The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1921-06-16

Thousand, have waited for months
FOR an opportunity TO re-establish
themselves as self-sus'a.ling members
Of society by vocational training
Thousands are in need Of huspiraiza
tion. and the government has u0 hos
pltal fa,ilues available for them OF
the 10000 now IN hospitals, 450O are
luartprod in institutions unsuitrd 10
the needs Of the men quartered there.
New hospital cases are developing at
the rate Of 800 a month In excess
Of the number discharged. Sixteen
thousand beds are needed now Hun
dreds Of veterans are the object Of
public and private charity Afflicted
and penniless veterans have been drlv-
en- to refuge In almshouses and jails.
Many have died, and If immediate re-
lief is not Forthcoming, more will
die destitute, without proper medi-
cal care. without compensation with
which to obtain It, abandoned by the
country they served. All this is at
tributable directly to the manner in
which the government has admins
tered the affairs of the disabled.
"The bureau of war risk insurance
is responsible for the payment Of COM
pensation and for medical and hos
pital care of the man. Logically, this
would involve establishing contact
with the men at the time of their
discharge from the military or naval
service 1t should then determine the
existence and degree of disability and
compensation on this basis.
due to the Capitalization Of the
bureaus forces In Washington, it Is
practically impossible under the pres
ent law to establish contact with the
man entitled to these benefits. The
disabled man is placed in the position
Of man injured In industry who
must sue the company, He must car
ry on an involved and technical CORE
spondence. 1t is usually months af-
ter he is dropped from the pay rolls
Of the army or navy before he is TAX
en- upon the pay roll Of the bureau,
even though his service discharge
shows a definite degree of disability.
On November 20, 1920 $1,000 cases
were pending in the bureau awaiting
definite adjustment Of compensation.
Thousands are suffering and many
have died as a result Of this neglect.
''The federal board for vocational
training Will accept the evidence Of
the bureaus medical files granting
compensation as proof that a man 3
entitled TO vocational training. The
bureau, however, will not accept the
evidence that the board has awarded
training as proof that man is en-
titled to compensation.
If the veteran is receiving COM
pensation and wants training, usually
lie must take another physical exam
nation, administered by the board to
| determine whether the claimant has a
vocational handicap emitting him to
training pay, or merely a compens-
able disability granting him training
| only. If the veteran is not receiving
compensation, due to delay by the
| bureau, he must be examined by the
| board, to determine his eligibility for
| training. as well.
when a man enters training with
training pay, his compensation stops
and he is shifted from the pay roll Of
the bureau to the pay roll of the
board. The board, which was created
as training agency only, has be-
come a compensating agency as well.
Many men have been kept on the pay
roll of the board, not as training
measure solely, but as q measure Of
| financial relief which they were en-