The Monticellonian., 1918-09-13
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 veNTSST1IQv nearly four years, with only ufa4HNHkAAlu partial success in its solution. vGSA06G1J Based upon the combined eX- perience of the allies and the central powers, studied at first hand by corps of specialists. and supplemented by cooperative research under the direction of the Red Cross Institute for Crippled and Disabled Men, and the National Association of Manufacturers, pro gramme has been worked out by the surgeon gen erals office of the army which is calculated to insure to every soldier of the United States who comes back from lover there" minus an arm or a leg, blind, deaf, otherwise handicapped, a better chance of reinstatement as a useful mem- Der of society than was afforded to any of the soldiers of the allies in the first two or three years of the war.
 Germany alone, the only nation that was pre- pared for this war, had included detailed plans for the reconstruction of mamed and mutilated soldiers in it's war program from the beginning, and, under its autocratie system of government, has been able to enforce these plans, with the result that every crippled German soldier is put to work at useful occupation with the slight est possible delay after his injury. The allies have had to evolve their general plans as well as particular methods out of the bitter experience of war, in this as in other phases of the great conflict writes Frank Parker Stockbridge fin New York Times.
 It was not until after the United States en- tered the war--in May, 1917, to be exact-that there was anything like complete exchange of experiences and principles evolved from them in respect to the cripple. Out of the first inter- allied conference on reconstruction and re-eduea- ton of the disabled combatant, held in Paris May 8 to 12 1917, at which delegates from the United States surgeon generals office sat for the first time as representatives of their nation at war. came international Interchange of knowledge and ideas concerning the war cripple At sec ond conference held in London last November. permanent nteraled committee established which will have its headquarters in a per manent institute for the disabled, endowed by the French government with 150,000 francs (S30- 000) for building and equipment. and maintained by annual appropriations Of 5000 francs ($6000) each by the different allied nations represented Z Already this clearing house of scientific and economic information for the benefit of the war cripple has done invaluable work la enabling the warning nations to profit by each others experi- ences and mistakes. Not the least valuable tributions have come from American sources our army surgeons having had opportunities for com paratfve observation of methods in vogue in diff fereHt countries denied to those whose nations had been actually at war for three years. The United States, therefore, will begin Its work of restoration with the accumulated experience of nearly four years to build upon
 The first steps toward reinstatement to a self
 
 steps, must be begun almost immediately after the soldier receives the incapactating injury and carried on continuously and cumulatively throughout the period of his hospital care.
 This is especially true in the case of the sol dier who has lost limb who has been blinded One of the most important lessons gained from the experience of the allies, if not the most im- portant is that the problem of the restoration to usefulness of the crippled soldier is a psycho- logical one. even more than it is surgical or economic. The experience of the French authori- ties, who had to deal with terrific proportion of mutiles in the first two years of the war. was disheartening. Fewer than IT per cent Of dis abled soldiers expressed Q desire even willing ness to learn how to do useful work. A large proportion had Host their nerve" at the same time that they lost their limbs or their eyesight. most Of them felt that they had done enough for Their eountry-that the nation owed them their living without effort. Because facilities for the early employment of patients. even at trivial oc- equations, were lacking in the military hospitals they had acquired the habit of likeness which, when once fixed. is almost ineradicable.
 The experience of France differed only in de- gree from that of the other allied nations. To avoid similar experience, and not only give every crippled soldier the best possible chance to become seh-supporting. but to insure that he avails himself se the opportunity thus afforded ne psychological and economic rehabilitation Of p'ess AhcfiSdu Sph<dtAttu Dy HE injuries TOT further military service will begin with and go on parallel with his physical rehabilitation. which. In turn, will be process not merely of patching up' but of the actual development to their utmost usefulness of all the injured mans remaining physical powers.
 The first reaction of the man who has lost a limb is utter despair. He Is "done for" in his owp estimation. Nobody has any use for crip- ple," Is the way h which nine out of ten express IL Unless he is @ man whose former oeeupa- ton has been mental. nse dependent upon the use of his physical energies he sees no ray of hope for his own future. Unless immediately rectiied, this state Of mind quickly becomes fixed and all but irremediable. So the first step to- ward rehabilitation. which will begin almost as coon as the injured man comes out from under the anesthetic is what they terming in the surgeon generals office "cheer-up work" By every means that c0R be devised the cripple is to - convinced that his case Is not hopeless that he still has chances of becoming again a useful ~~s>~~-~-~~~-.-~>~~~~~~