Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 207, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 September 1918 — PASSING OF THE CRIPPLE [ARTICLE]

PASSING OF THE CRIPPLE

By MARION COUTHOUY SMITH

Of Th* Vigilant, s

Through the dark clouds which have gathered over the whole world 4 .we see at times a sudden gleam of light, like a passing glimpse of the clear blue beyond. It is a flash of prophecy, a brief vision of the renewed and purified world which should follow upon the' tragic days of the great conflict. In the coming time we trust that there will be not only a spiritual uplifting, but a certain spiritualizing of material things—a beneficent use of agencies that have hitherto, been selfishly or narrowly applied. From the great stimulus of danger and sacrifice, and the nearness of sorrow and death, we shall gain a keener and clearer understanding. Old things will pass away. To believe this is a part of the Intense faith and hope that we need to sustain us through the stress of the dark hour. Mechanical power takes its character from the spirit that uses it. All machinery is but an immense extension of the hands and of the soul of man. As the power within him is, so is the power with which he reaches' out through the universe, for death and destruction, or for life and renewal. The Germans are using mechanical power malevolently and diabolically, according to their natures. But in right human hands, it is, and will be in the future to a still greater extent, a strong agency in the restoration of the world. No More Useless Cripples. We have here to consider it as applied by surgeons to the rebuilding of broken bodies, and so directly as a sustaining power to the souls of men. Hitherto in most cases a maimed man has been a broken man. With the conviction that he is practically useless, and with that strange false shame that makes him feel his disability as a disgrace, merely because it is conspicuous, most crippled men have been literally down and out. If poor, they have become beggars; if rich, they have dragged out a weary and sorrowful existence, with the loss of hope that comes from makeshift occupations and from the sense of helplessness. To this condition, of course, there have been shining exceptions —men who have fought their disabilities valiantly, and whose courage and enterprise have won for them high places, even in the industrial world. But hitherto these men have been regarded as exceptional.' The aim now is

to have all maimed persons so restored to usefulness as to do away with the stigma of disability. The so-called “cripple” is to pass away. He is to be rendered capable of doing, not a cripple’s job, but a man’s job; and his ability to do it Is to be an every-day commonplace fact. If only people at large will realize that this can be, accept it as a right, and regard it as a duty so to accept it, the miracle will take place as surely as that the green earth will be restored in Spring. The soldier has a better startingpoint than the average civilian, because he is not ashamed of his incomplete body. He is proud of it! It has, placed him on the roll of honor, as one hurt in the world's defense. We all know with what gentle and noble pride the old G. A. tt. man carries his empty sleeve. So now, in a far greater degree, we shall have an army of men whose injuries ’are their pride and glory, if only they can have at the same time the bodily power to move and to work that sustains the life of the soul.

Employment for All. They can have it freely. The government will take care of this, if the people will understand, and avail themselves of what is offered them. Already in France hundreds of men are working skillfully in fields, shops and factories with new and better appliances than were ever known before. The skill and toll of surgeons and inventors have been earnestly and tenderly applied to the deep need of this noble army of sacrifice, and with greater results than we could have believed possible. It is wonderful to see what these Frenchmen, with their high spirits and fine responsive natures, are able to do! Their smiling faces and keen activity show their sane and cheerful outlook upon the future. They are men, not cripples. The amazing contrivances that help them, particularly the mechanical arms and hands, are not beautiful, but they have the attractiveness of adaptability. They are creators. Out of the creative energy of a man’s soul they come, bringing creative energy to another man’s body, and thence also to his soul. They are truly a mighty extension of his power beyond the limits imposed by nature and by calamity. From the soldiers this stream of -beneficent energy will extend to others, and in time we shall see on-the streets no more crippled beggars, and in homes no more helpless wretches, waited on hand and foot by tired relatives and friends. Men and women we shall have, doing the work of men and women all the more bravely for the handicap that roused their energies, and made them lay hold eagerly upon the means of restoration. They will have preserved to them one of the most precious gifts of life—personal independence. Is not tliis a gleam of light in the darkness?