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I was not able to ascertain that the Commission had any uniform policy in this connection which might be said to apply to all of the industrial departments. The shops outside of Cambridge have worked out an ingenious system of augmenting the wages of the less efficient blind persons in a way well calculated to bring the workmen's income more nearly to a point upon which he can exist without discouraging the more efficient and more energetic operatives. This augmentation of wages may or may not be considered relief. It depends upon its object. If the object is simply to give the blind man funds sufficient to enable him to live without depending upon others, then it is relief. But if the object is to encourage him to greater efforts, especially while he is attaining greater skill, then it should be regarded as the cost of training or the cost of employment. If the latter view be taken, the system of augmenting wages should be continued in some form until his wage reaches a point upon which he can maintain a more decent subsistence. If this be considered the cost of training, it should be continued only so long as the apprentice shows progress. If the management considers this augmentation a relief, it should be carefully separated from wages in the minds of the employees. Without attaching a stigma to its reception, there should be stimulated an earnest desire among the workmen receiving it to reach the point where his wages will no longer need this augmentation.

Payment of Board of Apprentices

Another form in which the Commission dispenses money for the direct assistance of individual blind persons is the payment of board of apprentices. At first thought, this might seem to be relief. But since this policy was adopted in lieu of a residential trade school for adults, I think that it should be charged to educational activity.

Industrial Aid Fund and Homes for the Blind

Two forms of relief have been considered by the Commission -- first, the Occupational Colony, and second, the Industrial Aid Fund. That which has attracted the most local attention in Massachusetts is the Occupational Colony -- in its later form, the Industrial Home. Many blind people of the state have condemned this as a "blind man's poorhouse." In spite of all the efforts which might be made to keep this institution from assuming the tone of an almshouse, I feel confident that a weak administration would sooner or later come which would justify the appellation of its opponents. An institution which endeavors to be a temporary abode for men learning a trade, and at the same time a permanent residence for workmen unfit for one reason or another to hold their own in the community, must be confronted with innumerable problems. I am convinced that the only way to operate successfully such an undertaking would be to separate carefully, both in place and management, the industrial school from the permanent home. Otherwise, there will be constant dissatisfaction on the part of certain apprentices who are forced to resume life in a normal community, while those compelled by circumstances to remain at the home will complain bitterly at not being given another chance in the day shops. The question whether or not Massachusetts is in need of an industrial training school with boarding facilities in connection is a question which does not fall within the purview of my examination. As to the need of an employment home for the blind, I must confess that I was not convinced by the agents of the Commission that the peculiar character of the blind population of Massachusetts justifies one in disregarding the general considerations against such an establishment. Any plan for the segregation of persons, on the basis of a common infirmity removing them from intercourse with ordinary society, is out of keeping with twentieth century social work. Workers for the blind in Massachusetts during the past three-fourths of a century have done more than any others to persuade the world that a permanent employment home for the blind is unwise and unnatural. Any step toward the creation of such a home in the face of the Massachusetts tradition upon this subject should be most carefully weighed before it is entered upon.

Industrial Aid Fund

There remains one more form in which it has been proposed that the Commission dispense funds directly to blind persons. This is the Industrial Aid Fund. This comes as near the payment of actual relief money as, in my opinion, the Commission should approach. If wisely and fearlessly administered, it will enable the Commission to assist a group of blind members of the community in a truly constructive way. This aid may sometimes be actual relief. In other cases it may be cost of employment; in still other cases it may be in a sense chargeable to educational work. So far as it is actual relief, the Commission should make its payment a temporary arrangement until some other agency can be found which will take over this expense under the supervision of the Commission. In cases where it is the cost of employment, it is quite as legitimate a permanent undertaking as the operation of the workshop.