they can do efficient work. Those who are so handicapped that they can not go back into their old jobs will be retrained for occupations in which they can and will become full 100 per cent efficient.

It is the duty of the workers of America to help these men in every possible way-to cooperate with the men and with the Federal Board in the great task of retaining them and replacing them in good jobs. It is the duty, and the privilege, of the workers of America to see that our disabled soldiers and sailors are given a square deal, and to Help them make good.

JUST HOW DOES THE FEDERAL BOARD PROPOSE TO DISCHARGE ITS DUTIES?

In dealing with the disabled man the board expects to treat him throughout as a civilian needing advice and assistance; to approve his choice of occupation unless. after careful inve-tigation, sound opinion shows it to be inadvisable; to train him to meet the needs of the occupation he has elected; to urge him to make the most of his opportunity to overcome his handicap by taking thorough-going instructions; to help him to secure desirable permanent employment; and to keep in close touch with him after he goes to work.

As soon as the military aurids have decided that any disabled man is to be discharged from the hospital and returned to civilian life, it becomes the duty of the Federal Board, through its Vocational Advisers in hospitals, to deal with the problem of training him and of placing him in civilian employment. This task involves five possible steps:

(a) Election by the disabled man of a course of training.

(b) Preliminary training to fit him for a definite occupation or pursuit.

(c) A probationary period of employment in that occupation or pursuit.

(d) Placement in suitable employment in the occupation or pursuit. (e) Follow-up work to safeguard his interests.

ELECTION BY THE DISABLED MAN OF A COURSE OF TRAINING.

Representatives of the Federal Board will confer with each disabled man before his discharge from the hospital. If he is able to resume his former occupation successfully or to follow some new occupation without special training, the Federal Board will assist him, if he so desires, to secure employment therein. Should he elect,

even under these circumstances, to take additional training for his occupation before he enters upon employment, the law provides that he may do so at the expense of the Government, under conditions determined by the Federal Board. If, however, he is unable to pursue his old occupation or to enter successfully upon a new occupation, he may be trained by the Federal Board for any vocation or pursuit that he desires to follow and in which, in the opinion of the Board, he is likely to become proficient.

In advising as to future employment, representatives of the Board have equipped themselves with information concerning the requirements and opportunities of the various occupations. Much of this information is furnished to the men in printed form. The representatives are informed concerning the kinds of occupations from which certain types of handicap are shut out.

Every effort is being made to assist the disabled man toward that occupation in which he is most interested and for which, because of his aptitude and experience on the one hand and his handicap on the other, he is best suited. In order to utilize previous knowledge and skill, the disabled man is advised-other things being equal--to elect training, should he need it, for the industry, business, or pursuit in which he was engaged before the war, or for one akin to it.

As a general policy, a handicapped man is not directed toward an overcrowded or a waning occupation in which present or future competition might make permanent employment uncertain. In order, however, to realize fully upon the man's interest and ability, he is given the widest possible range of choice among those desirable occupations in which, in the light of the best medical and vocational knowledge available, he can, with his special handicap, successfully engage. In this connection the Board seeks advice from those experts in the hospitals who have effected the man's physical rehabilitation. The disabled man, with the approval of the Board, may elect to be trained in agriculture, commerce, industry, transportation, or the professions. The length and character of the course of instruction depends upon the requirements of the vocat.on, the ability and interest of the man, and his previous training and experience.

After the Vocational Adviser has assisted the handicapped man to choose a suitable occupation, his case, with full information, is referred to the office of the district wherein the man has received physical rehabilitation. Every case is there considered individually on its merits by a local board made up of two representatives of the district office, one of whom is a physician, and two representatives chosen from the locality, one of whom is an employer and one a representative of labor. If necessary, the man himself, accompanied by the Vocational Adviser, may appear before the local board.

PRELIMINARY TRAINING FITTING HIM FOR A DEFINITE OCCUPATION OR PURSUIT.

After physical rehabilitation the discharged soldier or sailor becomes a civilian to be trained for and placed in civilian employment by the Federal Board. As a student he is supported by the Government, and the same allotment and family allowance for his dependents is paid as were received by them while he was in the military service. As a student, moreover, he has the same freedom as any other civilian attending school or college. He is "on his own," meeting such expenses as are not covered by the Board from the compensation provided in the Vocational Rehabilitation Act and sent, monthly or semimonthly, direct to him.

Through the district vocational office, where a medical officer is stationed, the health of the disabled man is cared for while in training by the Board. After he secures permanent employment, he, as a beneficiency under the War-Risk Insurance Act, will be cared for by the War Risk Insurance Bureau should there be any recurrence of disabilities due to military service.

As a student supported by the Government while taking instruction, the disabled man is expected to pursue the work in a satisfactory way and to obey reasonable rules and regulations. Continued failure to do so would result in dismissal. Where it if found advisable to shift the student from one course of training or from one class or school to another, this, with his consent, is done.

The disabled man is given his preliminary training in a variety of ways. As far as possible existing facilities are utilized. While the plant, equipment, and staff of existing schools and colleges in many instances is used, there must be in many cases special arrangements to meet the needs of the disabled man. Manufacturing establishments, offices, and farms are employed to give preliminary training. In every case, however, the Federal Board requires the course of instruction to be adapted to the interests and needs of the disabled man, definitely planned for him as a learner, and arranged or approved, as well as inspected and supervised, by its agents.

The length of this course of preliminary training varies greatly according to the ability, ambition, and handicaps of the man and the requirements of the work itself, or to the skill and knowledge required for present and future success.

A PROBATIONARY PERIOD OF EMPLOYMENT IN THE OCCUPATION OR PURSUIT.

In assisting the disabled man to secure desirable employment the Federal Board, as authorized and directed by the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, will utilize as far as may be practicable the facilities of the Department of Labor. Where the man has been given preliminary

training outside the plant, office, or farm on which he is to be employed, this probationary period begins when he is transferred, as a beginner, into the occupation or pursuit. Where the preliminary training has been given within the plant, office, or farm, the period of probation starts at the point, in the case of each individual, where he becomes capable of entering upon the occupation or pursuit as a worker.

As a probationer he will be perfecting himself in processes, adjusting himself to the demands of commercial production. He will be gradually fitting himself to become a permanent employee at the prevailing wage, either in the place where he is serving his probationary period or elsewhere. During this period the Federal Board will regard him as in training and subject to its inspection and supervision; but any wages he may receive as a probationer will be over and above the mount paid to him by the Government while he is in training. PERMANENT EMPLOYMENT IN THE OCCUPATION OR PURSUIT. This begins at the point when, in the opinion of the Board, the probationer has adjusted himself to the requirements of the occupation or pursuit as a workman. The shifting from probationary to permanent employment may be inade in either the ame or another estab-., lishment, and the disabled man has the same freedom of choice and action as any other workman" on his own." Support by the Government of the man as a student will cease at the close of the probationary period.

As a beneficiary under the War-Risk Insurance Act, however, he will be entitled to the compensation allotted under that act. In most cases this will be less than the support received from the Federal Board under the provisions of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act.

The aim of the Board is always to direct the disabled man toward, and to provide him with, training for an occupation in which he can become as proficient as the normal man. Yet it must not be overlooked that some of the disabled men will not become fully competent to earn the prevailing wage. Therefore, where a disabled man is unable, because of his handicap, to earn the full prevailing wage for his occupation, an adjustment, in accordance with the rules and regulations of the shop is to be made. Where working agreements are in effect between employers and employees, the regulations thereof shall govern the procedure in adjusting such partial wages. Where there are no such facilities, the adjustment is to be made by conference between the man, his employer, and a representative of the Federal Board. It should be fully understood that the disabled man himself, as a free contracting agent, may in every ease accept or reject any terms or scale proposed.

The disabled man should, however, receive equal pay for equal work, and under no circumstances will a wage for a disabled man be approved by the Federal Board where it appears that decreases have been made because he is receiving a compensation for his injury from the Government.

FOLLOW-UP WORK TO SAFEGUARD INTERESTS OF THE MAN.

As the official friend and adviser to the disabled man, the Board will keep in touch with him, through its representatives, for such period after he enters employment as may be necessary to complete, in each individual case, his reestablishment as a civilian worker. The Board will protect him against injustice or exploitation by the adjustment of difficulties and, if need be, by aiding him through further training or assistance to secure other and more desirable employment in the same or another occupation.