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IV

The attitude of the public toward the returned soldier will do much to make or mar the success of work with the war cripples. The man returning disabled from the front deserves the whole-hearted gratitude and respect of the nation, but to spoil and pamper him is an ill-advised way of meeting the obligation. Parents who wish to do the best possible by their children do not manifest affection by spoiling their digestion with an eagerly received surfeit of candy. They rather seek to provide a good home environment, exert a firm but kindly discipline, and obtain for their children the best educational opportunities. In other words, the emphasis is on values of permanence. The same general principles apply in the relations of the public to the ex-service man.

In one of the allied countries the wife of a returned soldier complained to the representative of a patriotic relief agency, which had been attending to the family needs while the chief breadwinner was at the front, that her husband would never spend any time with her or with the children. She had wanted that afternoon to have him accompany them to the park, but he disdainfully refused, saying that he was going out for an automobile ride and later to a 'sing-song' at one of the fashionable hotels. The musical entertainment referred to was being provided by the society ladies of the city, so mother and the children went to the park alone, while the 'hero' was receiving appropriate recognition of his services.

Of course the most pernicious expression of this attitude is the indiscriminate 'treating' of the disabled soldier at the corner saloon except of course in those localities which have made this more or less impossible by the enactment of total prohibition.

In some cities the 'patriotic' hysteria of the public has been such that neither the police nor the military authorities are in a position to restrain or punish returned soldiers, even when they have become seriously disorderly and objectionable. This is no kindness to the men and casts a most unfavorable reflection on the service as a whole.

On the other hand, the nation cannot go too far in showing gratitude to the war cripple, provided the manner of its expression is sound. To give him the best of medical care, a first-rate artificial limb, a thorough and capable training to fit him for a remunerative trade, and a chance of employment a little better than the average these constitute the real public duty, a duty not so simple of fulfillment as the mere provision of social entertainment.

The one form of expression should be frowned upon as actually unpatriotic; the other should be promoted and encouraged. Some propaganda for public education in this respect may become necessary, if the plans for the war cripple are to be worked out to a thoroughly successful conclusion.

V

The greatest obstacle in the past to the success of schools for the trade training of adult cripples lay in the support of the pupil during the period of the course. A school could offer the best of facilities, and be in a position to practically promise a man at the conclusion of its course a position at double his former wages, yet the prospective pupil could not even consider the proposition because meanwhile he could not manage to exist, and must needs continue at even the worst type of makeshift occupation.

But with the soldier cripple, this difficulty disappears. The man is already on the payroll of the state, he has been injured in his country's service, and it is logical and proper that he should be adequately supported until he is fitted for repatriation. His military pay and the separation allowance to his family should both be continued, or, if discharged from the army, corresponding training stipends awarded; with such provision he can enter upon his training in peace of mind without which the instruction could not be effective. If the institution he attends is a boarding school, maintenance would also be provided; if it were wise for the man to live at home there could be made a further allowance in commutation.

To complete physical rehabilitation in amputation cases, artificial limbs must be supplied. At the outbreak of the war, the supply of limbs presented to the European countries a most difficult problem. The demand was many times greater than it had ever been in the past, and the major portion of the continental supply had always been drawn from Germany. In the emergency thousands of appliances were imported from the United States, which has always been credited with making the best artificial limbs. Later the various belligerent countries began to manufacture limbs themselves. The factories, operating under official auspices, are enabled to utilize any patented features without paying royalties.

Each limb must be made to individual specifications and fitted to the stump of the patient who is to wear it. This makes desirable centralization of this activity. In Canada, for instance, all amputation cases go to a hospital in Toronto with an accommodation of four hundred; here the limbs are manufactured, fitted, and applied.