The Dominion TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1917. ASSISTING DISABLED SOLDIERS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 6, 2 October 1917, Page 6

The Dominion TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1917. ASSISTING DISABLED SOLDIERS

i Av I>e 'El il the latest amendment to the War Pensions Act which deserves'to. bo singled out for particular notice and approval is the express provision that when a permanent pension has been granted to a, returned soldier it shall not afterwards ,bo reduced on account of any change ; in his earning capacity, ihis provision was demanded in the interests of simple justice, but it represents also the essential foundation of the great work that is to be done m enabling the broken soldier to tako tho best possible place 'in civil life that tho. exercise, or, if necessary, the development, of his remaining powers will permit. In the European countries where elaborate organisations of national scope have been created in the interests of the' disabled soldier, it is reCognised that re-education or training is the of the problem to bo' solved. British and other authorities uniformly insist that it is all-important, equally in the interests of tho disabled soldier and of the community to which'he'belongs, that he should be induced to shako off whatever is enervating or prostrating in the experience through which he has passed and set himself as manfully as he faced the enemy on the field of battle to make the very most of whatever opportunities of advancement life may still afford. _ The result of experience, according to a great French surgepn who is devoting his talents to the work of restoring disabled men,: is to show that more than three out of every four soldiers who have-lost a limb can be re-educated into productive members of the community. Like every other authority on the subject, the surgeon in question (Pkofessok Jtjles Amab) asserts the supreme value of work in fortifying mind and body, ancl finds its beneficial influence nowhere greater than in the case of men who nave incurred a physical handicap in war.

Now; that Parliament has done justice to our fighters by enacting that a pension shall flofc be reduced on account of increased earning power, it becomes easier to assert in this country the vital necessity of setting a high ideal in the work of restoring and re-educating disabled men. Tho guarantee that pensions will not be reduced relieves the men concerned of an apprehension they might otherwise have entertained, and make it clear that a parsimonious desire to reduce the burden carried by the State in no way enters into a policy of enabling disabled' men to attain the. highest possiblo degree of working efficiency. The great problem of reeducating disabled soldiers, so far as it affects New Zealand) has yet to bo faced. Keference to the last report of the Discharged Soldiers' Information Department serves to indicate some of the difficulties met with. In this. document the Hon. A. L. 'Hf-rdman, who is Ministerial head of the Department which has done so much in the way of assisting returned soldiers to resume their place in civil lifc,_ states that although existing facilities for the training of disabled soldiers (including free instruction at technical schools), aro systematically brought under the notico of disabled soldiers the response is poor. To all who have looked into the question it is quite clear that wo cannot afford to enter the demobilisation period with matters in this- state. The Discharged Soldiers' Department has made a beginning, but widespread co-operation is necessary, both in formulating an adequate policy and still more in carrying it into effect. It would be a sound. Poetical step for the. Discharged holders' Department to convcnc a conference of employers and trades union representatives of selected trades and industries in order to secure tho benefit of their advico and assistance. The Minister in charge of the Department would thus be fortified by being placed in possession of the views and experience of the . men most familiar with local conditions in those occupations best calculated to offer op-

porfcunifcics for the employment of .soldiers suffering from disabilities due to wounds and loss of limbs. The best means for the training or re-education of disabled soldiers would, of course, be discussed, and practical results might be cxpectecl to follow. The problem is one which it is in the interests of all to assist in finding a satisfactory solution, for apart from the fact that it is an obligation which, the country owes to the men who have been disabled in its service, it is also from the economic standpoint a sound policy to utilise every legitimate means to increase production. A disabled soldier should be able to live on _ his pension, hut if he is placed in a position to work and earn something additional ho is not only adding to his own income and bettering himself but •is adding to the wealth of the whole community.