Care of cripples : memorandum of interview : Dame Georgiana Buller

1934-01-10 1934 1930s 2 pages MEMORANDUM OF INTERVIEW. Date 10.1.34. Time 12.30 to 1.0. SUBJECT. CARE OF CRIPPLES: Reference JLS/FIH/170 Present Dame Georgiana Buller, Mr. W.M. Citrine, Mr. J.L. Smyth. Dame Georgiana Buller explained that she was connected with the Central Council for the Ca...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Citrine, Walter, 1887-1983 ; Smyth, J. L. (contributor), Buller, Georgiana
Institution:MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
Language:English
English
Published: 10 January 1934
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10796/41F0CC64-8B50-4A28-8649-32BCE37CDDE6
http://hdl.handle.net/10796/EBB9A64E-E380-4871-A8B6-7861DFDFD233
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Summary:1934-01-10 1934 1930s 2 pages MEMORANDUM OF INTERVIEW. Date 10.1.34. Time 12.30 to 1.0. SUBJECT. CARE OF CRIPPLES: Reference JLS/FIH/170 Present Dame Georgiana Buller, Mr. W.M. Citrine, Mr. J.L. Smyth. Dame Georgiana Buller explained that she was connected with the Central Council for the Care of Cripples. This is a body, with headquarters in London, which takes the initiative in calling round-table conferences with a view to setting up orthopaedic centres for the purpose of helping physically disabled persons industrially. The Industrial Welfare Society was interested in the matter and funds had also been obtained from the Bernhard Baron Trust. Several Centres have been set up in different parts of the country and Public Assistance Committees regarded their work as so valuable that they contributed in many cases up to 35/- per week for cases dealt with. The Government also approved of the objects of the scheme, but did not actually grant any money. The L.C.C. do pay 35/- per week for women at a centre at Stratford-on-Avon. Other countries were much further advanced than ours in this question of refitting disabled workers for industry, and an expert had recently been sent to Germany to study methods there, and it was hoped that when the report was available it would give considerable help. The setting up of the scheme was initially a voluntary matter, but once it was under weigh financial help could be obtained in the ways mentioned earlier. There were three classes of persons to be dealt with: (1) those who would be in a position to re-enter industry after obtaining advice, (2) those who could hope to re-enter industry after instruction and training, (3) those who were more disabled than the others and who would have to be trained specially for some work on special machines. It was not intended to turn out people to compete with others in the labour market, but that they should take their place in the ordinary way and do what work they were fitted for in the same way as other workers at equal rates. For example, disabled persons could be taught to do some little job which they could do as well as anyone else and for which they could therefore command the full market rate, but she thought it was a mistake to attempt to train people for skilled jobs, as such trainees could never be efficient and would not have a fair chance in the labour market, in addition to which they would endanger existing standards. Dame Buller said that her organisation was setting up a small limited liability company for the purpose of undertaking definitely certain work and proving to employers that disabled persons could do such work as well as anyone else. It was intended that the company should be run at a profit and should thus demonstrate the kind of thing that disabled persons could do on an equal footing with other workers. 292/841.51/2/120
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