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Show ican (Copy for This Department Supplied by th Amrlrnn Ttrton News Service . IN PLEA FOR NEGLECTED MEN Three Thousand Veterans From Legion Le-gion Ranks Are Explaining Situation Sit-uation to American People. Three thousand volunteer speakers from the ranks of the American Legion Le-gion in every state are now carrying by word-of-mouth to the American people the Legion's story sto-ry of the "suffering, "suffer-ing, shameful neglect and injustice" in-justice" in the government's administration ad-ministration cf the nation's debt to the disabled, which was con- John Thomas taineu in me ioi-Taylor. ioi-Taylor. mal memorial which the Legion has presented to President Wilson, President-elect Harding, and to all members of congress. Probably never before in the history of the country has such an army of orators been mobilized to speak at the same time upon a single text. The Legion aims to present to the people of the United States the facts regarding the disabled in the same language as they were presented to the officials of the government. The Legion's memorial was carried to the President at the White House by John Thomas Taylor, vice chairman of the Legion National Legislative committee. commit-tee. National Commander F. W. Gal-braith, Gal-braith, Jr., gave it to Senator Harding it Marion, where he had a long and important conference on the disabled situation with the next President. The Legion denounces the present method of caring for the disabled as a "failure" which only can be remedied rem-edied by tile entire reconstruction of the federal machinery dealing with the problem. The functions of the three agencies, which deal with the problems of the disab.ed, the bureau of war risk in-sura'jce, in-sura'jce, the federal board for vocational voca-tional education, and the United Sta es public health service, "must be co-ordinated, their machinery decentralized decen-tralized .aud all three placed uuder jommon control," the memorial states. As an equally essential remedy for existing conditions, the memorial urges the Immediate appropriation for the use of the unified organization of a sum ample to build or rent a sufficient number of hospitals to take care of the 16,900 ex-service men who ore unable to receive treatment at present because of lack of beds and shelter. The "failure" of the government to afford justice to the sick and wounded veterans is attributed by the Legion to "an astonishing state of divided responsibility re-sponsibility and wasted effort among the government agencies with which the problem rests." The break in the chain of responsibility responsi-bility occurs, according to the memorial, me-morial, as a result of the fact that the war risk bureau is under and re- not intended to exercise. This presents pre-sents an amazing spectacle of administrative admin-istrative chaos, duplication, wasted energy en-ergy and conflict, which is the key to the present condition. "The result is the suffering of the disabled veterans. Thousands are waiting and have waited for months for compensation for their injuries. Thousands have waited for months for an opportunity to re-establish themselves as self-sustaining "members of society by vocational training. Thousands are in need of hospitalization, hospitaliza-tion, and the government has no hospital hos-pital facilities available for them. Of the 20,000 now in hospitals, 4,500 tire quartered in institutions unsuited to tile needs of the men quartered there. New hospital cases are developing at the rate of 1,500 a month in excess of the number discharged. Sixteen thousand beds are needed now. Hundreds Hun-dreds of veteruus are the object of public and private charity. Afflicted aad penniless veterans have been driven driv-en to refuge in almshouses aiKl jails. Many have died, and if immediate relief re-lief is not forthcoming, more will die destitute, without proper medical medi-cal care, without compensation with which to obtain it,, abandoned by the country they served. "The bureau of war risk insurance is responsible for the payment of compensation com-pensation and for medical and hospital hos-pital care of the man. Logically, this would involve establishing contact with the men at the time of their discharge from the military or naval service. It should then determine the existence and degree of disability aud compensation on this basis. "Due to the centralization of the bureau's forces in Washington, It is practically impossible under the present pres-ent law to establish contact with the man entitled to these benefits. The disabled man is placed in the position of a man injured in industry who must sue the company. He must carry car-ry on an involved and technical correspondence. corre-spondence. It is usually months after af-ter he is dropped from the pay rolls of the army or navy before he is taken tak-en upon the pay roll of the bureau, even though his service discharge shows a definite degree of disability. On November 26, 1920, 83,000 cases were pending in the bureau awaiting definite adjustment of compensation. Thousands are suffering and many have died as a result of this neglect. "The federal board for vocational training will accept -the evidence of the bureau's- medical tiles granting compensation as proof that a man is entitled to vocational training. The bureau, however, will not accept the evidence that the board has awarded training as proof that a man is entitled en-titled to compensation. "If the veteran is receiving compensation com-pensation and wants training, usually he must take another physical examination, exam-ination, administered by the board to determine whether the claimant has a vocational handicap entitling him to training pay, or merely a compensable compens-able disability granting him training only. "When a man enters training witls training pay, his compensation stops and he is shifted from the pay roll of the bureau to the pay roll of the board. The board, which was created as a training agency only, has become be-come a compensating agency ' as well. Many men have been kept on the pay roll of the board, not as a training measure solely, but as a measure of financial relief which they were entitled en-titled to, but unable to obtain from the bureau. "When a man is dropped from training train-ing he is supposed to be dropped from the pay roll of the board and taken up by the bureau. On both shifts there is delay. The average length of time for a man to be dropped from the bureau pay roll and taken up on the board pay roll is about three weeks. The average time required for the second shift back to the bureau bu-reau pay roll is two months. No provision pro-vision is made for the man's maintenance main-tenance during these interims. In the majority of cases a man must undergo under-go a new physical examination before the bureau will again pay him compensator com-pensator In other words, he must again prove his claim. "Of the 20,000 men now in hospitals. 4,500 are in Institutions which are unfit un-fit because suitable hospital facilities are not available." The Legion avers that 16,900 beds are needed at once. Of this number, 1,500 are necessury for transfer of tubercular tu-bercular patients from present unsatisfactory unsat-isfactory hospitals, and 3,000 ' for transfer of neuro-psychlatrle patients from the Inadequate lodgings which they occupy now. The number of tubercular tu-bercular cases in need of Immediate hospitalization Is estimated to be 6,500 and the neuro-psychiatric cases at 5,000. Beds are also required for about 900 general, medical and surgical sur-gical cases. The statistics above are based on statements from the following sources: Public health service. Dr. Thomas W. Salmon of New York, medical med-ical director national committee for mental hygiene; bureau of war risk insurance. Dr. T. Victor Keene of Indianapolis, In-dianapolis, member. American Legion hospitalization committee sponsible to an assistant secretary secreta-ry of the treasury, treas-ury, an officer of the executive branch of the government, gov-ernment, while the federal board for vocational education ed-ucation Is responsible respon-sible only to congress, con-gress, and is under un-der none of the executive departments depart-ments of the gov- A ).-laaK ' 4mA ernment. uamrann, The memorial Jr. asserts that, the United States has been more liberal than any other nation In its provisions Cor the disabled soldiers, but that it has failed In large measure to make these provisions available in spite of the benefit of the experience of other nations in the recent war and the experience ex-perience of this nation in previous wars. "In the re-habilitatlon of a disabled man there are three needs medical treatment, vocational training and financial support." the memorial states. "The government has recognized recog-nized the three needs, hut overlooks the fact that they are the simultaneous simultane-ous needs of one man, not of three different men or of one man at three different times. It makes three problems prob-lems out of what really is one problem. "Continuing this faulty conception. It has given the problem over to three agencies. AH, by force of circumstances, circumstan-ces, are exercising functions they were |