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ARBR A EAR Ay etrtr rer
SECOND -
HH MAIN NEWS M
. SECTION 1
WOUNDED URGE PROBE OF FEDERAL BOARDS
‘HOW MUCH PAID TO SOLDIERS, HOW MUCH TO OFFICIALS?’
THEY ASK; ‘HOW MANY TRAINING CASES ARE HELD UP?”
Monthly Bill for Telegrams $3,000, and 90 Per
Cent-Are Useless, Officers Admit—Men Want
Blame Fixed for Conditions in War Risk Bu
reau and Rehabilitation Department.
5= BY CHARLES 0. POWER.
Fov'.‘s_;ven Months Special Vocational Adviser at U. S, A. General Hospital
3 5_ No, 10, the Great Human Repair Shop, Parker Hill, Boston.
'_ff?‘hia' is the final friiffl"lil?‘{lf in the series of articles by Mr. Power,
whith began in/The Sunday “American August 16, drafin_o with the fail,-,.
wre of th(:.ém»crmnen! tq Ketp faith with' the counry’s disabled heroes;
to‘makc fao‘d flita pr.qmism o?f,u'ar risk (‘&7"1)(’7}8(1“()”‘0" vocaignal training.
- BOSTON, ‘Aug. 30.-“ Under the recent.amendmént to the vo
catignal training law, all persons accepted for training by the
fedh‘;fl board will receive..if single, SBO per month, and if they have
dop&n‘dents certain additiondl ‘ameunts. This means both officers
andeien.
Without arguing the merits of the question as to whether of
ficers should receive a larger allowance than the enlisted men
while under federal board training, tnis fact remams: The fed
eral board jall along has ‘assured officers that they were to re
ceive, while in training, a sum equal to their pay during the last
mopith of their serviee, - #ll
Many of these men have refused other opportunities and ar
ranged their affairs to take a coursesof Yraining in-the belief that
they"would receive allowance§on that ‘'séale; It certainly is not
fair-to tell them now that, although “they weré promised a con
tinuation of ‘their army pay, they will not receive it. It is a plain
case of enticing men under false pretenses. § 7
TRAINING IS DELAYED.
The federal board peecause of its involvéd-system of handling
cases and its dm'ofi'_dh t¢ red tape, has \s:qcfyljily delayed the train
ing of discharged suldli‘—ém. . In ma:ny‘ifigt'aynéés soldiers have be
comp SO ‘(_lisomlragvd,"fl;rough W‘!{if{ng‘tn'heal' from the board
that théy have gone to work and absolutely abandoned their
rig'hps_r to a training. There are many cases in the offices of the
boand today that have beeq there from one to three months await
ing action. "I"h_e.scliog}é.‘olfi‘analyzing»oas_es,' of referring cases from
one room to anothersof tickling them ahead and of tickling them
from one offitji,gij, to afother, and from clerk to clerk, has been the
mea;xs of tiekling many of them to death.
Tt is a-simple thing to find disabled men who believe ‘that the
fed%‘sml hoérd.s-hgnl_ltl"‘b'o~invvsti{zflf(ed at once in order to learn how
many cases are awaiting decision as to training, to discover tg what
extént the _Wur'Risk 'liré‘u‘x;agme Bureau is culpable and"to ‘discover
the Pthvr causes of ddav, \
’ WANT EXPENDITURES PROBED.
They woyld, like to’ ;0(' the expenditures of the federal board
a.nd?W;n' Risk Insurance Burean thoroughly scrutinized and ex
amined. to learn how:nrtich has-been paid-for administrative pur
pos&vh» officials, clerks and for traveling.expense, and how much
had}::im'n paid to the snmms«d beneficiaries, the disabled men dis
charged from the military and raval service.
. When it is admitted by the officials of the central office of
the hoard that the monthly bill for telegrams has averaged 3,000,
andywhen it is also admitted that 90 per cent of these telegrams
were useless and that letters would have done just as well, is it
not fdir to assume -that this bit of extravagance and waste in-office
procedure is but a drop in the bucket ?
i NO REPRESENTATION FOR MEN.
To make the War Risk Insurance Bureau, Compensation Di
vision, and the ¥ederal Bodrd for Vocational Training worth while
to the discharged disabled soldier and sailot, worth while to the
country and to bring them up to a 100 per cent American plan,
they.should simplify their forms and methods and take a more gen
erous view of their duties. '
L.And here is one very important point for the American Legion
to eousider: There isino” representative of the soldier, sailor or
mariz_io in an important place in the entire service of the Federal
Board for Vocational Eduecation, ‘
! NO SOLDIERS OR SAILORS. °
The case board in. each distriet office, which decides how
cases shall go to the case board in the central office, is supposed
to be composed of the chief federal board official, a doctor, a
member of the training section, a representative of the employers
and another of the employed, but there is no official representation
of the soldier, sailor or marine on any case board, and the view
point of the soldicr, sailor and marine is never in-evidenee,
~-'P§e"s’e case boards, as a rule, are eomposed of honest, well
meaning men who never had war service and few of whom have
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relatives directly or remotely connected with war service. They
have a small idea of what the wounded men have suffered. This
is best evidenced in the case of the central office, which makes the
rule that, if a man, after months of suffering, becomes fairly
physically rehabilitated, he must go to work and prove that he is
not, bale to fill the old job, or a new one, bfeore he may receive a
course of training.
~ Even then it might mean' only free tuition and books. And
nothing at all if he has had his compensation taken away for
trying to work.
e g BREAKING PROMISES.
4 To,,thé man who has been watching the game closely, it now
looks as if both the Federal Board for Vocational Eduecation and
the War Risk Insurance Bureau are welching on their promise to
the soldiers and sailors. 2
In this tightening of the vocatonal training lines and the
withholding and withdrawng of compensation from dsabled sol
ders or sailors who are attempting to add to their incomes while
awaiting possible training, a good economic policy?
- In form letters and in many of its publicdtions the federal
board has given solemn warning to the disabled men of the folly
of accepting work merely because: it offers high wages in pref
erence to taking training which would qualify them, in a short
time to be skilled workmen. The board has touchingly emphasized
the danger of a physical breakdown of the disabléed soldiers and
their sad plight working ifi comfletition with normal men when
such a thing happens. . ‘ 4
. STRIKING PICTURES.
It has strikingly. pietured the untrained as pitiful objects of
charity, burdens upon their families or the community, and, sim
ply because of their war service, tolerated publie nuisances. Surely
only such results can come from the board’s present policy, which
is to turn that picture to the wall. On the other hand, it has por
trayed the happy future of the disabled soldier trained under the
guidanee of the federal board to overcome the handicaps of phy
sical disabilities. With bold strokes it has sketehed him as com
peting successfully with a normal man—a happy husband and fa
ther, and a respected member of his community. Good economic
policy beyond question, but it is not being done very much in
federal board ecircles any more.
The surgeon general’s department maintgined at considerable
expense an educational service both in France and in this country.
ATLANTA, GA, SUNDAY, AUGUST 31, 1919
illions to Make Them Fit to Fight—Nothing to Make Them Fit to work.
Tt has been one of the great successes of the war. Those in con
trol of its policy seem to have been possessed of unusual far
sightedness. They realized both the opportunity and necessity
for disabled men during convalescenee, and so they selected and
assigned to the-task a corps of men and” women especially and
splendidly qualified. Educational service in the United States re
construetion hospitals has been, in many respeets, equal in im
portance to medical and surgical services.
The attendance in the hospital classes has been of a high av
erage, and the results obtained very gratifying both to pupils and
instructors. Through the efforts of the re-educational aides and
the hospital school instructors an ambition has been aroused in
many a man to be a better civil soldier. A purpose to be a good
citizen and to appreciate the institutions of this country has been
arrive(! at by many men of foreign birth after a short course in
the army hospital schools. Is all of this work to be an economie
wastage, to say nothing of its loss as an asset of patriotism?
WAR BUREAU TRICK.
What will be the direet effect upon the morale of the dis
charged soldier and the indirect effect upon the community of the
new, cold-shoulder attitude of the government as exemplified by
the amended act of Congress and new rules of the Federal Board
for Voeational Education relative to the training of disabled sol
diers? Of the trick of the Bureau of War Risk Insurance in with
drawing compensation from wounded men found at work pending
vocational training? :
In many instances, as stated ahove, these men have been urged
by the federal board for vocational education to add to their tem
porary compensation by wages from temporary employment. Hav
ing followed that advice, they are now receiving letters which,
stripped of their disguise would read like this: ‘‘Ha, ha! We
have caught you at it. You can work, and friendly employers are
willing to give you now almost as mmech as you earned before,
Don’t try to explain that it is only one-half as much as you earned
before. ' Don’t try to explain that it is only about one-half as much
as the prevailing wages of today, or that the purchasing power of
your dollar is only about half as great as it was before you went
to war. It won’t do you any good to kick, anyway. You have
aceepted a job, so live on it if you ean, and don’t expect any com.
pensation from the government.”’
Is that keeping faith? Thousands of disabled men are ask
ing that question.
““Go back to your old job,"’ says the federal board to all but
Disabled Heroes Ordered to Seek One Job Aften
Another Until One Is Found Where They Can
Eke Out an Existence—“ls That Keeping
Faith?” They Ask. :
the very badly smashed, ‘‘and go back to it without any training,
If you find that you ean not do it you must try another one, and
then another, and keep on trying until one is found that you cam
do without too much diseomfort, but remember, you will not res
ceive any training from the government unless, after an exhaus- ’“'
tive physical examination by our .doctor and an’ affidavit from
your former employer the fact can be established that you must* |
have some sort of a training to earn enough money to eke out an ‘
existence.”’ ¢ ;
Is that a square deal? Thousands of discharged wounded. -
service men are asking that question. %
. Lying woundéd for months in reconstruction hospitals in/
this country was a hey ofithe ‘‘Lost Battalion.”” His leg was frae- 7t
tured both above an®'belos# the knee lln all the weary days and \.
nights of his convalescence there was never a whimper oat of Mm.gf-"
He_had been in the. first home hospifal ‘many’ wéeks bi('fioté"gl?y‘”‘
oné’knew he was one of the gallant few that stood with Whit't'leéey%
when he told the Hun to ‘‘go to hell.”” Thig boy had one of the =
swektest dispositions and finest characters ever given to'a (u.or-g
tal." To every ‘suggestion of the doctors and nurses he responded
willingly and intelligently.
: INFLUENCE FOR GOOD. e
The sargeon who took charge of him after he landed in this
country said he wouldn’t bet five cents that the boy would live
five days. But he is going to be cured. He is going to have & *
strong leg and it will be shortened so little that his limp' will be &
very slight. His attitude toward the hospital workers and to-3
ward_ his own future has had a wonderful influence for good over
other suffering men. ' W
“This boy never had an opportunity for a professional 6!'_ voca- !
tional education. His work was of a laborious nature, but he "
probably could do it again. Under the new rules of the federal
board he will have to try himself out on that work if the board’s =
doetor says he is able to do it. There is to be no reward for sue "g
service as he gave, and no recompense for such suffering as he ens
dured, says the board. TEE "i‘?:fg
During his time in the hospitals this boy has advised with his
surgeons and his friends as he read many of the ‘-“Dpp.o"'_','
monographs of the federal board. He has been buoyed up by the
idea that he will have a chance to learn something wufi‘ ,fi
after he is discharged, and so become a better pemnal.té "
munity asset. -It looks like a vain hope now. . : .J:!" : "
GIVEN ONLY S3O A MONTH.- * =
There was a time when some other disabled boys trloito !1l
him that the printed matter of the federal board, distrik «
throughout the hospitals, was all bunk. He not only would fiéfi
believe them, but, in his quiet way, did his best to convinee them
that they were all wrong about it. In the light of reeent events,
were they wrong about it? The most he will get in seetion 3 help f
— %30 from war risk compensation during a short training eourse
for which the/federal board will pay only the cost of tuition lni“‘V
books. : i r,y
There was another boy in a reconstruection hospital and he
had-a Distinguished Serviee Medal.: All he did was to erawl .
across a field swept by machine gun bullets to the enemy’s barbed
wire, cut his lieutenant down, eut the wires so that the lieutenant’s
detail could pass through and then earry his wounded commander
back to his own lines. While doing this simple little stunt he was
wounded in the arm quite severely, ¢
HIS CHANCES SLIM. ’ |
For some time he did not take mueh interest in school work
at the hospital or much stoek in the promise of a better future
through voeational training. The re-cducational aides finally inter- ;
ested him and convineed him that he was neglecting his oppor
tunities. He became, after a while, one of thte best patients in the
hospital and one of the best students in the hospital school. He will
probably be able, when discharged, to go back to his okl job or
take another one without training, but he has a desirve to learn a
good trade and to be a.good American citizen. His chances of =
vodational training with pay are slim if good results are attaned =
in his arm,
There was a fine, earnest, ambitious Massachusetts boy who
came back from overseas with a badly smashed ankle, the M
of a gunshot wound. After many months in the reconstruetiom =
hospital, he was discharged with a 10 per eent disability marks =
Before he went away to war he married a girl who had
rirde fririr e awfi-wf
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