COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION,

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, Tuesday, April 6, 1920.

The committee met at 10 o'clock a. m., Hon. Simeon D. Fess (chairman) presiding.

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will please come to order. Mr. McGovern, you may be sworn.

Mr. McGOVERN. Yes.

STATEMENT OF MR. GEORGE B. McGOVERN, 260 NEW MAIN STREET, YONKERS, N. Y.

The CHAIRMAN. You may give your full name and your present address to the stenographer.

Mr. McGOVERN. George B.. McGovern, 260 New Main Street, Yonkers, N. Y.

The CHAIRMAN. Congressman Husted, who has a resolution before the committee, asked me to have you come before the committee; that you had some information that the committee would be glad to have in regard to the work of rehabilitation. You may proceed to tell the committee what you know about the work, and you may proceed uninterrupted unless some member of the committee wants to ask you a question.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I would like to have, first, not for the record, an opportunity to make a short statement of about four or five sentences. My interest in the work of the Federal Board for Vocational Education, the rehabilitation division, is that of a citizen who wants to see these men properly taken care of. My reason for delay in action is the illness of the President and the situation with regard to the war matters generally, and I felt, having met members of the committee, that the committee would be reluctant about investigating this matter because of the fact that if even one man in the United States who had been injured in the service were to get the idea that the Federal board or any board was not willing to perform and did not perform its full duty that I would be doing wrong to that man. I wanted to do this work quietly if I could.

To go on with my connection with the board and with the work: My first connection with the board was through a letter addressed to the President of the United States in which I objected to the amount of the appropriation granted.

The CHAIRMAN. What time was that?

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Mr. MCGOVERN. That was-I have a letter in reply which is dated July 22, 1918. My letter was dated July 16 of the same year, to the American Federation of Labor in St. Paul. I requested that the American Federation of Labor on or about June 15 take steps to have the amount increased. My reasons, as given both to the American Federation of Labor in convention and to the President, were these: At that time we had about 8,000,000 men under consideration as an armed force. Dividing that into the amount

The CHAIRMAN. What do you mean by the 8,000,000 men? Mr. McGOVERN. At that time the general reports were that we anticipated that it would probably be necessary to have 8,000,000 men under arms for war duty. That was in July, 1918. We had then, I think, more than half the men, and about five to one behind them engaged in service which was similar and which we believed would come under rehabilitation. I divided the 2,000,000 by 8, and that reached the sum of 25 cents per capita, an average. I divided that $2,000,000 by the approximate number of vocations. in the United States, which gave $6,000 to each vocation, which would not allow a plan of rehabilitation for even one man.

The CHAIRMAN. What was your official position at this time when you wrote the President?

Mr. McGOVERN. I had no official position.

The CHAIRMAN. Just as a citizen?

Mr. McGOVERN. The result of my letter was a reply from the Federal board in which they requested me to see them and suggested that I accept a position. I did not reply to that letter for about 30 days. Then I came down to Washington to see the board and explain to them that my attitude was not that of one who was seeking a position, but one who would rather remain aloof, so that he would not be under orders-that he would be absolutely free as a citizen to assist the board in this work. I found at that time that there were two gentlemen here-a Mr. Kidner and a Dr. Miller-I am not sure but what Mr. Kidner was a doctor also.

THE CHAIRMAN. Mr. Kidner was from Canada?

Mr. McGOVERN. And Dr. Miller was from Canada. I investigated then their method of rehabilitation and I told both Dr. Kidner and Mr. Miller and Mr. Critchett, who was there at the time, that I did not exactly approve of the conditions, that I did not think it was founded on American methods, that the Canadian methods were vastly different from those in America.

The CHAIRMAN. May I ask what had led to your interest in that particular line of work? Had you had any particular practical experience before?

Mr. McGOVERN. Yes, sir; about 17 years ago, I had this right hand crushed and I had that hand in a sleeve for a year. I made up my mind at that time that if it were possible I would devise some engine or a machine which would help a man who was in the same position that I was at that time. I know how I felt, so to follow along and answer your question, if I may elaborate, in 1914, in the American Federation of Labor convention in November I introduced a resolution. This is the result of years of work to get at the whole thing at what I thought was a big human machine.

In 1914 I introduced a resolution at the American Federation of Labor, and I have a copy of it here, a typewritten copy, which was

an effort to establish some machinery for the care of what I termed the industrial cripple. I was talking then with working people and was making the strongest appeal that I could. I told them at that time that we would be in the war, that we would probably be attacked by the victor if we did not enter the war on one side or the other, as soon as the American people had reached a conclusion. And I told them what I believe to-day, that the experience of persons who have been handicapped in the United States is the most fruitful field on which to construct a proper theory of rehabilitation. That resolution failed to pass in Philadelphia. I then failed of election to the 1915 convention and in 1917 I went to Buffalo and in November, 1917, I reintroduced this resolution, practically the same text, with one or two words' difference. In 1917 the American Federation of Labor adopted the principle of rehabilitating industrial cripples. That went along until 1918, in June, when the matter of rehabilitation was brought up here. I was never notified; why, I do not know, although I had fought and spent my own money to get this over.

The CHAIRMAN. If you will permit me, likely you were not called because the hearings were held by conjoint meetings of the two committees of the House and Senate and we decided to call representatives of these various associations and when the American Federation of Labor was called it was called through Mr. Gompers, and he appeared. I presume that was the reason.

Mr. McGOVERN. That is not said in the way of complaint.
The CHAIRMAN. I understand.

Mr. McGOVERN. The fact is, I was not interested in such matters so much as with the operations in the process of formation or I would have been here.

The CHAIRMAN. If you will permit also, at that time there was very strong pressure brought to attach to the disabled cripple a provision for the industrial cripple and we as a committee asked them not to press that at that time for the reason that the disabled soldier would be purely a Federal function, he being in the service, and industrial cripples would be a cooperative function, Federal and State. We were afraid that if you put that in at that time that it would delay and we could not get at the organization, and upon the promise of the committee that they would get behind the industrial cripple movement after that was over, that was dropped.

Mr. McGOVERN. In addition, at Buffalo, I introduced a resolution. which would have given-my theory, understand, of rehabilitation is based on gathering practical experience of men who have been in this work and then have educators criticize these plans and devise from them a method of rehabilitation coming from experience. That is where I expected to get the teachers from, and train these men and cooperate with these men. Some people say that it is only a fool that learns by experience, but I do not agree with that saying at all. Any man who has had experience is better qualified, in my opinion, than one who has not.

In Buffalo I introduced a resolution in addition to the first and I requested that the American Federation of Labor gather and compile the cases of like nature, and then in St. Paul I learned something else, and that was through the drive, as it is generally known, marvelous things could be accomplished. I requested the American Federation of Labor in St. Paul to appeal to the President, who,

as head of the Red Cross, would lead the drives of patriotic organizations to have the people of the United States who had been crippled write on a postal card their name and address, the nature of their injury, what their occupation was previous to their injury, what their occupation was subsequent to their injury, and if they felt so disposed this would be a private matter, their relative salaries before and after injury.

The CHAIRMAN. That was in 1918?

Mr. McGOVERN. 1918, in June, in St. Paul, and unfortunately, through some labor troubles, our organization talked about raising of the wages, and I had to back track to keep this other thing out. I was not able to get it through there on that account. That resolution failed to pass. I forgot to state that these postal cards were to have been sent to the local centers. My theory of rehabilitation is that the man should be rehabilitated right in his home town, that criticism and construction in rehabilitation are best found among the man's own friends in his own neighborhood, that his ideals, his aspirations, and his knowledge of opportunities are best found in the community in which he is born.

The CHAIRMAN. I think you have fully qualified yourself to testify on rehabilitation. You could give the committee your experience, if you had any, with the Federal board.

Mr. MCGOVERN. Would it be relevant and necessary to state my methods and connections?

The CHAIRMAN. It would be all right; yes.

Mr. McGOVERN. On November 17, in 1918, I received a telegram offering me a position as placement officer with the Federal board, asking me how soon I could report for duty.

The CHAIRMAN. Here in Washington?

Mr. McGOVERN. Yes, sir. I have the telegram here among my papers. I did not reply to that, because on November 7 there was no armistice. We were at war and at that time I had connections out so that I would probably have been in the service in a very short time. On November 11 or 12, I believe it was, the day after the armistice, I wired to Washington that I was ready to accept immediately. I quit my position, which paid practically the same salary as the salary with the board offered, and reported to Mr. Griffin.

The CHAIRMAN. In New York?

Mr. McGOVERN. In New York City. He was district vocational officer for district No. 2, but I am a little ahead of myself. In October I came down here and the Federal board had no publicity. That was the theory. In my mind that is one thing that once the American people get their minds and their charity turned on any object that is going over. One man's thought is nothing when compared with the opinion of the American people behind it, who combine themselves as a drive for the "blesses," as I call them. It is a pretty good short name.

I told the board here, "Your method of rehabilitation is not mine. I will go to New York and do as I am told. I will do everything or anything that you tell me to do and I will not interfere in any way." I wanted it understood on account of my first apparent opposition to the work of the Federal board that I intended to do