THE CRIPPLED

Hokitika Guardian, 14 October 1930, Page 6

THE CRIPPLED

AN APPEAL FOR THEM

(By. Telegraph—-Per Press Association.)

WELLINGTON, Oct. 14

Dr A. Gillies pleaded the cause of New Zealand’s cripples, in an' address to St. John’s Ambulance Assbeiatiojl.“Having brought a patient to the condition where lie has actually* recovered, or where the possibilities are that he will recover no further, the question arises as to wliat should be done with him,” said Dr Gillies. “There may remain a certain degree of disability which renders it impossible for him to take up • his own works. What ohanae iliad disabled men to get a job to-day ? They had no hope of relief work and if financially handicapped had nothing 'but charity to fall back upon. In many other countries after the war, cripples had been trained and rehabilitated. Privillegies and machinery in operation were extended to civilian cripples and thoso crippled since childhood or disabled in any manner. Such sdhem-iL jl*ad Lien definitely 'ipidtertaken in United ‘ .States, Canada, Sweden and Germany, and England was fiasb organising- one. It might b argued that the rehabilitation of disabled was a wasteful; policy in view of the deplorable “increase in the numb'r of able? bodied unemployed.-, hut the- period of depression struck first at the weakest in the comm,un-. j.ty. No capalble ) disabled person should be left to compete with able bodied for employment. >ln some countries special jobs were ear-mark-ed for the crippled and while there was no national law in this regard, many ilrnts set aside certain jobs for cripples in tlieir area. New Zealand -at present had no, organisation specially interested in the disabled, and until that was remedied, the Dominion would he behind the rest of the world in meeting lier social obligations.