Newton D. Baker to William Cox Redfield

Title

Newton D. Baker to William Cox Redfield

Creator

Baker, Newton Diehl, 1871-1937

Identifier

WWP22467

Date

1918 August 23

Source

Library of Congress, Woodrow Wilson Papers, 1786-1957

Text

Dear Mr. Secretary

I have taken up your letter of the 12th with my military associates in the Surgeon General's Office, and join with them in thanking you for your thoughtfulness in bringing the proposed regulations to our attention.

In order to make clear the basis for our conclusions, it may be profitable to present a brief summary of conditions as they now stand.

In August 1917, the Surgeon General authorized the formation in his office of the Division of Physical Reconstruction for the purpose of directing the work of rehabilitating disabled soldiers in the general military hospitals.

On July 30, 1918, the War Department gave formal approval to a plan of administration of the physical reconstruction work in the military hospitals and announced its policy in connection therewith. These plans were formulated with a view to close co-operation with the War Department Committee on Education and Special Training as to the work of restoring men to full or limited service, and with the Federal Board for Vocational Education which is authorized by law to provide vocational training for disabled men after they are discharged from the Army and Navy.

You may be interested in the records of 516 cases already treated in four hospitals. These records show134 men able to return to full military duty210 men fit for limited service172 men eligible for discharge.
In the last group, 12 are classed as helpless or institutional cases, 120 are able to return to their former occupations and 39 will need further training to fit them for future occupations. These figures show the division of responsibility in the work of reconstruction. During the period of the war it is highly important that every effort be made to replace able-bodied men behind the lines with men fit only for limited service.

Physical reconstruction as defined by the Surgeon General is "complete medical and surgical treatment carried to the point of maximum functional restoration both mental and physical." Whenever play, work or study can be used advantageously as a therapeutic agent, they will be so employed in the general military hospitals. In the work of fitting men for limited military service, strictly vocational training will be given whenever in the judgment of the medical officers of a hospital such training will be either beneficial or not detrimental to the patient. When such a patient is ready for discharge from the hospital and his special training for limited service is not yet complete, he will be turned over to the War Department Committee on Education and Special Training for further development. In the case of patients who will ultimately be discharged from military service, arrangements have already been made in Walter Reed General Hospital whereby the Federal Board for Vocational Training may have access to these men as soon as it is known that they are to be discharged. The educational officers have been directed to co-operate with the representatives of the Federal Board to the fullest possible extent in order that the men concerned may have all the advantages assured them by the Federal Government.

Returning now to the specific inquiry as to whether proposed regulations, 2, 4, 6, 7, 15 and 16 would meet with the approval of the War Department, the Department agrees in principle with the proposal of the Federal Board that the course of training for disabled men who are to be discharged from military service should be continuous throughout the period of convalescense in the hospital and thereafter under the jurisdiction of the Federal Board. He is ready through the Division of Physical Reconstruction to formulate a plan for close co-operation, but it does not deem it good administrative policy, even if military regulations permit it, to surrender disciplinary control over men under hospital care. It is impossible, therefore, to assent to the proposition made in Regulation 16 which, if approved would substitute for military control the indirect control of an outside organization.

The proposal contained in Regulation 6 is contrary to military procedure. Hospital authorities are expressly forbidden to give information concerning the military history of any man or to give to anyone access to the medical history of a patient. In the arrangements made at the Walter Reed Hospital the representative of the Federal Board is permitted to interview men who are liable to discharge from military service and to ascertain direct all necessary information for proper vocational guidance.

It would be manifestly subversive of military discipline and a distinct hindrance in the work of restoring men to limited service to give the free run of a hospital to a representative of a civilian organization whose special function is to restore the largest possible number of soldiers to remunerative employment in civil life. So long as the war lasts and the need of soldiers continues no influence should be permitted in the hospitals tending to divert the men from their duties in military service.

In our judgment, matters covered in Regulations 2 and 4 already have adequate provision for meeting their needs. Regulation 6 is impracticable in general and in certain particulars is illegal. Regulation 7 is impracticable because it is subversive of military control. It proposes in effect to give to a joint committee the authority now assigned by the War Department to the Division of Physical Reconstruction. Matters covered in Regulations 15 and 16 may safely be left until such time as experience shall demonstrate the proper course to pursue.

Cordially yours,
Newton D. Baker
Secretary of War


Hon. Wm. C. Redfield
Secretary of Commerce
Washington, D. C.


Original Format

Letter

To

Redfield, William Cox, 1858-1932.

Files

http://resources.presidentwilson.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/WWI1138.pdf

Collection

Citation

Baker, Newton Diehl, 1871-1937, “Newton D. Baker to William Cox Redfield,” 1918 August 23, WWP22467, World War I Letters, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.