England and Wales.
In England and Wales the total number of persons returned in 1901 as
afflicted with blindness was 25,317, being in the proportion of 778 per
million living, or 1 blind person in every 1285 of the population. The
following table shows that the proportion of blind persons to population
has diminished at each successive enumeration since 1851, in which year
particulars of those afflicted in this manner were ascertained for the
first time. It will, however, be noted that, although the decrease in
the proportion of blind in the latest intercensal period was still
considerable, yet the rate of decrease which had obtained between 1871
and 1891 was not maintained.--
+------+-----------+-------------------+-------------------+
| Year.| Number of | Blind per Million | Persons Living to |
| | Blind. | of the Population | one Blind Person. |
+------+-----------+-------------------+-------------------+
| 1851 | 18,306 | 1021 | 979 |
| 1861 | 19,352 | 964 | 1037 |
| 1871 | 21,590 | 951 | 1052 |
| 1881 | 22,832 | 879 | 1138 |
| 1891 | 23,467 | 809 | 1236 |
| 1901 | 25,317 | 778 | 1285 |
+------+-----------+-------------------+-------------------+
The following table, which gives the proportions of blind per million
living at the earlier age-groups, shows that in the decennium 1891-1901,
as also in recent previous intercensal periods, there was a decrease in
the proportion of blind children in England and Wales generally; it thus
lends support to the contention, in the _General Report_ for 1891, that
the decrease was due either to the lesser prevalence, or to the more
efficient treatment, of purulent ophthalmia and other infantile maladies
which may result in blindness.
+----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| Age-Period. | 1851 | 1861 | 1871 | 1881 | 1891 | 1901 |
+----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| Under 5 years | 198 | 196 | 185 | 166 | 155 | 129 |
| 5-10 | 297 | 256 | 259 | 288 | 188 | 192 |
| 10-15 | 365 | 366 | 359 | " | 290 | 323 |
| 15-20 | 416 | 415 | 404 | 388 | 370 | 239 |
| 20-25 | 481 | 443 | 451 | 422 | 385 | 359 |
+----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| Total under 25 | 339 | 322 | 317 | 298 | 269 | 261 |
+----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
In 1886 a royal commission on the blind, deaf and dumb was appointed by
the government, and, after taking much valuable evidence, issued an
exhaustive and instructive report. Following on the practical
recommendations submitted by this commission, the Elementary Education
(Blind and Deaf Children) Act 1893, was passed, under which the
education of the blind became for the first time compulsory. In terms of
this statute, the school authorities were made responsible for the
provision of suitable elementary education for blind children up to
sixteen years of age, and grants of L3, 3s. for elementary subjects, and
of L2, 2s. for industrial training, were contributed by the state
towards the cost of educating children in schools certified as efficient
within the meaning of the Elementary Education Act 1876. The principal
aim of the Education Act of 1893 was to supply education in some useful
profession or trade which will enable the blind to earn their livelihood
and to become useful citizens; but the weak spot was that no provision
was made therein for the completion of their education and industrial
training after the age of sixteen.
In England and Wales, in 1907, there were twenty-four resident schools
and forty-three workshops for the blind. In many of the large towns, day
classes for the education of blind children have been established by
local education authorities. There are forty-six home teaching
societies, who send teachers to visit the blind in their homes, to teach
adults who wish to learn to read, to act as colporteurs, to lend and
exchange useful books, and to act as Scripture readers to those who are
aged and infirm. All the home teaching societies for the blind and many
public libraries lend embossed books. The public library at Oxford has
nearly 400 volumes of classical works for the use of university
students.
A society was instituted in 1847 by Dr W. Moon for stereotyping and
embossing the Scriptures and other books in "Moon" type. The type has
been adapted to over 400 languages and dialects. After Dr Moon's death
in 1884 the work was carried on by his daughter, Miss Adelaide Moon, and
the books are much used by the adult blind.
In 1868 Dr T.R. Armitage, being aware of the great improvements which
had been made in the education of the blind in other countries, founded
the British and Foreign Blind Association. This association was formed
for the purpose of promoting the education and employment of the blind,
by ascertaining what had been done in these respects in various
countries, by endeavouring to supply deficiencies where these were found
to exist, and by attempting to bring about greater harmony of action
between the different existing schools and institutions. It gave a new
impetus to the education and training of the blind in the United
Kingdom. At that time their education was in a state of chaos. The
Bible, or a great part of it, had been printed in five different
systems. The founders took as an axiom that the relative merits of the
various methods of education through the sense of touch should be
decided by those and those only who have to rely on this sense. The
council, who were all totally or partially blind, spent two years in
comparing the different systems of embossed print. In 1869 and 1870 Dr
Armitage corresponded with Dr J.R. Russ in regard to the New York Point.
No trouble was spared to arrive at a right conclusion. The Braille
system was finally adopted, and the association at once became a centre
for supplying frames for writing Braille, printed books, maps, music and
other educational apparatus for the blind. All books printed by the
association are printed from stereotyped plates embossed by blind
copyists. About 3000 separate works, varying in length from 1 to 12
volumes, have been copied by hand to meet the requirements of public
libraries and individuals. About 700 ladies, who give their services,
make the first Braille copy of these books, and they are recopied by
blind scribes, chiefly women and girls, who are paid for their work.
The National Lending library, London, was founded in 1882. It has over
5500 volumes in Braille and other types. Books are forwarded to all
parts of the United Kingdom.
There are fourteen magazines published in embossed type in the United
Kingdom.
There are thirty-six pension societies--the principal are
Hetherington's, Day's, the Clothworkers', the Cordwainers', the National
Blind Relief Society, Royal Blind Pension Society and Indigent Blind
Visiting Society.
The Gardner Trust administers the income of L300,000 left by Henry
Gardner in 1879. The income is used for instructing the blind in the
profession of music, in suitable trades, handicrafts and professions
other than music, for pensions, and free grants to institutions and
individuals for special purposes.
Scotland.
According to the census of 1901, Scotland had 3253 (or 727 per
million) blind persons, as against 2797 in 1891, but in a paper read
at the conference in Edinburgh, 1906, the superintendent of the
Glasgow Mission to the Out-door Blind stated that there were 758
employed or being educated in institutions, and 3238 known as
"out-door blind," making a total of 3996. There are in Scotland ten
missions, so distributed as to cover the whole country, and regular
visits are made as far north as the Orkney and Shetland Islands. In
carrying on the work, there are twenty-four paid missionaries or
teachers and a large number of voluntary helpers. These societies
originated in a desire to teach the blind to read in their own homes,
and to provide them with the Scriptures and other religious books, but
the social, intellectual and temporal needs of the blind also receive
a large share of attention. These teachers afford the best means of
circulating embossed literature, therefore the library committee of
the Glasgow corporation has agreed to purchase books and place them in
the mission library instead of in the public library. As the
institutions provide for only a small number of the blind, strenuous
efforts are made by the committee and teachers of missions to find
some employment for the many adults who come under their care.
In Glasgow, a ladies' auxiliary furnishes work for 150 knitters, and
takes the responsibility of disposing of their work. In Scotland there
are five schools for the young blind, and in connexion with each is a
workshop for adults. In Edinburgh the school is at West Craigmillar,
and the workshop in the city, but both are under the same board of
directors.
Ireland.
According to the census of 1901, there were 4253 totally blind persons
in Ireland, a proportion of 954 per million, as against 1135 in 1891.
Of these, 2430 were over 60 years of age and 11 over 100. These
figures do not include the partially blind, who numbered 1217. The
fact that so many aged blind persons are to be found in Ireland is
doubtless due to an ophthalmic epidemic which occurred during the
Irish famine. There are twelve institutions, a home mission and home
teaching society; nine of these institutions are asylums, that system
having been largely adopted in Ireland. The scarcity of manufacturing
industries, except in a few northern counties, entails a lack of work
suited to the blind. The Elementary Education Act (Blind and Deaf)
does not extend to Ireland.