The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1918-07-27
THE PASSING OF THE CRIPPLE.
By Marion Southouy Smith of The vigi,
lantes.

auIeSs
Through the dark clouds which have
gathered over the whole world we see at
times sudden CLEAN of light like pass
ing glimpse of the clear blue beyond 1t
Is a flash of prophecy brief vision of
the renewed and purified world which
should follow upon the tragic days of
the great conflict. In the coming time,
we trust that there will be not only a
spiritual uplighting, but certain spirit
ualizing of material things,-a benefcent
use of agencies that have hitherto been
selfshly or narrowly applied From the
great stimulus of danger and sacrifice,
and the nearness of sorrow and death we
shall gain a keener and clearer under
standing. Old things will pass away To
believe this is a part of the intense faith
and hope that we need to sustain us
through the stress of the dark hour.
Mechanical power takes its character
from the spirit that uses it. All machin.
cry is but an immense extension of the
hands and Of the soul of man. As the
power within him is, so is the power with
which he reaches out through the uni
verse, for deaf and destruction, or for
life and renewal The Germans are us.
ing mechanical power malevolently and
diabolically, according to their natures
But in right human hands, it is, and will
be in the future to still greater extent
a strong agency in the restoration of the
world
We have here to consider it as applied
by surgeons to the rebuilding of broker
bodies, and SO directly as a sustaining
power to the souls of men. Hitherto il
most cases MANNED man has been a
broken man. With the conviction that ht
is practically useless, and with that
strange false shame that makes him fee
his disability as a disgrace, merely be
cause it is conspicuous, most crippled
men have been literally down and out
If poor, they have become beggars; il
rich, they have dragged out a weary ant
sorTowful existence, with the loss of hope
that comes from mAkeshift occupation!
and from the sense of helplessness. T,
this condition, of course, there have beer
shining exceptions-men who have fought
their disabilities yaliantly and who's
courage and enterprise have won fo
them high places, even in the industrial
world
BIT hitherto these men have been re
garded exceptional. The aim now is t
have all manned persons so restored t,
usefulness as to do away with the stig
ma of disability. The so-called Cripple
is to pass away. He is to be rendered
capable of doing, not a cripple's job, bu
a mans job; and his ability to do it i
to be an every day commonplace fact. /
only people at large win realize that thi
can be, accept it as a right, and regard i
as duty SO to accept it, the miracle vii
take place as surely as that the greer
earth will be restored in the spring
The soldier has a better startingpoin
than the average civilian, because he i
not ashamed of his incomplete body HI
is proud Of it! 1t has placed him on TIL
roll of honor, as one hurt in the world
defense. We all know with what gentl
and noble pride the old G. A. R, man car
ries his empty sleeve So now, in fa
greater degree, we shall have an army o
men whose injuries are their pride ant
glory, if only they can have at the sam