_VOCATIONAL TRAINING._
The aftermath of the Great War, which virtually ended with the Armistice
on November 11, 1918, should be historically different from the social
and economic muddles and messes which have succeeded other prolonged
struggles. Human nature has not changed, but society is more
enlightened, more highly organized, and more averse to waste.
The soldiers who returned to Canada from the Boer War were paid small
Imperial pensions for disabilities incurred and were rewarded by grants
of land in the great Canadian West, which almost all of them realized on
immediately, selling them to “land sharks” for ridiculously small cash
sums. It has been stated that most of the British veterans of the Crimea
died in the workhouses.
Just as the last War was fought with more highly developed death-dealing
machines and apparatus, and consequently evolved entirely new means of
counter-offensive and protection, so the Allied nations employed
entirely new methods to compensate the disabled fighting men for the
incapacities they suffered through service. The aim was to develop all
of the remaining abilities and aptitudes of the crippled soldier so that
he might be able to retain his place in civilian life as an active,
independent, self-supporting citizen.
Nova Scotia can justly claim the credit for starting the plan of
vocational re-training developed in Canada. In July, 1915, Miss I.
Matthews, who was assisting her sister, Mrs. J. K. L. Ross, in preparing
the residence of the latter in Sydney for use as a convalescent home for
soldiers, secured a pamphlet describing the early efforts of France in
rehabilitating war cripples. She brought it to the attention of Hon. G.
H. Murray, who asked Principal F. H. Sexton, of the Technical College,
for some concrete practical suggestions. The latter prepared a careful
report on the methods which the Dominion might use to organize this
work, and this was submitted to the Premier of Canada, Sir Robert
Borden.
[Illustration:
DR. F. H. SEXTON,
Principal Nova Scotia Technical College.]
Just before this there had been created the Military Hospitals
Commission to control the treatment in Canada of wounded and disabled
men returning from Europe. The report on vocational re-training was
submitted to the Commission for consideration and action. The subject
was regarded of such importance that a conference of Provincial Premiers
and other representatives was called to consider this and some other
questions affecting returned men.
Principal Sexton was sent as a Nova Scotian delegate to this conference
and explained his ideas. He asserted that nearly all maimed and crippled
men could be put on their feet again as wage-earners by a short,
practical, intensive course in vocational training. The men were adults
who had already had some industrial experience and consequently would
not need as much or as long training as youths being apprenticed in
trades. During the last twenty-five years industry had been sub-divided
into many specialized occupations, in many of which little physical
effort was required. Advantage could be taken of the vocational
experience of the soldier previous to enlistment and, in most cases, he
could be trained for some occupation in the same industry where his
disability would not be a handicap. That is, the crippled men could be
moved side-wise in industry to some parallel occupation or, by means of
a little education, could be lifted up higher and fitted for some
supervisory position as boss, foreman, or superintendent. Thus, a
structural steel worker, with some physical deficiency, would be trained
for a position of draftsman. The coal miner, who was disabled, so that
he could no longer dig coal at the face could, in a comparatively short
time, be trained for the position of shot-firer, fire boss, mine
examiner, overman, underground foreman, or mine manager.
There were endless opportunities for fitting men for occupations that
required more technical knowledge, more skill, and more mental capacity.
Most of the Canadian soldiers had not much opportunity for vocational
education in their youth, and the great majority could be prepared for
better jobs with their disability than they had been able to qualify for
before they enlisted. It was pointed out that technical schools could
offer some courses for disabled men, and that the rest of them could be
given intensive short apprenticeships in industry. The disabled men and
their families should be supported in respectability during the course
of training. It was emphasized that the soldier in the hospital should
begin to do some work as soon as possible, so that he would not lose his
habits of industry by too prolonged an idleness during treatment. This
method of technical education would be expensive, but it would more than
repay the country by making almost all the disabled men competent to
maintain themselves as wage-earners for the remainder of their lives,
and eliminate the great proportion of indigent, idle pensioners that had
succeeded other great wars.
The conference in September, 1915, enthusiastically recommended that the
Military Hospitals Commission proceed to develop vocational training of
disabled soldiers along the lines proposed. Soon after this steps were
taken to put the suggestions into actual practice. Principal Sexton was
appointed, under the Commission, as Vocational Officer for Quebec and
the Maritime Provinces, which office he has held for four and one-half
years.
When the convalescent hospitals were first opened in Canada, it was
thought at first that all the men needed was the necessary medical
treatment and a rest and then most of them would naturally return to
work. People who had not had army training, and who had not endured the
terrible experiences in the front line trenches, did not understand the
psychological reversal most of the soldiers had suffered. The ordinary
Canadian was noted for his power of initiative. In times of peace he had
developed resourcefulness and individuality. From thousands of
occupations our men donned the khaki uniform. The first great lesson for
the new soldier was that of implicit obedience to his superior officers.
He was instructed that others would do his thinking for him. The
responsibility of providing food, shelter, and raiment for himself and
his dependants, which had been his constant effort in waking hours, was
lifted from his shoulders. His habits were regularized to conform to a
single standard,—that of the well-disciplined soldier. In action he was
forced into a condition of personal dirtiness that would have been
absolutely repellent to him in ordinary life. He was subjected to the
nerve-racking, soul-splitting ordeal of continuous fire of high
explosives. Death lurked at his elbow continuously in a thousand hideous
forms. He lived like a worm, and the taking and giving of human life
became an hourly experience. He forgot what a normal mode of living was
like, and his tours back and forth to the trenches seemed the whole of
existence, with only a ghastly way out of it. Then came his “blighty,”
and the long, painful period of hospital experience where willing and
loving hands ministered to every need. He was doctored, nursed and
entertained lavishly. Is it any wonder that he found himself in an
abnormal mental state, and that ordinary civilian life seemed petty and
cold and humdrum? Is it surprising that he found himself slow to rouse
himself and prepare to take up again some civilian task in the treadmill
of industry which would reward him with only food, clothing and lodging?
After the glorious comradeship with his fellows in facing death, the
competitive system in a life of routine duties seemed dull and deadly.
It seemed evident from the first experience that work was the only
panacea. Definite, interesting occupation alone offered the means of
making the man forget himself, and of wrenching him around into the
footpath of peace. Self-imposed routine duties of an absorbing nature
provided the necessary attraction and distraction to enable the man to
prepare himself again for a useful life in industry. Therefore
interesting work of all kinds was provided to suit different abilities
and disabilities.
Three divisions of the work of re-training the disabled soldier
developed as progress was made with this task, viz.: (1) Ward
Occupations; (2) Curative Workshops; (3) Industrial Re-training. These
will be taken up in the order named.
1. WARD OCCUPATIONS. Basketry, weaving, leather work and other
handicrafts were taught to the men in hospital right in the wards, as
recreational activity, during the time of convalescence when the
soldiers, as patients, are not advanced far enough in their recovery to
leave their beds or to take up serious education.
2. CURATIVE WORKSHOPS. Every hospital had either a separate vocational
building or a portion of its space set aside for curative workshops.
Here were held a variety of classes for men taking treatment who were
able to leave their wards and who wished to study some subjects which
would be of advantage to them when they were discharged from hospital
and would re-enter civilian life or take up training for a new
occupation.
3. INDUSTRIAL RE-TRAINING. This was the most important division of the
work and, in fact, constituted the main activity of the Vocational
Branch of the Department of Soldiers’ Civil Re-establishment. All
soldiers who received a disability in military service through disease,
accident or wounds which prevented them from returning to their old
occupations, were entitled to industrial re-training. Any man who
enlisted under the age of eighteen, and whose apprenticeship or training
for some useful occupation was seriously interrupted by the War, was
also entitled to an industrial re-training course. Thousands of men had
to be intensively trained for hundreds of different occupations in the
shortest possible time. During their courses they and their dependants
received pay and allowances to support themselves. Every kind of
institution which offered definite vocational training was utilized, but
a great proportion of the men were placed in industry itself to learn
their new occupations. Special trade classes and schools had to be
organized and equipped by the Department of Soldiers’ Civil
Re-establishment to meet the new need. The main aim was to train the
disabled soldiers and minors in six to ten months, so that they could
earn the prevailing wage in suitable vocations. This aim was realized
with results that have amply justified the predictions of experts in
industrial education and the enormous expenditure of money necessary.
The development of the three main divisions of the vocational work in
Nova Scotia is interesting and illuminating, and promises much for the
future in pointing the way to further developments in our hospital
treatment and the reclaiming of the productive power of our men who have
been or will be crippled by accident or disease.
It was very evident from the first experience with returned disabled
soldiers in Canadian convalescent hospitals, that they needed some
definite work to engage their attention just as soon as they were able
to do it. After a prolonged illness their morale was very low, and many
were convinced that they were so badly disabled that they would never be
good for anything again. Nerves, muscles, and tendons which had been
seriously damaged by wounds, could be healed and brought back to part of
their former power by operative treatment, massage, electric therapy,
etc., but at a certain stage further improvement could take place only
through the action of the _will_ of the patient. At this point the
soldier will try to make his damaged body function properly if he is
absorbed in some interesting task.
Consequently, handicraft work was introduced into the hospitals under
the title of ward occupations. In the summer of 1917 volunteers from the
V.A.D. of the St. John Ambulance Association were trained in different
handicrafts at the Nova Scotia Technical College, and gave their
services to the patients at Camp Hill and Pine Hill Hospitals. The value
of the work soon became apparent, and a central training school for ward
aides, as the handicraft teachers were called, was opened in Toronto.
Young women of education, character, and aptitude were carefully
selected for this work, and as soon as they had been given training,
they were placed in every military hospital and sanitarium. They
co-operated with the medical officers and nursing sisters in every
particular, and a combined effort was made to get every patient busy at
some kind of work just as soon as he was able to do anything. Basketry,
weaving, embroidery, leather tooling, raffia work, toy-making, wood
carving, art craft, metal work, and other forms of occupation were
provided. The chief difficulty was in first getting the individual
interested; and this task took an immense amount of tact and persuasion
in some instances.
The underlying motive was to divert the man’s mind from its morbid state
and to give him a mental stimulus back toward civilian life. In the
majority of cases, the patient would make artistic objects for his
relatives and friends. If he wished to keep the articles he merely paid
for the cost of the material, but if he did not want them the Vocational
Branch offered them for sale at a fair commercial value, deducted the
cost of raw materials and gave the balance to the patient. There was no
idea of instructing the men in gainful trades Which they could follow
after their discharge.
Too high a tribute cannot be paid to the high character and ability and
the unflagging devotion of the Nova Scotia Ward Aides. They gave the
same high form of unselfish, patriotic service that was characteristic
of the best groups of women workers. The ward occupations were of
enormous benefit in making the weary hours of the days pass quickly, in
improving the discipline in the institutions, and in materially
shortening the time of treatment in many cases. The handicraft work has
been specially developed for insane patients, and helps to fill the
pathetic lives of the soldiers confined in the Nova Scotia Hospital for
the Insane.
A large proportion of the men in the institutions were not confined to
their wards. Their disabilities were such, or they had reached such an
advanced stage in their treatment, that they were able to move about and
to perform light work. For these cases there was only a half-hour a day
of treatment, and the rest of the time might be spent in playing cards,
in reading magazines, or in sheer idleness. There was great danger that
the men might become “hospitalized” and unfitted for the stern tasks of
industrial life. Therefore, curative workshops were provided, where a
wide range of classes was held for six or seven hours a day. Practical
and accomplished instructors were in charge of the various branches, and
nearly every soldier, physically fit to pursue such studies, could find
something of interest and value. Many of the patients had never had a
fair chance to get a good education, and a goodly number who had had
such an opportunity had not availed themselves of it. A few of the
soldiers did not even know how to read and write. As mechanics, most of
the soldiers had acquired such skill as they possessed in a careless and
haphazard manner and were not thoroughly competent. To suit the general
needs and tastes of the patients, instruction was offered in business
English, practical arithmetic, practical algebra, geometry and
trigonometry, bookkeeping, stenography and typewriting, telegraphy,
mechanical and architectural drafting, gardening, woodworking, shoe
repairing, automobile driving and repair, etc.
These adult students made amazing progress in their studies. Those who
had forgotten all their mathematics, except the first four rules,
covered years of school work in a few months, and in going over it the
second time would never again forget it. Foreigners and men who were
illiterate learned the rudiments of arithmetic and the English language
in a surprisingly short time. Others were absorbed in the work of the
different classes, and gained valuable knowledge according to their
ability and the length of time they stayed in the hospital. For some of
them, who were not entitled to industrial re-training after discharge,
it was their only opportunity to get general or vocational education.
For those who were so disabled that they could not return to their old
occupations, the curative workshops offered a trying-out ground where
they could test their aptitudes and often lay a solid basis for further
training. It was a pathetic as well as an inspiring sight to see some
grizzled hero bringing back muscular power to a scarred and withered arm
in planing a piece of wood to make some piece of furniture for his home.
The workshop offered practically the only method of treatment to the
neurasthenic or “shell-shocked” patient. No medicine or massage or
operation could help him, and only the stimulation of his self-interest
in class work could get him to forget himself and thus gradually bring
him back to normal.
The first curative workshop classes to be opened in the Dominion started
at the Ross Convalescent Hospital in Sydney, on April 4, 1916. They were
rapidly developed in every hospital and sanatorium throughout Canada,
and proved of immense benefit in helping to re-establish our disabled
soldiers who received treatment in Canada.
By far the most important division of the vocational work of civil
re-establishment, however, was the industrial re-training. France and
Belgium showed the way in which crippled men could be trained for future
usefulness in suitable trades; and practically every belligerent country
evolved a system of human rehabilitation for maimed soldiers. Canada had
the advantage of time to plan and develop her methods of dealing with
this problem before she was swamped with numbers, and consequently was
able to establish a uniform system with centralized authority. The basis
of the whole work was to give suitable training for every soldier who,
through some disability incurred in military service, could not
efficiently resume the occupation which he followed prior to enlistment.
In addition to this class, all men classed as minors, who had enlisted
under the age of eighteen, were later given training if their war
service had seriously interfered with their preparation for their chosen
occupation, whether they were disabled or not.
Every effort was made to place the disabled man in the right position.
He was interviewed by a sympathetic and competent official and
counselled intelligently about the important choice of a new trade. The
soldier already had industrial experience and, in the majority of cases,
had some definite idea of what he wished to do. If his conceptions of
the duties, remuneration, conditions of work, chances for promotion,
stability, etc., in the new occupation, were wrong, he was reasonably
and patiently advised to make another choice. The disabled man, however,
always made the decision about his own future. His own wishes were
followed as far as possible, because he would make a failure of his
training and of his new occupation if he himself was not satisfied and
enthusiastic.
The queer trait of human nature that considers “distant fields as ever
green” was much in evidence. During his former experience, the disabled
soldier had always had a conviction that some other job completely
outside of his own vocation was easier and better paid, or that some new
development of industry was holding out its arms and screaming for
workers. Consequently, there was a common tendency to enter some
vocation wholly outside of his former experience. Most of the men were
extremely reasonable and when all the facts were put before them they
made wise decisions. Every definite effort was made to keep the man as
close as possible to the industry in which he was employed before
enlistment. If they had all tried to crowd into a few of the highly
skilled occupations, there would not have been vacancies enough to give
them all employment. So the training was made as wide as business and
industry. Schools and classes were organized and equipped for those
vocations which needed preliminary education under skilled instructors,
and for which comparatively large groups of men were preparing. In cases
where men were deficient in general education, and needed some
fundamental knowledge of English and arithmetic in order to succeed,
they were given intensive preliminary instruction for one, two or three
months before starting specialized vocational training. Every
educational institution which offered intensive practical courses
leading to wage-earning power, was made use of to the fullest extent.
Industry itself, however, offered the widest opportunities, and a great
proportion of the students were placed directly in industry to learn
there how to fill the job acceptably under working conditions, so that
at the end of their period of training they could slip over on the pay
roll of the employer without any break. Other men, who had preliminary
training in the special trade classes established by the Department of
Soldiers’ Civil Re-establishment, were placed in industry for the latter
part of their period of education so that they would get accustomed to
workshop conditions, and in order that there would be no appreciable
hiatus between training and employment.
In order to provide ample means for the training and employment of the
thousands of men the War produced, it was necessary to secure the
closest co-operation of the employers, trade unions, and the general
public. It is a pleasure to chronicle the fact that everybody gave
active help without stint. The Dominion Steel Corporation and the Nova
Scotia Steel and Coal Company, the largest single employers of labor in
Nova Scotia, announced publicly that they would find a suitable place
for every one of their former employees who had gone into military
service and who desired work after his discharge. They carried out their
promise, and also provided every possible facility for re-training
disabled men. Trade unions also gave generous assistance, and waived all
restrictions regarding apprenticeship where these might be detrimental
to maimed and crippled soldiers who were learning new trades. Without
all this splendid co-operation, the results achieved in Canada in
re-training the disabled soldiers for future usefulness would have been
impossible.
The usual period of time that was found necessary to put the discharged
soldiers on their feet so that they could earn the prevailing wage in a
new occupation, was seven or eight months. During the War, when all
labor was very scarce, employers would accept men and give them full
wages after about six months’ training, but when competition became
keener and more workers became available in 1919, eight months was found
to be necessary in most cases, and sometimes even a whole year. During
the period of learning a new vocation, the soldier’s pension was
suspended, and he and his dependants received a uniform scale of pay and
allowances as follows:—
Single man $60 00 per month.
Married man and wife 85 00 „ „
Married man with wife and one child 95 00 „ „
Married man with wife and two children 103 00 „ „
Married man with wife and three children 110 00 „ „
For each additional child above three 6 00 „ „
If training caused the man to live apart from his dependants, an extra
allowance of $16.00 per month was granted. Owing to the increased cost
of living, these rates were advanced on September 1, 1920.
All classes carried on by the Department of Civil Re-establishment in
Nova Scotia were conducted for eight hours per day in order to get the
men accustomed to the conditions prevailing in industry. Where men were
sent to educational institutions, or were apprenticed in industry, they
were subject to the rules and regulations in force at the place where
they were learning.
The scope of the work widened rapidly as it progressed until men were
being re-trained for more than 300 different occupations. It is not
necessary to give a list of these occupations, but the comprehensive
field covered may be imagined if only those classified under the letter
“A” were mentioned:—
Accountant.
Adding Machine Operator.
Adding Machine Repairer.
Advertising Agent.
Aeroplane Manufacturing Worker.
Agriculture—Bee Keeping.
Dairying.
Farm Tractor Operating.
Farm Mechanics.
Floriculture.
Fruit Raising.
General Farming.
Horticulture.
Market Gardening.
Poultry Raising.
Seed Testing.
University Course.
Air Brake Mechanic.
Architectural Draftsman.
Armature Winder.
Artificial Limb Maker.
Art Lead Glazer.
Art Metal Worker.
Assayer.
Auctioneer.
Automobile Mechanic.
Automobile Painter.
Automobile Salesman.
Automobile Storage Battery Repairer.
Automobile Tire Vulcanizer.
Automobile Truck Driver.
Automobile Upholsterer.
The man who was placed in industry for training or employment was kept
under constant supervision and visited every two or three weeks to
ascertain his progress. If he was not securing proper treatment or
opportunity to learn, he was moved to some other position. If his choice
of occupation had not been wise, he was tried out in some other line of
work. After he had finished his course, he was visited at least once a
month for four months to see that his re-establishment was complete and
his progress satisfactory.
The first group to receive industrial re-training in Canada consisted of
a number of unfortunate members of a British West India Regiment. A
large number were landed in Halifax in February, 1917, from a transport
and were sent to hospital to be treated for severe frost bite. Nine of
them had to have both legs amputated and eight of them lost one leg or a
portion of a leg. Previous to enlistment these Jamaicans had been
“cultivators” or agricultural laborers, and had very little education.
When their hospital treatment was completed they were re-trained by the
Vocational Branch in Halifax. Mr. W. J. Clayton gave over his whole
residence and the Provincial Branch of the Red Cross Society fitted it
up completely for a convalescent hospital and re-training centre. The
men were given instruction in three trades suitable to their disability,
viz., tailoring, shoe repairing, and tin-smithing. At the end of five
and one-half months they were sent back to Jamaica able to earn at least
fifty per cent. more in their new occupations than they had received
before as laborers.
The work of re-training disabled Nova Scotian soldiers began seriously
in the spring of 1917. A centre was established at the Technical College
in Halifax. It was fortunate, indeed, that the Province had embarked on
its scheme of technical education before the War, and that this splendid
institution stood ready with all its equipment and trained Staff to
render service to the men disabled in war. The Provincial Government
turned practically the whole establishment over to the Dominion
Government for this work. Classes in garage mechanics, automobile tire
vulcanizing, electricity, mechanical, architectural and ship drafting,
land surveying, machine tool operation, stationary engineering,
oxyacetylene welding, shoe repairing, etc., were organized. The
institution became a busy hive of industry. The numbers grew until
larger quarters had to be secured for part of the classes. In the summer
of 1919 a large group of demobilization barracks on Cunard St., Halifax,
was taken over and specially fitted and equipped for educational
purposes. This was called the Borden Re-training Centre, and the main
portion of the work has been done there since that time. A number of the
classes are still maintained at the Technical College, and this service
will be rendered by the College until the whole task is completed.
The number of re-training students in Nova Scotia increased rapidly in
1919 until it reached its peak with a strength of about 2,300 in March,
1920. From this number it has rapidly declined. Altogether, in the
Province, about 4,000 returned men have been granted courses to this
date. When one considers that they were training for nearly 300 trades,
and that they were being admitted to and discharged from courses every
day, that they and their dependants must be paid twice a month, that
employment must be found for them, that they must be followed up for
four months after completing their training, and thousands of their
difficulties smoothed out, the magnitude of the task can be appreciated.
A centre for re-training men in agriculture was established at the Nova
Scotia Agricultural College at Truro. Here again this advantage of
having a fully equipped institution, with a Staff of highly-trained
specialists ready to render service to the discharged soldiers, cannot
be overestimated. All the re-training students from the three Maritime
Provinces were sent here, because it was the only place in this area
competent to meet their needs. Special courses adapted for the purpose
were provided, and the regular Staff of the College gave unstintingly of
their time and knowledge. Like the Technical College, the Agricultural
College allowed discharged soldiers to attend all regular courses
without any tuition fees. The number of men applying for re-training in
agricultural branches was small because most forms of farming demand
physical fitness, and the army experience of the soldiers tended to make
them wish to stick to industries in the towns.
Contrary to the expectations of the public, very few men were blinded in
the army. Wounds that would deprive a man of his sight usually killed
him. Out of our forces of about a half million men, only 130 have had
their vision impaired to such an extent that they require re-training.
The Canadian authorities arranged with Sir Arthur Pearson that the blind
men should all be trained in that splendid institution, St. Dunstan’s
Hostel, in London. In the early days of the War, however, a few blinded
men drifted back to Canada without training. These were collected and
about a dozen sent to Halifax, where they were given special instruction
under the Military Hospitals Commission at the School for the Blind.
They were taught Braille reading and writing, typewriting, Braille
stenography, massage, and shoe repairing. Most of the men made
remarkable progress, and are successfully earning their own livings
to-day.
Altogether Canada has granted about 53,000 courses of re-training. From
the very first she has followed a sane, practical policy, and has
enjoyed the advantages of uniformity and centralized control throughout
all the Provinces.
The results speak for themselves. In Nova Scotia 65 per cent. of the men
who have completed their courses are successfully re-established in the
occupation for which they were trained. Another 20 per cent. are earning
satisfactory wages in other lines of work than those for which they were
specifically prepared. These men have changed because they saw better
opportunities for themselves, individually, in another vocation, or they
may have felt fit enough, after their course, to return to their old
occupation. Their training will not be lost, because they are so much
more competent because of having it. Ten per cent. of the men have gone
out of the Province and cannot be traced. It is safe to conclude that
most of these are successfully re-established. Two per cent. of the men
are reported as unemployed, but it is not known to what extent this is
due to lack of temporary opportunity or disinclination on the part of
the man. Three per cent. of the men are reported as still ill and
temporarily under treatment.
This high salvage among war-wrecked men can be accepted with great
satisfaction by every patriotic Canadian. Without the loyal co-operation
of every section of society and the unflagging devotion to duty on the
part of the large Staff of returned men who were engaged in
administration and instruction, these results would have been
impossible. Canada’s record of reconstruction and her efforts to
rehabilitate the brave soldiers who gave of their youth and strength in
the service of the country, stand on a par with her military
achievements.