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Show NEGLECT OF DISABLED MEN Legion's Investigation Shows Lack of Attention to Men Who Suffered Terrors of War. Investigations by the American Legion Le-gion reveal short' ing conditions of mismanagement mis-management and neglect in the government's gov-ernment's treatment of disabled veterans, vet-erans, according to reports of the Legion's Le-gion's findings made public by F. W. Galbraith. Jr., national coMmandcr. The Legion has launched a nation-wide fight for the correction of these conditions, condi-tions, which Mr. Galbraith has described de-scribed as "a blot and a disgrace on the name of our country." More than 20.000 veterans are still in hospitals suffering from wounds and infirmities suffered in their country's service. Many of them have been there since they were brought back from France on the hospital ships. Their number is increasing at the rate of '2,-500 '2,-500 a month, due mostly to the development develop-ment of tuberculosis among men who were gassed. Statistics show that more than 500,000 men wore discharged dis-charged with disability rated higher than 10 per cent. Experts agree that the peak in hospitalization will not come for five or ten years. Yet, government gov-ernment hospitals at present are filled to overflowing and even contract arrangements ar-rangements are not being made rapidly rap-idly enough to care for the ever rising tide of disabled men whose conditions demand hospitalization. Certainly, there is no lack of willingness wil-lingness on the part of the American public to do all in human power to aid those who paid the price for the victory. vic-tory. The same experts who estimate that the peak of the problem will not come for five or ten years say In the meantime $5,000,000,000 must be spent in its solution. The government has not been niggardly. More than ?500,-000,000 ?500,-000,000 already has been spent Mismanagement Mis-management is the gist of the Legion's charge. Lack of vision and foresight and the ever-present governmental red tape is blamed as responsible for the death of disabled men before aid could reach them, for the Incarceration of disabled in jails and insane asylums, and the charity wards of public hospitals hos-pitals where they received the same treatment as paupers. In addition to its activities in advocating advo-cating reform in the conduct of the government bureaus, the American Legion Le-gion has dedicated itself to the tremendous tre-mendous task of "humanizing" the dreary lives of 20,000 disabled buddies who are patients in the hospitals all over the country. Every Legion post In this country has been assigned to the definite Job of taking care of a certain hospital where former service men are patients. The Women's auxiliary also will be mobilized to share in the work and civic and philanthropic organizations In the hospital towns will be enlisted. There is also the dangerous possibility possi-bility that the hospital patients, remaining re-maining day after day with no interest other than their physical condition, will become bitter against the country which once honored them and whl?h apparently has cast them aside. In several hospitals, Bolshevist agents have distributed inflammatory literature litera-ture by ingenious methods, of which an example Is the inclosure of the printed matter In bouquets of flowers. In one case discovered by Legion Investigators In-vestigators the propaganda was entitled en-titled : "You fought for America and what did you get out of it?" And Indeed, In-deed, it does seem that the sick veteran vet-eran got little out of It except a short period of popularity, the consciousness of having done his duty and a maimed and diseased body. "The 2,000,000 who are their buddies," bud-dies," said the Legion's national commander, com-mander, "and are banded together In the American Legion, are determined that the hundred million shall not forget. for-get. In this work of giving the disabled dis-abled man a fair deal and making him content we shall ask the co-operation of every loyal American. We fought together and we will stick together." |