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Willi H. Ebeling, a German-American, who had retired from business to concentrate upon his hobby of breeding shepherd dogs, also became interested in this use of his favorite animal. He joined forces with Mrs. Eustis and Elliott S. "Jack" Humphrey, her chief trainer, and soon The Seeing Eye, a newly formed corporation not for profit, was operating a training school at Morristown, New Jersey. A Swiss by the name of William Debetaz was brought over from Fortunate Fields to act as head trainer. Since that time about 2000 blind people have been provided with Seeing Eye dogs. No dog is given by the Seeing Eye to a blind person except upon the payment of $150 which the blind person has to earn. It is felt that by making this requirement the blind master will have a greater appreciation of the value of his dog. Sometimes the payment of the $150 may be distributed over a period of several years and the applicant is not required to wait until the dog is entirely paid for before receiving it. These dogs which are perhaps the best trained dogs in the world require about three months of preliminary training plus a month's training with the master, all of which is carried on at Morristown.

Those of the Seeing Eye insist that their dogs are not trained, but educated, for a dog is taught to guard his master even to the extent of disregarding orders if by so doing his master is kept from possible injury. For example, a man and his dog might encounter a hole in the sidewalk. The dog might stop and the master order him to proceed forward. An educated guide dog will refuse to advance but will insist on going around the hole and letting his master know that carrying out the order to go forward would be dangerous.

Careful study is exercised in the selection of recipients of Seeing Eye dogs as not every blind person can use a dog guide. Some are too young, many too old. Some do not like dogs. According to the Seeing Eye people, less than five per cent of the blind can use a dog guide. Great care is also exercised in the selection of trainers. It is said that out of ten apprentice trainers, about nine are usually rejected.

The Seeing Eye was the pioneer training dogs in the United States. In the years following other centers have been established in various parts of the country for the purpose of utilizing man's best friend in this new capacity. Some of these schools have given good service in their special localities, others have been discontinued. Probably the failure of many guide dog training schools can be attributed to incompetent trainers more than to any other cause.

THE FIGHT FOR SOCIAL SECURITY

Special local legislation providing relief to the needy blind in the form of direct financial assistance from public funds has a long history in the United States. The oldest provision of this type is found in a resolution passed in 1866 by the Board of Aldermen and Board of Councilmen of New York City, establishing a definite procedure for dealing with applications from blind persons for "donations" from city funds. The first state law for relief for the blind was passed in Ohio in 1898. This law was later declared unconstitutional, so that Illinois's so-called "blind pension" law of 1903 actually pioneered in establishing the principle of relief for the blind from public funds. By January, 1935 twenty-six states had passed similar legislation.

In 1935, with the passage of the Social Security Act, the Federal Government assumed the responsibility of helping the states to provide assistance to the needy blind. In the following pages Dr. Irwin gives his story of the passage of the Act -- a fight for security for the blind in which he took a very active part.

Since Dr. Irwin's sudden death in 1951, additional legislative measures have been passed relative to financial aid to the blind. In 1952 an amendment to the Social Security Act raised the federal maximum on the amount to be paid to blind individuals to $55.00, out of which the Federal Government pays four-fifths of the first $25.00 and one-half of the balance within the maximum. Furthermore, in 1953 Nevada passed a law meeting the requirements for federal-state assistance to the blind. The program, therefore, is now in force in all the states of the Union.

THE WAGNER-LEWIS BILL (later known as the Social Security Act) was the foundation of the New Deal program of economic and social security. Unemployment insurance, old-age pensions, maternal andchild welfare, and a program for crippled children were provided in the original bill, with the Federal Government matching state funds within certain limits. To these provisions the American Foundation for the Blind proposed the following additions:

1. Eligibility of blind persons at the age of fifty to the benefits of the old-age pensions to which sighted persons are eligible at sixty-five.

2. Inclusion of "children with seriously defective vision" among "crippled children" for whom "facilities for diagnosis and care, hospitalization, and after-care" are provided.