The Dominion WEDNESDAY, MAY 24, 1944. REHABILITATION

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 202, 24 May 1944, Page 6

The Dominion WEDNESDAY, MAY 24, 1944. REHABILITATION

At a conference of delegates from more than a dozen branches of the Returned Services Association, held in Auckland last week, it was decided to support a proposal to establish an R.S.A organization ‘'to consider and plan for both reconstruction and rehabilitation.” 1 he delegates who expressed the view that it was impossible to achieve rehabilitation with the present machinery undoubtedly spoke for a very large section of the population. There is a widespread feeling that the Government has failed to realize the magnitude of the problem. - ... It is, however, a task that, to a much greater extent than is usual, can be definitely defined. The numbers to be dealt with can be ascertained with accuracy. The men’s own’ plans and prefeiences can also be known well in advance. The avenues for their re-employment can be examined in detail, and preparations for land settlement which, it is generally understood, must be the basic policy in a country such as this, steadily advanced.- There is, too, provided the job is undeitaken with some imagination and energy the opportunity to have the necessary machinery set up and in smooth running order pnoi to t le peak load being recorded. Men are coming back now, casualties oi sick or temporarily broken by the physical severity of modern cam- . paigning. and their reabsorption affords the opportunity for launching and testing thoroughly thq, plans and projects which may be officially .favoured. ' . . , , , c The president of the Auckland R.S.A. informed the conference that the Rehabilitation Act was administered by ten independent Government departments, and alleged that the board estabhshe exercised only a theoretical control. Whatever may.be the position in that respect there is a growing feeling of uneasiness that what might be termed major plans have not been produced, that is, plans on a scale deemed likely to handle successfully thousands of men. In Great Britain, it has been said, they are directing policy in order to “make rehabilitation a thoroughly profitable investment. Recently, referring to one aspect, the re-employment of the disabled, a member of the Ministry said that they had found that medical science and industrial knowledge and experience were complementary to each other, and added that “experience in the working of the interim scheme” had convinced the Government that they could go forward “on the knowledge they had gained as a consequence of the past two vears’ work.” It is evidence of that character that is wanted here. Plans must be tested by experience and developed as their effectiveness is proved and the need grows. The more free the controlling and advisory authorities are from purely official membership, the more representative they are of the community as a whole, the better the prospects for any scheme. Rehabilitation must be not a Government, not a departmental, but a national undertaking.