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DR. C. F. FRASER
Superintendent School for the Blind, Halifax, N. S.

IN considering the needs of our graduates a few preliminary remarks as to the training given in schools for the blind may not be out of place.

The officers and teachers in schools for the blind should be enthusiasts in their particular line of work. They should endeavor to impress upon their pupils a strong spirit of self-reliance, and faith in the idea that the world has work for them to do. The spirit of the school should always be optimistic, for while blindness is a handicap, it is not an insuperable obstacle to success. I wish that each instructor of the blind could fully realize the importance of this truth and could learn by experience how best to administer the tonic of encouragement.

The mental, moral, and physical training given in many schools for the blind is admirable, but in some schools it fails in that it is not specific and definite. The lad with sight who goes out from the grammar or high school requires an additional training of from one to five years to fit him for the activities of life. If he were dependent upon the education he received in the public schools he would find but few avenues of employment open to him. It is the practical training in the workshop, factory, counting house, office, or special school which enables the lad with sight to take his place side by side with his fellowmen as a skilled workman or a trained business or professional man. The boy who is blind must receive the same practical training if he is to succeed in the world. He cannot secure this training after he graduates, hence it is of paramount importance that he receive a special training while he is still an undergraduate. I do not underrate the intellectual training given in the literary departments of our progressive schools, but this education, be it ever so good, will enable very few blind persons to solve the problem of how to win their bread and butter. I believe that each pupil in our schools should receive a specific training in some particular line of work which would enable him as a graduate to support himself, or at least to do something towards his support.

Each pupil requires special study upon the part of superintendent and teachers. The weak places in his character or physique must be strengthened; his manners and habits duly considered; his mental aptitude fully gauged, and his training such as to insure a practical knowledge of at least one occupation which has a commercial value in the world. If he is to be a teacher of music he should know how to teach and what to teach; he should have confidence in his ability to teach children with sight, and should be familiar with the difficulties with which he will have to contend. It should be our aim to make him a thoroughly qualified instructor rather than a player of pianoforte music. I would not lower the standard of excellence in any of our musical departments so far as the individual is concerned, but I believe as a business proposition that piano playing should take a second place as compared with piano teaching. Better graduate three qualified teachers than one virtuoso. The training of vocal teachers, pianoforte tuners, and masseurs should be equally definite and thorough. Each pupil should also be trained for one or more years in commercial work, so as to familiarize him with ordinary business transactions.

The choice of a locality in which to settle is of the utmost importance to a graduate of a school for the blind. Those who are blind are, as a rule, more successful in communities where they can become well known. Populous cities and sparsely settled country districts offer few opportunities of employment to the graduate of average ability. The choice of a locality should generally be made in the smaller cities, towns, and villages. I have known many of our girl graduates succeed admirably in towns and villages who would undoubtedly have failed had their lot been cast in the larger cities. I have also known pianoforte tuners and masseurs who have found little or no employment in their village homes achieve success in the larger towns. Therefore the prospective graduate, with the help of the superintendent of the school, should give a great deal of consideration to this matter of locality, as upon the choice the future success of the graduate may largely depend. It is a great mistake to allow our graduates to drift to their own homes, where there is little or nothing for them to do. Every effort should be made to induce them to go to work immediately upon leaving school, as the effect of a year of idleness is demoralizing in the extreme, making the boy or girl less self-reliant and less able to cope with the difficulties with which all are called upon to contend.

A blind person cannot make a successful start in life without money in his pocket. This fact was forcibly brought to my attention during the earlier years of my superintendency, and in order to meet the need I established a modest loan and aid fund of $1,000. From this fund loans of twenty dollars and upwards have been made to graduates in good standing. Interest is charged at the rate of six per cent per annum, payable annually. The principal may be repaid in installments of smaller or larger amounts. Since the establishment of the fund in 1882, 150 loans have been made, and in many instances repaid with interest within two years. The advantage of such a fund has, year by year, become more apparent to me; and although the individual loans were not large, I believe that many of our graduates would have failed to succeed had it not been possible to place within their reach the necessary financial assistance.

We are all aware that it is more or less difficult for young and inexperienced blind persons to establish themselves in communities where they are strangers. The man with sight will in a few weeks establish friendly relations with those about him. A glance of the eye, a nod of the head, and certain acts of courtesy win for him the recognition of his fellows and speedily break down the barriers of strangeness and reserve. The disadvantages of the blind in this particular can be largely overcome by the superintendent of the school taking measures to have his graduates properly introduced to the leading people of the towns or villages in which they are to settle. This he can do by personal visitations and by letters of introduction from himself and interested friends. I need not go more fully into this matter of proper introduction, as I believe its importance will be at once realized. It may be of interest to recount the measures that are taken to meet the needs of the graduates of our tuning department in the school for the blind at Halifax: It is decided that F. B. is to locate in M--- I at once set about to secure the addresses of all persons in M--- who have pianos, and immediately send out a circular letter recommending the tuner and guaranteeing his ability to perform satisfactory work. The tuner goes to M--- and calls upon those to whom letters have been sent. When he secures a piano and tunes it to the satisfaction of its owner, he requests that a brief testimonial be entered in a small book which he carries for the purpose. After he has obtained several of these local testimonials he finds no great difficulty in securing regular employment. New testimonials are added as opportunity offers. A similar method can be used to advantage by teachers of vocal or instrumental music.

Graduates of schools for the blind should make a point of joining some local society, organization, or brotherhood, and thus come into friendly contact with the men and women of the locality in which they reside. I always strongly recommend my graduates to identify themselves with the communities in which they live, and I know of no better way for them to do so than by becoming members of some philanthropic or mutual benefit society. The friendly association with workers in the same cause is socially and materially advantageous to them. It broadens their view of life and arouses upon the part of their fellow-members a keen interest in their success.

To sum up: Our graduates need specific training; they need to select with care the locality in which to reside; they need to have money in their pockets; they need to be properly introduced, and they need to identify themselves with local organizations. These needs being met, we should have no fear as to their success, provided their industry and the quality of their work merit the support and encouragement of their fellow-citizens.