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The Disabled Soldier

Creator: Douglas C. McMurtrie (author)
Date: 1919
Publisher: The Macmillan Company, New York
Source: Available at selected libraries
Figures From This Artifact: Figure 2  Figure 3  Figure 4  Figure 5  Figure 6  Figure 7  Figure 8  Figure 9  Figure 10  Figure 11  Figure 12  Figure 13  Figure 14  Figure 15  Figure 16  Figure 17  Figure 18  Figure 19  Figure 20  Figure 21  Figure 22  Figure 23  Figure 24  Figure 25  Figure 26

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624  

And so England followed the blazed trail of private philanthropic organizations and established Local Pensions Committees in every county, county borough, and urban district having a population of not less than 50,000. The committees are responsible to the Ministry of Pensions, which establishes rules and regulations to secure uniformity in the provisions they make for the men committed to their care. The appointment of these committees is largely left to the local authorities, but in general they must include some women, some representatives of labor, and members of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association, and of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Help Society. A salaried secretary appointed by the Ministry of Pensions is a kind of liaison officer between the local body and the central office.

625  

The duties of the Local Pensions Committee are broadly sketched in the instructions of the Ministry of Pensions: "The local committee should regard themselves as responsible for all discharged men of this class {i.e., disabled) living in their area. They should make it their business to get in touch with every such man, whether or not he has obtained employment or occupation since his discharge, and see that the treatment or training which his condition needs is secured for him when he needs it. . . . It is vitally important both in the man's interest and in that of the Nation that any case which needs either treatment or training should be taken in hand at once. Local committees must not be content with dealing only with the men who happen to present themselves to them for assistance; they must see that they have information as to the condition of all discharged pensioners in their areas, and make it a point of getting in touch with them directly they are discharged."

626  

The committee is to be guided in its decisions in regard to suitable training for a man by several considerations. His previous occupation must have weight. The proposed occupation must be suitable to his age, disablement, and physical condition. If any recommendation as to his training has been indicated on his notification of award for pension or by a hospital visitor, this must be considered. Not least of the factors entering into a solution of the problem before the committee must be the opportunities for a living wage in the occupation chosen for him.

627  

It must be quite clear that if the local committee were left to its own devices wholly in choosing an occupation for the man the result in the field of industry might be disastrous. The influx of a large number of disabled men into a particular occupation without some standard of training might arouse antagonisms that would be unfortunate. This necessitated some rulings by the central office in the interests of coordinated effort. Both the employers of labor and the work people must have some voice in the matter, especially in a country whose labor organization has made such strides. The necessary machinery was provided by the Ministry of Pensions cooperating with the Ministry of Labor. Trade Advisory Committees have been appointed for most of the principal trades. Each committee is composed of an equal number of employers and work people. It is the duty of each committee to advise the Ministry of Pensions as to conditions under which the training of men in that trade can best be given, the best methods of training, the suitable centers for it, and in general to secure uniformity in the training. The numerous reports already issued contain a valuable fund of information regarding the trade from the viewpoint of the man who is physically handicapped. The analysis of an industry with the man with abridged powers in view is a phase of industrial efficiency which the war has developed. Never again can the old laissez faire policy of allowing the handicapped man to stumble along the industrial road undirected and unassisted prevail. Society cannot again close its eyes to this waste of human efficiency and the heartbreak of the man whose work powers are unappreciated because of some physical abridgement he has suffered.

628  

The question of wages to be paid to a disabled man will always be a vexing problem. Where a disabled man can do his full stint of the work and compete with his normal fellows, he should plainly receive the equal wages whether he is receiving a pension or not. But there are grounds for debate when the man is physically unable to perform a full task either in hours or output. The inevitable tendency will be for the employer to depreciate the man's ability. The exploitation of the disabled man, especially when he is receiving a pension, is feared by organized labor, jealous of its wage standards. An effort has been made to provide machinery for obviating this difficulty. The Ministry of Labor has set up in the principal industrial centers advisory wages boards composed of representatives of employers and work people and three members of the Local Pensions Committee. This committee is to advise the local committee, or an employer desirous of employing a handicapped man, what would be an equitable wage in his particular case, taking into consideration the man's physical capacity and the current rate of wages for the industry in that locality. The question of a man's pension is not to be taken into account. The committee acts purely in an advisory capacity, but it is hoped by these means to provide against the exploitation of cripples or the lowering of trade standards.

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