Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1919-02-16
RED CROSS BRANCH PLANS WORK FOR
 DISABLED MEN
Conference will Endeavor to Make Them Self
 Supporting.
FOREIGN AGENTS TO \ ASSIST MOVEMENT
Handicapped Soldiers. Will Be Fitted
 For Various Occupations.

New York, Feb. 13.-A conference on the restoration of disabled man to self-support, international Tn It's re- presentation and the scope of subject to be discussed, will be held in New York during the month of March un- der the auspices of the Red Cross h. stitution for Crippled and Disabled men, department branch of the American Red Cross. Cooperating in the call to the conference, and direct ing that part of the program related to the work for blinded soldiers, is the Red Cross Institute for the blind of Baltimore.
 The sessions will continue for five days, morning, afternoon, and even- ing from March IS to March p. Two of the evening meetings will be pop uar sessions, open to the public, and will be held in Carnegie Hall.
 Representatives of practically all the governmental agencies in the al- lied countries dealing with disabled soldiers vii lattend, acceptances hav- ing already been received. Among the authorities to be represented are the British Ministry of Pension, the French National Institute for War Cripples, the Belgian Military Insti- ute for Crippled Soldiers, the Italian Ministry of Pensions, the Canadian Invalided Soldiers Commission, the Au stralian Department of Repatriation. and the Bureau of Re-education and Reconstruction of the American Red Cross in France. in addition to other individual organizations in the respec- tive countries.
 Representatives.
 Among the authorities in the United States which have promised repre- sentation are the Federal Board for Vocational Education. which is prov ing for American disabled soldiers training for self-support; the Division of Physical Reconstruction of the Off, flee of the Surgeon-General of the Army, which is providing restorative treatment and education during the ccQnvalescent period; the Bureau of War Risk Insurance, which furnishes artificial limbs to amputated soldiers Of the American Expeditionary Force, and: pays disability compensation; and thelAmerican Red Cross Department otfsFivilian Relief, which, through it's home service sections. provides social aftf-care for disabled men.
 .,n making announcement today of tnetplans for the conference, Douglas
 McMurtrie, director of the Red Croes Institute for Crippled and dis ables men, said the gathering would De unofficial in the government sense, but scientifically of great authority, as many of the leaders in the rehabi- lltation work abroad will come to the United States for the first time to at tend its session. Their presence here wlil afford opportunity to American workers in the same field to draw upon the experience of the foreign aelegates for the solution of local prob lens.
 Not For Soldiers Only.
 ,. While activities in behalf of the al a1lsabled soldier will figure largely in sIs .is program of both popular and scien- IIlc sessions, the interests of the dis soied industrial worker will come in M aUr a considerable share of attention. lne invitations to the conference de- skhated It as conference on the ienaollitation of the disabled man, v vlvlllan as we'll as military. Although Me concentration of interest on the in- tured soldier has been responsible for nas. S revolutionary change in national %silcies toward the disabled-whereby o.le1 dependence is placed no longer "a ~; pensions but rather on the train M's or men to earn their own living M " s oelng generally recognized that h,asy more men are disabled annual r m industry that have been inca tgSseltated tSa by military service. It is sn ne present aim of authorities having ann,l an h,lterest In the cripple in general to oSp,y o;',:,! 10 the treatment of the disabled dian S.vilian the same methods as have Sema uemseioped to meet the needs of the in' Vailded soldier.
 u;H Hne of the aims of the conference tha tHhni pc to direct public attention to hae,e e economy of putting disabled men mitt; Ht on the payroll rather than per snnsg ssing them to exist in idleness msnS, mupported by war pension or work "ens M Compensation.
 tba 1e preliminary program calls fol the ulscussion of specific questions al .ths th ,ndlvldual. sessions rather thar covoI v presentation of general papers wiring wifi thg 3 wide field. All speakinl l jund..h therefore be directly to the point fhs E; consideration and at least hal and Ime i: will be reserved for questions viii Jh.scussion from the floor. There sn,,nhe ue thus debated considerable bed.;;Ssl of subjects ranging from ths Q fas.:ss. f4ss occupations and the fittinf
 As'ilciai limbs to placement in