WORK FOR EX-SOLDIERS

Evening Star, Issue 20321, 1 November 1929, Page 13

WORK FOR EX-SOLDIERS

COMMISSION OF INQUIRY YESTERDAY AFTERNOON’S EVIDENCE The Disabled Soldiers’ Commission of Inquiry, comprising Mr J. S. Barton, S.M. (chairman), Sir John Luke, and Mr'S. JV Harrison, sat again yesterday afternoon to hear further evidence in connection with its comprehensive investigation into the matter of providing employment for incapacitated ex-ser-vicemen. TUBERCULOSIS PATIENTS. Dr 0. E. W. Lyth stated that ho was medical director of tuberculosis institutions under the Otago Hospital Board, and had examined and treated hundreds of ox-soldiers. His in-patients at Pleasant Valley Sanatorium and Wakari Hospital were- all classed as suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, but the out-patients at the tuberculosis department of Dunedin Hospital included many chronic cases which had not been proved to bo tuberculosis. The ex-service in-patients during the past twelve months had been eighteen in number, four of whom had died. Fifteen of these patients had been pensioners (four, including an Australian soldier, having recently made successful claims within the past two years). Three had been non-pensioners—one whoso service had been entirely in Egypt after the armistice, one who had been in camp only, and a soldier of the Imperial Amy (who had died in hospital). The out-patients (excluding those who were also in-patients) had been forty-three in number, of which nineteen had been non-tuberculosis. Ho had no record of the number of out-patients receiving pensions. Before dealing with the problems presented by some of these patients, he would like to express admiration for the way in which many former patients had “ made good,” sometimes after a prolonged and disheartening experience of serious disability. Sample cases which he quoted formed three groups: (1) Men incapable of self-support by work, for whom occupation was beneficial. (2) Men wiblx considerable working capacity if the right occupation could be secured. There Were two sub-groups—(a) triers and (b) non-triers. (3) Men engaged in hard work, whose health demanded a change of occupation. It was unnecessary to stress the value of work m improving the health and morale of partially disabled men; the problem was to bring the right man and the right job permanently together. To the usual problem of unemployment there had to be added the fact that among many disabled men initiative had been impaired by reason of 511hoalth, prolonged hospitalisation, unemployment, and the pension. While they agreed that work was better than a pension, they lacked the power to grasp work. ‘‘ Wishbone ” had taken the place of “backbone,” and external assistance was required to stiffen the will.

Dealing with suitable work, Dr Lyth ottaed that ex-soidiors were reaching an age at which new occupations were not readily learned. This factor increased the difficulty caused by lack of initiative. The work chosen must either resemble the former occupation (modified for the changed condition of health) or must be a simple repetitive task. An occupation which required prolonged training meant mistakes and economic loss during training, and demanded, special aptitude, and at the end of training the disabled man was still at a disadvantage in competitive trade. Such occupations as poultry keeping should bo encouraged only m exceptional cases. Work such as ragdoll or poppy making was more suitable The work should not involve heavy manual labour, and any scheme whicii required the employment of numbers of strong men to supplement the work of the disabled was unsound.

While the open air was beneficial to health, “ the light occupation of the open air ” was Very difficult io obtain, and usually meant light pay. A handicraft suited to the strength and skill of the disabled man, and carried out under healthy conditions, was therefore usually * more desirable than the precarious open-air job. . In regard to organisation, the witness stated that whenever the problem of employment for tho disabled was discussed the expression “ colony ” or “ farm colony” was brought into use. and it was very necessary to have a clear idea as to the meaning of the word. “ Colonies ” for disabled men might be places where work was done under one or more of the three following headings:—(l) Occupational treatment, (2) vocation training, (S) industrial organisation. Occupational treatment was now widely used in hospitals and other institutions to aid recovery. The Red Cross organisation was helping ex-sol-diers in Dunedin institutions to carry out this work. It was valuable, psychological!, physically, and in pocket money, but it should be regarded as treatment, not employment. Vocational training had been tried in Britain and in New Zealand in “ training colonies ” with a very small amount of success. In some cases, although the work had been called vocational training, it had proved in effect to bo nothing more than a costly form of occupational treatment. , He would like to summarise as follows training in colonies always tended to deteriorate into “occupational treatment,” and - at the end of it the disabled man still had much of the lack of initiative for work, and was without permanent employment. All schemes of this kind should be carefully scrutinised. In industrial organisation an occupation involving the minimum of training was selected, and the organisation aimed at the permanent employment of the disabled man under, sheltered conditions of work.

The small population of New Zealand made'it undesirable that any attempt should be made to copy method's that were suitable for a large number of prospective employees, and _ a correspondingly numerous, purchasing public, but some of the. principals applied in the industrial village settlements for consumptives could be studied with advantage. • The important point, to realise was that, after training, the man fully earned his .wage at the standard rate. Where he was assisted was in the choice of suitable work, the good environment, the reduced hours, and the fact that he could .be . absent through sickness without risking his job. f Careful organisation must bo necessary to permit of these concessions, and it had been found that the best heads of departments were. patients themselves who had. been efficient workers before their illness, and now accepted the positions on account of disablement.

It had been proved; that men seriously incapacitated with, tuberculosis, and liable from time to . time to aggravations of their disease, could follow certain occupations and make them a financial success with this one exception: there was no interest on the capi tal. sunk in the business. Dividends could not be paid but of' consumptive labour, nor, indeed, out of that of most

disabled men. That fact was no doubt one of-the causes of the present problem. _ _ He did not suggest a village settlement in New Zealand at present. The bad home, conditions that made it necessary in'England were less prevalent in the dominion. The number of tuberculosis patients who would enter such a village would be small, and the advantages of the village were not so great for the non-tuberculosis; moreover, the village was too much like a now institution. Ho did suggest, however, that the principle of the hygiene factory, the sheltered industry in close touch with some hospital or similar organisation, the short hours and the subsidy for sick leave, and the light occupation involving repetitive rather than highly skilled work, could be made use of, aud that it was of the utmost importance psychologically that the man should really earn the money thta he received as wages, and that the industry should be as near as possible self-supporting. Other witnesses had suggested that new industries should have preference, and with this he agreed. The question of the control of such industries he left to others better qualified to express an opinion. To bring the men and the work together was an important consideration. The existing organisations, representatives of which had given evidence. could do much; but for the noutrier a vocation officer, such as suggested by. Dr Macdonald, might bo necessary. . _ . 111-health and lost initiative made it unlikely that the mere training in a new occupation, or the subsidising of a business, would lead to success. He did not oppose these methods for ablebodied unemployed. The organisation of the sheltered industry providing work of a character that did nqt_ involve strain was much more promising. Such work would improve the disabled man in body and mental outlook. It would pay economically in diminished pension charges, but there would be no dividends other than the improvement in the men themselves. As an alternative suggestion the organisation of employment in isolated positions _ (of which the liftman was the type) might be carried out. Sympathy and tact were essential in handling the problem; the mere official was worse than useless. The soldier had seen too many brass hats. ■ REPATRIATION, Mr H. E. Titchener said that his experience with the repatriation and absorption of the returned soldier in civil life dated back to July, 1916, when he had taken charge of the local office of the Discharged Soldier’s Information Department then being conducted under the auspices of the Dunedin Soldiers and Dependents’ Welfare Committee. When the Repatriation Department had been formed and had absorbed the Discharged Soldiers’ Department in January, 1919, he had been appointed chief clerk and vocational officer under Mr 11. D. Tennent, and had held that position until the department had ceased its activities in August, 1929. The ReEatriation Department, when it had een formed, had really nothing on which to set up a foundation beyond the men whom it bad been their intention to serve. This problem had not, to the same extent, been faced after previous wars. Consequently, new machinery had to be devisedto set the department in motion, and it must be admitted that the success of the department’s activities had been highly commendable, and met with the approval of the returned man and the public generally. The position to-day regarding unemployment amongst ex-servicemen, particularly those who were unfortunately disabled by wounds, or suffering from the after-effects of service, was a more difficult problem to he faced than that of repatriation of 1919, and there were two factors contributing towards this; (1) General unemployment; (2) the period that had elapsed since the man returned, and the increase in his age. Men to-day who could have been quite easily handled by being placed in new trades or vocations were now beyond the age when it was possible to do so with any measure of success. Many of them had family responsibilities that would preclude them from accepting what might he termed a standard wage for a learner in a new trade. Moreover, the majority of the men on the return from servi had been only too pleased to settle clown and assume civil life and responsibilities. To-day these men had a different angle of vision. Miiny_ who had been receiving economic pensions had had their viewpoint towards work altogether altered; consequently, to take away what had once been considered as a right by them would now in many cases be looked upon as an injustice. Avenues of employment that were' then opened and willingly thrown open to them were now closed, duo to possibly three causes;— (1) Ttie age or the man, (2) his disability, (3) the general unemployment question that existed at the present time. These, in his opinion, were some of the difficulties that would have to be met and overcome.

His ideas with regard to the placing of men in employment were that the Government would require to assist any project that was put forward, and unless any scheme that was put forward had the practical support and sympathy of the employing public, no _ success would meet its efforts. This might appear to be a broad statement, but, knowing the constitution of the various bodies that had assisted the returned men into civil life, both financially and with moral support, he was fully satisfied that such support would have to be forthcoming, and if the ways and means were provided by the Government there were men who would be prepared to give their time and thought to the settling of this most difficult question which had been allowed to drift to breaking point. The whole success of the Repatriation Department, so far as Otago had been concerned, had been due in' the first place to tne constitution that had been formed to meet the question—first of all, by the Central Board in Wellington, composed of Ministers of the Crown, with whom had been associated a chief executive officer, the district boards in each centre, and the local committees in the outlying districts, together with the whole-hearted assistance and sympathy of the various employers of labour, who had taken men into their employ and taught them new trades, and generally assisted them backinto civil life.

These-boards had been composed of public-spirited men who had had the interest of their appointment at heart, and the success attained had been in no small measure due to their efforts. If such machinery could be reconstructed to meet/ the present difficulty be felt sure that many employers of labour, who had, the sympathy and welfare of the returned men at heart, would only be too pleased to do all they could to help in relieving the present position which, as time went On, would become more accentuated. The co-operation of the trades unions, Returned Soldiers’ Association, patriotic societies, and various Government departments had been in those days very effective, and the scheme could again be resuscitated,, and public sympathy and support by way of employment would, he felt sure, bo gladly given. The avenue of entry to the more highly-skilled trades would to-day be closed to many men on. account of •their years, but there were many of the lesser skilled .that would be quite

suitable for them _to enter, and with proper representation made to the employers in these trades many could no doubt be absorbedHe took it that the commission _in the main had been set up to deal with the man in receipt of an economic pension on account of his being unable to secure employment. Constructive machinery would have to be devised to provide such work as he was capable of performing, and that could best be done as follows;—(1) The resuscitation of the whole or part of the machinery that had been evolved for the Renatriation Department; (2) the appointment of a control hoard in Wellington and local boards in eacl? of the centres, together with local committees in the lesser towns; (3) the co-operation of various trades unions. Government departments,' returned soldiers’ associations, patriotic societies, etc.; (4) the establishment of a farm colony, run, say, on similar lines to Hanmer, where a man could convalesce and at the same time engage in productive industry. Apart from necessity, the state of being in work or out of work was very largely a matter of habit, and many men would have to be carefully handled to get them back into harness. This could only be done by the exorcise of great tact on the part of all concerned, and anything in the nature of “red tape” should be abandoned; the absence of any “red tape ” had in no small measure contributed to the success that met the efforts of the Repatriation Department, its various boards, and executive officers.