing and drafting, sculpture and model-
ing, painting in its several branches, baking,
poultry raising, truck farming and general
agriculture.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
The following brief account of the different
shops describes the work they were doing
in the latter part of 1916.
Machine work in carpentry—the use of cir-
cular saws, band saws, power planes, turning
machines, rotary moulding cutters, etc.—
was being taught to ﬁve apprentices, all
former carpenters prevented by injuries to
their arms from taking up their old work.
Hand carpentry and cabinet making were
being taught to 18 apprentices from
all sorts of former occupations.
In the section for makers of patterns for
casters were three men. . .
In the section for toys and knick-knacks
were 10 men. I
In the wood-carving section a wood carver
by trade was overcoming the handicap of
three paralyzed ﬁngers.
A miner, a farm worker, and a factory
vhand, all injured in the leg, were learning to
make wooden shoes.
Wood polishing is considered a good trade
for men who have completely lost the use of
one arm or who have had an arm ampu-
tated. Pyrography and brass and
leatherrepoussé work are taught with polish-
ing.
The section for mechanics is extremely
popular with the mutilé-s.
Oxy~acetylene welding is considered within
the powers of men who have had a leg
amputated.
Fifty pupils were taking the course for
chauffeurs and automobile mechanics.
The section for plumbers and zinc workers
contained 4 pupils.
The section for clock-makers contained
4 pupils. _
The electricians had 16 pupils and was
growing rapidly.
The shoemaking class here, as in French
schools, was the largest of all the manual
trades.
In the saddlers’ shop were 30 appren-
tices. ,
Tailoring attracts many men with leg
injuries.
The furriers were fewer in number.
“The Redemption of the Disabled” 71


HARRIS BOOK
There is no ﬁxed length of time for learning
a trade; necessarily there cannot be. It
depends upon the aptitude of the student,
his interest and his facility in overcoming
his handicap. The authorities, however,
have found that good teaching methods can
reduce very greatly the time supposed to be
necessary for an apprenticeship in a given
trade in ordinary civil life and under normal
conditions.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
The upholstery class was only in its in-
fancy.
In the basketry class 46 apprentices
were learning to make coarse and ﬁne bas-
kets and willow furniture.
Typesetting, by hand and by means of the
linotype, and press work were being taught in
the printing shop.
The engraving and lithography section had
7 pupils.
Photogravure has been taken up success-
fully by one-armed.
Five men were learning to operate moving-
pieture machines.
Among the 12 pupils of the hairdressing
class were former hairdressers.
Brush making, except the manufacture of
the wooden parts of brushes, is reserved for
blind men.
There are several classes of industrial
' design or drafting.
In the sculpture and modeling class the 10
pupils were former plasterers, marble
cutters, or stone carvers.
Diﬂerent branches of painting are taught in
a number of classes.
In the great bakery built to supply bread
to the institution 6 pupils, among whom
three had lost a leg, were learning to be
bakers.
Former agriculturists whose injuries have
incapacitated them for the heavy work of a
farm are taught a trade at Port-Villez if
they express their desire to learn one. If
not, they receive training in raising animals
or poultry, in dairying, truck gardening, fruit
and tree culture, or ﬂower raising.
The length of time necessary for learning a
trade is not deﬁnitely ﬁxed, so greatly does it
depend on a man’s native aptitude, and his
handiness in overcoming his disability, but
the management of the school has found that
good teaching methods can greatly reduce
the time supposedly required for an appren-
ticeship in a given trade.
72 “The Redemption of the Disabled”


HARRIS BOOK
The shops are operated for production as
well as for teaching, but efficiency in teach-
ing is never sacriﬁced for the purpose of
increasing production. Most of the shop
products are used to ﬁll orders from the
Belgian Government, but when these order
do not provide the necessary variety for
thorough apprenticeship, orders from pri-
vate ﬁrms are taken.
The steady inﬂow of new men does not dis-
arrange the classes or the work of good
apprenticeship. 'Newcomers are grouped
together and started to work under the
supervision of a monitor; after preliminary
tryouts new groupings are made in accor-
dance with the ability and progress of
individuals. The work is very carefully
supervised by monitors, foremen and doc-
tors, and the men are never allowed to
become discouraged. In some of the trades
there is a monitor for every four men.
All of the cost of the Port Villez school is
borne by the Belgian Government. It is
managed in a most economical way, and
the construction costs have been held down
to lowest possible amounts consistent with
sound workmanship and material. It is the
intention to use the portable barracks and
cottages now used as dormitories in reha-
bilitating the devastated regions. The
permanent structures were built out of
materials furnished by the owner of the
property. The heating has cost only the
labor of cutting and hauling the wood on
the estate. Food cost is held to low levels
by the large supply of vegetables, poultry,
pigs, etc., raised by the pupils who are
taking the agricultural,‘ gardening and
poultry-raising courses. Butchers, bakers
and others among the personnel render
service according to their several capacities
and trades. ‘
The men in the school are maintained by the
Belgian Government, and the regular rate of
army pay, 43- centimes per day, is allowed.
In addition, wages of from 50 centimes to
one franc a day are paid out of the proceeds
MCMURTRIE BOOK
The shops are operated for production as
well as for teaching, but good teaching is
never sacriﬁced for the sake of increasing
production. Most of the product of the
shop ﬁlls orders from the Belgian Govern-
ment, but when these orders do not provide
the variety necessary for a thorough appren-
ticeship, the school takes orders from private
ﬁrms. .
What might be an obstacle to good appren—
ticeship, the continual arrival of new men,
is overcome by grouping the newcomers
together and starting them at work under
the careful supervision of a monitor. Later
new groupings are made in accordance with
the men’s ability and progress. All work is
carefully supervised by monitors, foremen,
and doctors, and a man is never allowed to ,
become discouraged. In some trades there
is a monitor for every four men.
The entire cost of the school is borne by _
the Belgian Government. Every effort has
been made to reduce the charges of con—
struction and equipment and to manage the
school in the most economical way. The
portable barracks, which are used as dormi-
tories and shops will be used afterwards in
the devastated regions. The permanent
structures have been built out 'of materials
furnished by the owner of the property.
Heating has cost only the labor required for
cutting out the woods on the place. The cost
of food is reduced to a minimum by having
the vegetables raised by the agriculturists,
the bread baked by the bakers, and the
animals killed and cut up by the butchers.
Tools and machinery have cost between
180,000 and 200,000 francs, but it is ex-
pected that after the war the Government
can resell all the equipment to ﬁt out
factories pillaged by the enemy.
The Government allots to the school for the
maintenance of the men I franc 97 centimes
per man per day, of which 43 centimes goes to
the soldier as his pay. This is the regular
cost of maintenance of a Belgian soldier,
“ The Redemption of the Disabled” 73


HARRIS BOOK
of the sale of articles made in the shops.
These proceeds are used to help defray the
general expenses of the school.
For men who do not care to take up manual
trades and who are by previous education
ﬁtted to study a profession other than the
limited courses offered at Port Villez, there
is the “Home University” at Paris. There
instruction in the higher branches of learn-
ing may be had in the great schools and
colleges of the French capital—law, medi-
cine, natural sciences, philosophy, teaching,
and commercial collegiate courses. Books
and instruments are furnished by the
Ministry of Arts and Sciences of the Belgian
Government, and students are allowed to
attend the various institutions giving in-
struction in the particular lines desired.
They are granted a certain amount for
maintenance, and are not required to reside
in barracks. Such medical or surgical
attention as may be required from time to
time has been arranged for with the French
authorities.
MCMURTRIE BOOK
whether he is ﬁghting at the front or attend-
ing a reeducational school. No pensions or
allowances are paid to the inmates of Port
Villez, but men in the shops receive wages of
from 50 centimes to I franc a day, which are
paid out of the proceeds of articles made in
the shops. These proceeds also help to
defray the general expenses of the school.
The “home university” of Paris completes
the system of vocational instruction organ-
ized by the Belgian Government for its dis-
abled soldiers. \Vhen the school of clerks
was at Mortain, it offered opportunities for
higher education to young men whose
studies had been interrupted by the mobili-
zation summons, but after the school was
moved to Port-Villez, the minister of war
thought it advisable to discontinue these
courses and in their stead to provide oppor-
tunities for study in Paris. To this end he
organized in Paris what is called a “home
university,” an institution where disabled
soldiers are boarded and lodged at the
expense of the Government while they
pursue their studies in the great Paris
schools. At the end of November, 1916, six
young war cripples were in the “home
university” studying law; two, medicine;
one, natural sciences; one was enrolled with
the faculty of philosophy and studying to
become a higher teacher; three were in a
commercial college; four, in an electrical
college; two were in the Lycée Saint-Louis,
and one was in a catholic college. Their
books and instruments are furnished them
by the ministry of arts and sciences.
new»? , .....
"it
as“
e .
ah: .,
.. .WMWM,
.K ‘I
.w/
it )1
. m.
»
aiﬁwwmw
a
.
. a 2 a.
when“. .
R1...
Milt];
.nﬁiilhﬁhlslrh
. .fu .lttnrwwvﬂlfhlr
. J11’;


hinwilrnu . ‘ilihiiilrvun 11.
iii... fl . iii% .1. .
. . . will‘... i‘ a“! .u
iﬁilﬂﬂn “.Jwmw i '
ﬁ . .h x .30
. wnmwwwu.
1|. n“ 1.
‘on a»
‘an! 1 II
M“.
.Jvk
. .iﬂuf) E.‘ . 1 . . . Hli .. .1 .A. . . .
. . Jew Misti .. . . . , ,....ﬁa§wm. . ..
v 14f". dually .\ w . . an .Mmmhvama ‘we? 9... nlm f-huﬁhn
l. . $1.3. .. .. . . . . . . u~ $4. ' vhﬁnuuilnt em‘
3.... . . . .zifoliititnm
. $1 w . . . . . . Slain. :. H I'm-l, .ﬁiewvl‘u
. . i . .. . 5.71 . . 22W“...
. . . . "when... . ' d... .
. .. . . . . .. .. . . . M. hukawmmwwu \ \f . .iw
.ima
A.l
Ink‘,
Ihmuuﬂfmwmﬁiww . 1 ‘Mann. .. .. .Ls. .slf. E..." .. . a“... | 1 .. .
v Q. i.n.|iltu2ul .lIIL'tMFJnWuE?“ ‘Lu uﬁwumwn . WM... .09“ . .
Ail‘ iii iﬂr,ﬂ.lﬂili.hoknt.i Sip! viuiviiva L 4 {.21 S . .
twriiﬂﬁilhtiihﬁ rename, i. wﬁnuzhiszmrh. . . .2 in 3.. n1”. 3&3... .. .
Iii.“ . .wﬂan. . (($14. . inu Lu . l . . .xwvzrﬂ. $1.3." .WumnJREVdqyiM-ﬁ
.1. . a -...A . .nf%.....wn%_»w§f.
é! Pilr . ll! .
.. . 1446,!1i1u
Vii . . .
I01" Ill-:5
| | I H|huv\.lui1\l| (I
. la, ﬁg
.31
I, In? . I,
wWMFT. vvﬂmvu
“WT. Jr . t

....s.-. our}?

. l.
Imhqrs-i.
A 1 .
. an
v
. . a.
. I.“ my...
a...
Jnqﬁwni
15%..» we" .5
was.“ 5a..
.5 as
.Mr 1?,
‘is

e .
he’