The Tomahawk. [volume] (White Earth, Becker County, Minn.) 1903-192?, 1918-09-19

ngTTSRI1ES0y nearly four years, with only
H44A4f3kVEN partial success in its solution
y&A1Zy 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. a 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 "over there" minus an arm or
a leg, blind deaf, or otherwise handicapped,
better chance Of reinstatement as q useful men,
Der of society than afforded to any OF the
soldiers Of the allies in the first two or three
years of the war. .,. 49,. T..
Germany alone, the only nation that was pre-
pared for this war. had included detailed plans
for the reconstruction Of MANNED and mutilated
soldiers in its war program from the beginning
and under its autOcratic system OF government
has been able to enforce these plans, with the
result that every crippled German soldier Is put
to work at some useful occupation with the slight
est possible delay after his injury. The allies
have had to evolve their general plans as we'll
as particular methods out of the bitter experience
of war, in this as in other phases of the great
conflict, writes Frank Parker Stockbridge in New
York Times. ...... g. n. -s.
1t was not until~after the United States en-
tered the warm 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-educa-
ton Of the disabled combatant, held in Paris May
6 to IL, 1917 at which delegates from the United
States surgeon generals office sat for the first
time as representatives of their nation at war;
came an International interchange of knowledge
and ideas concerning the war cripple. At a Sec
ond conference, held in London last November,
permanent interaled committee was established
viii a npr.
Inanent institute for the disabled, endowed by
the French government with 10000 francs $780,
OOO) for building and equipment, and maintained
by annual appropriations of 10000 francs ($6OO0)
each by the different allied nations represented.
Already this clearing house of scientific and
economic information for the benefit of the war
cripple has done invaluable work in enabling the
warning nations to profit by each others expert
ences and mistakes. Not the least valuable con-
tributions have come from American sources, our
army surgeons having had opportunities for COM
parative observation of methods in vogue in DIFF
ferent 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 self
supporting status and by far the most important
steps, must be begun almost Immediately after
the soldier receives the incapacitating injury
and carried on continuously and cumuatvely
throughout the period of his hospital care.
This is especially true in the case of the SOL
der who has lost limb, or who has been blinded
One of the most important lessons gained from
The experience of the allies If not the most I'M
portant is that the problem Of the restoration to
usefulness Of the crippled soldier is psyche
logical one, even more than 1t is surgical OF
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
<5frHs fhon nor rom q.
abled soldiers expressed desire or even willing
ness to learn how to do useful work. A large
proportion had 'lost their nerve" at the same
time that they lost their limbs or their eyesght.
most Of them felt that they had done enough for
their country-that the nation owed them their
living without effort. Because facilities for the
early employment of patients, even at trivial &C.
cupations were lacking In the military hospitals,
they had acquired the habit Of idleness 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 self-supporting, but to insure that ne
avails himself Of the opportunity thus AFFORDED,
the psychological and economic Republication OF
every American incapacitated by his injuries TOE
further military service will begin with and 50
on parallel with his physical rehabilitation.
which, in turn will be a process not merely OF
matching up" but of the actual development 10
| their utmost usefulness Of oil the injured mans
remaining physical powers.
The first reaction Of the man who has lost q
limb is utter despair. He is done fol" In his
own estimation. "Nobody has any use Tor Grip
ME is the way in which nine out OF ten express
It. Unless he Is man whose former occupa-
S fion has been mental not dependent upon the
use Of his physical energies, he sees no ray OF
hope for his own future. Unless immediately
rectified this state Of mind quickly becomes n1ed
and all but frremediable So the nrst step To-
ward rehabilitation. which will begin almost as
soo. rs the injured man comes out from under
the anesthetic, IL what they are terming In the
surgeon generals Office -cheer-up work. BY
eyerx msass that car be devised the cripple u 10
I've sen-inced that his case In not ncpeaess that
~. stu he's CHANCES Of becoming asafn .