| Show the duty of the employer in 1 n reconstruction reconstruct Recon on of the crippled 0 soldier BY DOUGLAS C we must count on the return from the front of thousands of crippled soldiers we must blust plan to give them on their return the bet best possible chance for the future dependence cannot be placed on monetary compensation in the form of a pension for in the past the pension system has proved a distinct failure in sp so far as constructive tive ends are involved the pension has never been enough to support in decency the average disabled soldier but it has been just large enough to act as an incentive to idleness and semi dependence on relatives or friends the only compensation of real value for physical disability is rehabilitation for self support make a man again capable of earning his own living and the chief burden of his handicap drops away occupation is further the only means for making him happy and contented soon after the outbreak of hostilities the european countries began the establishment of vocational training schools for the rehabilitation of disabled soldiers they had both the humanitarian aim of restoring crippled men to the greatest possible degree and the economic aim of sparing the community the burden of on the part of thousands of its best citizens the movement had its inception with mayor edouard herriot of the city of lyons france who found it difficult to reconcile the desperate need for labor in the faces tories and works while men who had lost an ail arm or a leg but were other se strong and well were idling their time in the public squares he therefore induced the municipal council to open an industrial idu school for war cripples which has proved the example and inspiration for undress of similar schools since founded throughout throughout france italy germany great tain and canada the e disability soldiers of some crippled Is s no bar to returning to their former trade ade but the injuries of many disqualify then from froin pursuing again their past mccu dation 10 the schools of training prepare these ese men inen tor for some work in which their physical handicap inter will not materially fere with their production the education of the adult is made up lar largely gely g of his working experience the cioll H ork of training in ill his s past occupy illusto under be aban no circumstances doged don the the new trade must st be related to fornier f binler one or be perhaps an extension or 01 a specialization of it for example a man an and disabled I rector lied 1161 gross cross institution for crippled ailed men new york CRY city who had done manual work in the building trades may by instruction in architectural drafting and the interpretation of plans be fitted for a foremans job in which the lack of an arm would not prove of serious handicap A trainman who had lost a leg might be prepared as a telegrapher so that he could go back to railroad work with the practice of which he is already familiar whatever training is given must be thorough for an adult cannot be sent out to employment on the same basis as a boy apprentice he must be adequately prepared for the work he is to undertake the one armed soldier is equipped with working appliances which have supplanted the old familiar artificial limb the new appliances are designed with a practical aim only in view they vary according to the trade in which the individual is to engage for example the appliance for a machinist would be quite different from that with which a wood turner would be provided some appliances have attached to the stump a chuck in which various tools or hooks can interchangeably be held the wearer uses these devices only while at work for evenings and holidays he is provided with a dress arm which is made in imitation of the lost natural member an important factor in the success of re educational work is an early start so that the disabled man shall have no chance to go out unemployed into the community in even a short period of exposure to the sentimental sympathy or family and friends his will to work is so broken down that it becomes difficult again to restore him to a stand of independence and ambition for this reason therefore the plan for his future is made at as early a date as his physical condition admits and training is actually under way before the patient is out of the hospital in the readjustment of the crippled soldier to civilian life his placement in employment is a matter of the greatest moment in this field tile the employer has a very definite responsibility but the employers duty is not anti entirely rely obvious it is on the contrary almost diametrically opposite to what one might superficially fici ficia ally lIy infer it to be the duty is not to take care of from patriotic motives a given number of disabled men finding f for or which are available and them any odd jobs putting the ex soldiers in them without much regard to whether they can earn the wages paid or not yet this method is all too common A 1 local committee of employers will deliberate about as follows here are a dozen crippled soldiers for whom we must find jobs jones you have a large factory you should be able to take care of six of them brown can you not find places for four of them in your warehouse and smith you ought to place at least a couple in your store such a procedure cannot have other than pernicious results in the first years of war the spirit of patriotism runs high but experience has shown that men placed on this basis alone find themselves out of a job after the war has been over several years or in fact after it has been in progress for a considerable period of time A second weakness in this method is that a man who is patronized by giving him a charity job comes to expect as a right such semi gratuitous support such a situation breaks down rather than builds up character and makes the man progressively a weaker rather than a stronger member of the community we must not do our returned men such injury the third difficulty is that such a system does not take into account the mans future casual replacement means employment either in a makeshift make shift job as watchman or elevator operator such as we should certainly not offer our disabled men except as a last resort or in a job beyond the men one in which on the cold blood ed consideration of product and wages he cannot hold his own jobs of the th first type have for the worker a future of monotony and discouragement jobs of the second type are frequently disastrous for in them a man instead of becoming steadily more competent and building up confidence in himself stands still as regards improvement and loses confidence every day when he is dropped or goes to some other employment the job will have had for him no permanent bend benefit fit twelve men sent to twelve jobs may all be seriously misplaced while the same twelve placed with thought and wisdom and differently assigned to the same saine twelve jobs may be ideally located if normal workers require expert and careful placement crippled candidates for employment require it even more the positive aspect of the employers duty is to find for the disabled man a constructive tive job which he can hold on the basis of competency alone in such a job lie he can be self respecting be happy and look forward to a future this is the nite patriotic duty it is not so easy of execution as telling a superintendent to take care of four men but there is infinitely more satisfaction to the employer in the results and infinitely greater advantage to the employee and it is entirely practical even in dealing with seriously disabled men A cripple is only de barred by his disability from performing certain operations in the operations which he can perform the disabled man will be just as efficient as his non handicapped colleague or more so in the multiplicity of modern industrial processes it is entirely possible to find jobs not requiring the operations from which any given type of cripples are deb de barred arWed for such jobs as they can fill the cripple should be given preference thousands of cripples are now holding important jobs in the industrial world but they are men of exceptional character and initiative and have in general made their way in spite of employers rather than because of them too many employers are ready to give the cripple alms but not willing to expend the thought necessary to place him in a suitable job this attitude has helped to make many cripples dependent with our new responsibilities to the men disabled in fighting for us the point of view must certainly be changed what some cripples have done other cripples can do if only given an even chance the industrial cripple should ie be considered as well as the military cripple for in these days of national demand for the greatest possible output there should not be left idle any men who can be bd made into productive workers with thoughtful placement effort many men can be employed directly on the basis of their past experience with the disabled soldiers who profit by the training facilities the government will provide the task should be even easier this then constitutes the charge change of patriotic duty upon the employer to study the jobs under his jurisdiction to determine what ones might be satisfactorily hold held by cripples to give the er cripples p preference for these jobs to consider thoughtfully the applications of disabled men for employment bearing in mind the importance of utilizing to as great an extent as possible labor which would otherwise be unproductive to do tho the returned soldier the honor of offering him real employment mathei than prof proffering ferin g him the ignominy of a charity job if the employer will do this it will be a great factor in making the complete elimination of the dependent cripple a real and inspiring possibility |
