REPORTS OF TEN-YE AR 
SURVEY COMMITTEE 
ON THE WORK OF THE ' 
MASSACHUSETTS COMMISSION 
FOR THE BLIND 
1906-1916 
PUBLISHED BY THE 
MASSACHUSETTS ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTING 
THE INTERESTS OF THE BLIND TABLE OF CONTENTS AND 
PERSONNEL OF SURVEY COMMITTEE 
Introductory Comment 3 
SIR FREDERICK FRASER (blind), of Halifax, N. S. Grad- 
uate of Perkins Institution; Superintendent of the Halifax 
School for the Blind; Chairman. 
I. Organization ....... 8 
O. H. BURRITT, Overbrook, Pa. Principal of the Pennsylvania 
School for the Blind; Member of the first New York Com- 
mission for the Blind. 
IL Record and Report 21 
JAMES J. DOW, Faribault, Minn. Superintendent of the Min- 
nesota State School for the Blind, Faribault, Minn., where 
a summer school for adults is maintained. 
III. The Blind in the Community . ... 24 
EDWARD M. VAN CLEVE, of New York, N. Y. Principal 
of the New York Institute for the Education of the Blind; 
Managing Director, National Committee for the Prevention 
of Blindness, and former Chairman of the Ohio Commission 
for the Blind. 
IV. Subsidized Shops ...... 28 
EBEN P. MORFORD (blind), of Brooklyn, N. Y. Post-graduate, 
New York City School for the Blind; Superintendent of the 
Brooklyn Industrial Home for the Blind; Member of the 
Executive Committee of the New York Association for the 
Blind, and member of the first New York Commission for 
the Blind. 
V. Relation of Commission to Other Agencies . 31 
ROBERT B. IRWIN (blind), Cleveland, Ohio. Graduate of the 
Washington State School for the Blind; M. A., Harvard, 
1907; Supervisor of Classes for the Conservation of Eye- 
sight, City of Cleveland. FOREWORD 
The Association for Promoting the Interests of the Blind takes 
pleasure in publishing the original reports of the "Ten-Year Survey Com- 
mittee," invited to inspect and report upon the work of the Massachusetts 
Commission for the Blind. Massachusetts has been especially fortunate 
in securing the interest and cooperation of the six gentlemen who make 
up this committee. All are acquainted with adult blind problems as well 
as with those of blind youth. Three are successful blind men and three 
have had active experience on State Commissions for the Blind. 
The Association wishes here to express its appreciation of their gener- 
osity and that of the institutions they represent, for their contribution of 
time and thought to Massachusetts problems in this field. HALIFAX SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND 
C. F. Fraser, K.B., Superintendent 
Murdoch Square, Halifax, N. S., 
February 15, 1917. 
James P. Munroe, Esq., 
Chairman Commission for the Blind, 
3 Park Street, Boston, Mass. 
Dear Sir:- 
I have now received the reports of all the Members of the Survey 
Committee appointed to report upon the organization, activities, etc., of the 
Massachusetts Commission for the Blind. I presume that pursuant to 
instructions these reports are now in your hands. 
I have carefully studied the papers submitted by the Survey Committee 
and I am sending you herewith a brief digest of each of these papers, with 
my comments thereon. 
I sincerely trust that the outcome of this inquiry may be of real value 
to the blind of Massachusetts, and I can assure you that the Members of 
the Survey Committee individually and collectively have had great pleasure 
in making the survey for the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind. 
Yours very truly, 
C. F. Fraser, 
Per S. F. INTRODUCTORY COMMENT 
By SIR FREDERICK FRASER, Chairman 
TOPIC NO. 1 
Organization." Survey by O. H. Burritt, Principal, 
Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind, 
Overbrook, Pa. 
Mr. Burritt expresses pleasure that with one or two exceptions the 
activities of the Commission are permissive, not mandatory. 
The Commission is required by law to register the names, etc., of all 
blind persons in Massachusetts. Mr. Burritt, in writing with reference 
to this registration, says that in the last five years the Commission has 
annually added five hundred and twenty-five names to its register. This, 
as I see it, would thus mean a registration in the five years of between 
2,600 and 2,700 names. The Commission is to be congratulated upon the 
completeness of its registration of the blind of the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts. The statistics respecting the blind made available by this 
registration must prove of the utmost importance to those interested in 
the welfare of the blind. 
Mr. Burritt commends the work of the Commission for the Blind as 
a bureau of information, and at the same time accentuates the experience 
of the Commission in aiding home industries for the blind and in carrying 
on workshops for the employment of the blind, proving conclusively that 
home industries have so far failed to pay a living wage. It has occurred 
to me that the aid given to home industries for the blind may have been 
largely given to women. 
Mr. Burritt summarizes his comments on the legislative authority under 
which the Commission carries on its work in the following paragraph: - 
"From all that I could learn in the time at my disposal while in Boston, 
and from a careful study of the Acts creating the Commission and defining 
its powers, I conclude that the legislature has clothed the Commission with 
authority adequate for the accomplishment of the purposes for which it 
was created." 
Under the heading of "Appropriation," Mr. Burritt makes an exhaus- 
tive comparison of the system adopted by the Commission, i. e., that of 
providing employment for blind people, with the so-called flat pension 
system. I entirely agree with Mr. Burritt's conclusions that an increase 
of the State appropriation to the Commission for the Blind should be made. 
3 I would always like it clearly understood that in my opinion idleness is in 
many ways a greater affliction to the blind than is the loss of sight. I firmly 
believe that the plan adopted by the Commission, if amplified, would result 
in the employment of all the capable blind people in Massachusetts, and 
would, moreover, add materially to the happiness of the lives of these 
citizens of the State. 
Mr. Burritt has made an exhaustive investigation as to the personnel 
of the Commission, the central office staff, salaries of officials, division of 
labor, relation of the members of the staff to each other and to the Com- 
mission. I am heartily in sympathy with his conclusions that no great 
advantage would result from increasing the membership of the Commis- 
sion, that the personnel of the Commission is thoroughly representative, 
that its members are experienced workers for the blind, that the central 
office staff is well organized, that the salaries paid are reasonable, that the 
division of labor between the respective officials is just and fair, and that 
the relations of the members of the staff to each other and to the Com- 
mission are most satisfactory. 
I would like to add to Mr. Burritt's reference to Miss Wright my own 
expression of esteem for the admirable work this lady has performed. 
Miss Wright's zeal on behalf of the blind, her ability, and her wide experi- 
ence fit her in a marked degree for the responsible position which she now 
so ably fills, and I trust that the recommendation of Mr. Burritt with 
respect to the salary of Miss Wright will receive the thoughtful consider- 
ation of the Commission for the Blind. 
Mr. Burritt is in full accord with the definition of blindness as set forth 
in the sixth annual report of the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind. 
Mr. Burritt favors the extension of the scope of work to the Commis- 
sion for the Blind so as to give relief to all needy blind persons within the 
State of Massachusetts. This recommendation should receive the earnest 
consideration of the representatives in the State Legislature of Massa- 
chusetts. The State has in the Commission for the Blind all the machinery 
requisite to investigate the condition of the needy blind, and while the 
distribution of relief might add to the administrative responsibilities of 
the Commission, I believe that these responsibilities could be met and dis- 
charged more readily, more economically, and more judiciously by the 
Commission than by any new organization that might be appointed to carry 
out this work. 
In concluding his admirable survey of Topic No. 1, Mr. Burritt com- 
mends the Commission, its officials, and the work at present being carried 
on by the Commission, and closes by expressing the hope that the Legis- 
lators of the State of Massachusetts "may be wise enough to grant a 
generous increase in funds, that the Commission may be given an oppor- 
tunity to prove the correctness or the incorrectness of its plans to provide 
relief for the blind in some other manner than by a general pension system." 
4 TOPIC NO. 2 
Matters of Record and Report." Survey by J. J. Dow, Superin- 
tendent, Minnesota State School for the Blind, 
Faribault, Minn. 
Dr. Dow found the records of the Commission in excellent shape, and 
was satisfied that the financial methods and system of bookkeeping adopted 
by the Commission were excellent. 
Dr. Dow makes a gratifying reference to the reports published from 
time to time by the Commission, and says with regard to the same: 
I will say of the published reports which include all important proceed- 
ings of the Commission itself and its staff, together with special studies 
by field agents and other officials, that I consider them on the whole the 
most important and valuable of any matter concerning the blind presented 
to the public in printed form." 
Dr. Dow was evidently much impressed with the thoroughness with 
which all records of the Commission were kept, and in closing his report 
pays a well-deserved tribute to Miss Lucy Wright and her staff. 
Dr. Dow concludes his survey as follows: "lam firmly convinced that 
in the general scope of its work of investigation and record, of industrial 
and social activity, and of publicity and prevention work, it is hardly likely 
to be improved upon, and certainly is not surpassed by any similar organ- 
ization in this country." 
TOPIC NO. 3 
"The Blind in the Community." Survey by Edward M. VanCleve, 
Principal, New York Institute for the Education of the 
Blind, New York City, N. Y. 
Mr. VanCleve appreciates most fully the action of the Massachusetts 
Commission for the Blind in seeking out blind people through its field 
workers and the promptness with which such cases are suitably dealt with. 
He suggests that the home teachers should be utilized in this particular 
line of work. At the same time he intimates that the teachers are spread- 
ing their efforts over too wide an area, and recommends that with addi- 
tional teachers more intensive work could be made possible and visits to 
pupils made more frequently. 
Mr. VanCleve is enthusiastic in his praise of the efforts made by the 
Commission to secure opportunities for the blind to work in factories, 
but points out that the Workmen's Compensation Law has in a measure 
prevented these efforts being crowned with the success they deserve. He 
approves of the plan adopted by the Commission for the subsidizing of 
workmen in their own homes, workshops, greenhouses, etc. 
5 Mr. VanCleve approves of the salesrooms for home products and in 
the methods adopted by the Commission in this department of their work. 
There can be no doubt that this activity of the Commission might be largely 
developed. 
Mr. VanCleve strongly advocates the establishment of local centers for 
the blind and accentuates the advantages of such centers. 
Mr. VanCleve concludes his survey in three remarkably effective para- 
graphs, in which he points out that the Massachusetts Commission for the 
Blind, while serving the blind to the best of its ability, has at the same time 
served the State most ably " in that the public have been helped to see the 
problem of the blind as their own problem." 
TOPIC NO. 4 
"Subsidized Shops." Survey by E. P. Morford, Superintendent, 
Brooklyn Industrial Home for the Blind, Brooklyn, N. Y. 
I am entirely in accord with Mr. E. P. Morford's emphatic statement 
that "blind manual labor due to existing conditions in the industrial world 
must be subsidized if the intent is to make the individual a self-supporting 
wage earner." Mr. Morford's friendly criticism of the flat-rate wage and 
the sliding-scale wrage is in my opinion justified, and his suggestion "that 
a piece-work scale, sufficiently padded to make up for the handicap of 
blindness, would be much more efficient," is well worthy of consideration. 
Mr. Morford accentuates the limitations for industrial training under 
present conditions and lays stress upon the disadvantages arising from the 
apprentices being placed in the same workshop with skilled workmen, 
and suggests that "the establishment of a non-residential trade training 
shop especially for men would effectively solve this problem." With this 
view I entirely concur. 
Mr. Morford's criticism of a residential center for trade training or 
employment is justified. My own investigations of such residential work- 
shops in Great Britain have convinced me of their undesirability. 
TOPIC NO. 5 
"Relation of Commission to Other Agencies." Survey by 
R. B. Irwin, Supervisor of Classes for Conservation 
of Eyesight, Board of Education, Cleveland, Ohio 
Mr. R. B. Irwin was evidently strongly impressed with the ability of 
the Commission's agents to enlist the cooperation of other organizations 
and with its relations with State and private social agencies. He was also 
deeply impressed with the successful manner in which the work of the 
6 Commission was carried on in cooperation with agencies for the blind, 
especially with the Massachusetts Association for the Blind. Mr. Irwin 
clearly points out the advantages which have resulted from the cooperation 
of the Commission with the management of the Nursery for Blind Babies 
and other organizations for the blind. 
Mr. Irwin clearly states the respective positions taken by the Massa- 
chusetts Commission for the Blind and the Blind Welfare Union on the 
question of pensions, but expresses no opinion as to the relative merits 
of the proposed legislation suggested by these organizations. In fact, he 
rather implies that some other form of relief should be devised, as is indi- 
cated by the following quotation from his survey: "Until a satisfactory 
solution of the blind relief problem is put into operation, I see no hope 
for bringing about more harmonious relations between these two organ- 
izations." It seems to me that the attitude of the Commission upon the 
question of employment and relief is worthy of the support of the blind 
as well as of all the people of Massachusetts, and I think the Commission's 
proposal should be well tried out before resorting to more radical methods 
of assisting the needy blind. 
Mr. Irwin pays a well-deserved tribute to the active work of the Com- 
mission with respect to the conservation of vision, and makes a practical 
suggestion with respect to the cooperation of the State Commission for 
the Blind and the State Board of Education in dealing with public school 
classes for children with impaired eyesight. 
Mr. Irwin's masterly treatment of the question of the augmentation 
of the wages of the blind and the justification for such augmentation re- 
flects a great deal of credit upon him, and will be read with interest by the 
friends of the blind far beyond the confines of the State of Massachusetts. 
His presentation of the need that exists for some form of relief to many 
individuals who are blind is strong and vigorous, and will readily be 
admitted by all who are interested in the welfare of those deprived of sight, 
but Mr. Irwin is non-committal as to the manner and method by which 
such relief should be extended to the blind. 
I again repeat that in my opinion the Massachusetts Commission for 
the Blind has taken the right view of this question, and that the General 
Court of Massachusetts would be well advised if it follow the suggestions 
made by the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind. 
7 Topic No. i 
"ORGANIZATION " 
SURVEY BY O. H. BURRITT, Principal 
Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind, 
Overbrook, Pa. 
A SURVEY OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE MASSACHUSETTS 
COMMISSION FOR THE BLIND FOR THE TEN-YEAR 
PERIOD, 1907-1917 
Topic No. 1. Organization (including legislative authority, appropriation, 
personnel of board, central office staff, with qualifications, salaries, etc., 
division of labor, relations to each other and to the Board), outlined 
with a view to securing your advice as to scope of work of a Commis- 
sion for the Blind; favorable details of organization, definitions of 
blindness, etc., further legislation, etc. 
I. Legislative Authority 
An examination of the law creating the Commission and the amend- 
ments thereto indicates that the Act creating it was wisely drawn, in that 
it allows large latitude of action to the Commission. With but one or two 
exceptions, the activities of the Commission are permissive, not mandatory. 
First. The Commission is authorized (Section 2) "to prepare and 
maintain a register of the blind in Massachusetts, which shall describe 
their condition, cause of blindness, and capacity for education and indus- 
trial training." 
Data as to the numbers registered in accordance with this provision of 
the Act are not immediately available for each of the ten years of the Com- 
mission's existence. They are, however, available in published form for 
the past five years; i. e., for the fiscal years ending with November 30, 
1911, to 1915, inclusive. These figures show that the Commission has 
maintained an average registration annually of over 1,500 blind persons, 
of whom an average of about 525 per annum have been registered for the 
first time. The record for the last year of the period is 1,872 registered, 
561 of them for the first time. 
Second. It is provided by Section 3 that "the Commission shall act as 
a bureau of information and industrial aid, the object of which shall be to 
aid the blind in finding employment and to develop home industries for 
them. For this purpose the Commission may furnish materials and tools 
8 to any blind person, and may assist such blind persons as are engaged in 
home industries in marketing their products." 
The sixth annual report states that "the agents of the Commission have 
had a close acquaintance with more than 3,500 of the 6,000 persons tech- 
nically blind who are or who have been registered with the Commission. To 
do this they have made at least 20,OCX) visits in almost every city and town 
of the Commonwealth. ..." As there has been material increase in the 
appropriation, this work has probably not decreased in amount. Through 
these visits and the many calls for information at its office, the Commis- 
sion seems to be fulfilling its function "as a bureau of information." 
How is the Commission fulfilling its duty of aiding the blind in finding 
employment and of developing home industries for them? The summary 
of its activities for the year ending November 30, 1915, shows that either 
by the provision of training, regular or temporary employment, shop indus- 
try or canvassing, aid has been afforded to 226 individuals, and that home 
industry has been fostered by loans, equipment, use of canvasser, use of 
salesroom, etc., in the case of 148 other blind persons. That with all the 
effort put forth in the fostering of home industries there has resulted the 
meager return to the workers of less than $1,600, speaks forcefully of the 
difficulties that are encountered in efforts to develop home industries. On 
the other hand, that the 113 employees in the Commission's shops and the 
thirteen blind or partially blind employees on the staff were paid approxi- 
mately $43,500 is the strongest argument for the extension of these oppor- 
tunities until the State has met the need of every blind person who has the 
mentality and the physical stamina to profit by them. 
Third. By the provisions of Section 4 of the Act, the Commission is 
authorized to establish, equip, and maintain one or more schools for 
industrial training and workshops for the employment of blind persons, 
to pay to employees suitable wages, and may devise means for the sale and 
distribution of the products of such schools and workshops." Under the 
power conferred upon it, the Commission "has established workshops," 
is apparently paying suitable wages, and has devised means for the sale 
and distribution of the products. The writer understands that training is 
provided in many instances for those who afterward become wage earners 
in the shops. 
Fourth. The provisions of Sections 5 and 6, making it possible for the 
Commission to provide for the temporary support of an individual under 
training, whether within or without the State, are liberal and apparently 
adequate. The number thus provided for is restricted somewhat by the 
funds available for the purpose, but more by the prospects of subsequent 
remunerative employment. 
Fifth. Ample authority, too, has apparently been granted to the Com- 
mission by Section 7, in the matter of the appointment of the necessary 
9 officers and agents. The number and their compensation are restricted by 
that portion of the appropriation that may justly be considered available 
for this phase of the Commission's activities. 
Sixth. It is not strange that the amendments provided by Sections 9 
and 10 should have been sought early in the Commission's history. No 
business can be operated without some capital, and this is preeminently 
true of a business which is conducted upon so small a margin of profit or, 
more generally, at a positive loss, as is the case where the artisans are 
laboring under the handicap imposed by blindness. 
Seventh. The writer believes that the transfer by Chapter 201 of the 
Acts of 1916 of the supervision of the instruction of the adult blind at 
their homes from the Director of the Perkins Institution to the Commis- 
sion will result in an increase in efficiency and in a decrease of the per 
capita cost of such instruction. While this instruction is educational work, 
it is educational work for adults, and as such it is a prerogative of the 
Commission, and not of a school for the education of the young blind. 
Under the present plan, better supervision will be possible, and the method 
in vogue in the assignment of cases will undoubtedly save the time and 
traveling expenses of the home teachers, while it will insure a more exact 
definition of the needs of the adult blind of the State. 
From all that I could learn in the time at my disposal while in Boston, 
and from a careful study of the Acts creating the Commission and defining 
its powers, I conclude that the legislature has clothed the Commission with 
authority adequate for the accomplishment of the purposes for which it 
was created. 
II. Appropriation 
In the nine-year period for which figures are available, the appropria- 
tion has been increased from $40,000 in 1906-1907 to $68,000 in 1914- 
1915. This increase of 67J per cent in the appropriation has made possible 
an increase of 165 per cent in the number of blind persons reached, of 
72 per cent in the number materially benefited, of 66 per cent in the num- 
ber regularly employed in the Commission's shops, and of 439 per cent in 
the earnings of the blind people employed in the Commission's shops, 
salesroom, and staff. Stated another way, in approximate figures, by 
increasing its appropriation two-thirds, the State has multiplied the number 
of blind people reached 2f times, the number materially benefited by If, 
the number regularly employed by If, and the earnings of the blind by 5f. 
To state that the extent of the work to be undertaken is determined by 
the amount of the appropriation is axiomatic. With its appropriation of 
$67,000 for the year 1914-1915, the Commission gave material assistance 
to approximately 800 blind persons at a per capita expenditure of $83.75. 
While some of this number might have received greater financial assist- 
10 ance by a pension system, it is a matter of very grave doubt whether equal 
benefit could have been conferred upon 800 blind people by the distribution 
of $83.75 in cash to each individual. Under a pension system it is not easy 
to vary the amount of assistance according to the need of the individual. 
The Ohio plan is the only form of public pension known to the writer that 
admits of any adjustment of the amount of assistance in accordance with 
the need and the desert of the individual, a principle which is fundamental 
in the administration of the pension of the Gardner's Trust Fund in 
England. 
If the cost to the State of a pension system for the blind be compared 
with that of the various lines of activity of the Commission, it will be 
wholly in favor of the latter method. The usual amount of annual pension 
to a blind person in the few states that have provided them is $150. If 
each of the 800 blind persons materially benefited last year through the 
Commission's activities had received an annual pension of $150, the cost 
to the State would have been $120,000. But the moment a pension system 
is inaugurated by the State, experience proves that the number of blind 
people applying for aid will increase enormously. The United States cen- 
sus of 1910 gives the number of blind in Ohio as 3,740. With reports 
missing from nine counties, the records of the County Commissioners in 
June, 1914, showed 3,578 names on the pension rolls to whom had been 
paid the sum of $299,595. It is generally agreed that the United States 
census figures of 1910 err in returning too small numbers of blind people. 
One estimate is that Ohio in 1910 had at least 4,500 blind. The same 
census enumerates 2,046 blind persons in Massachusetts. Increasing this 
number in the same ratio, Massachusetts would have 2,500 blind. As the 
proportion of suitable applicants for a pension would be approximately 
the same in Massachusetts as in Ohio, about 1,920 would have to be pro- 
vided for, which, at an annual rate of $150, would require $288,000, or 
about 4| times the amount appropriated in 1914-1915. But the investi- 
gations of the Commission lead it to believe that there are in Massa- 
chusetts at least 4,000 blind persons, in which case the number of probable 
pensioners must be increased accordingly. A conservative estimate of the 
annual cost of a pension system for the blind of Massachusetts is $400,000, 
and it might easily reach $500,000. 
But various possible forms of relief are to be considered by another 
member of the Survey Committee. I have considered it here only in rela- 
tion to the amount of the appropriation. That some form of relief must 
be provided for a very considerable number of the mentally deficient, ill, 
aged, and infirm blind is incontrovertible; but I firmly believe that this 
relief should be provided through the usual channels of relief after due 
investigation and recommendation by the Commission through its field 
workers. Such a plan will save duplication of work, with increased benefit 
to the blind. 
11 In order to continue its present activities, enlarge its work along the 
lines suggested elsewhere in this report, and provide relief where neces- 
sary, the annual appropriation to the Commission should be increased to 
at least $150,CXDO. This amount is easily less than one-half the cost of the 
initial year of a pension system, and the resulting benefit to the blind will, 
it is believed, be much greater. 
III. Personnel of the Commission 
Number 
A small, active body of workers is the most effective kind of organiza- 
tion; the present number of Commissioners (five) meets well this require- 
ment. The sole reason for any increase in the number is the possible 
gain in the representation of a somewhat greater diversity of interests. 
This gain is wholly problematic; it will be considered later in another 
connection. 
Sex 
The New York State Commission on the Adult Blind found in 1903 
that of the 6,008 persons returned as blind by the census enumerators of 
1900, 45 per cent were women; 55 per cent men. As the Commission's 
activities are concerned with both sexes, it is very appropriate that there 
should be a representation of both sexes in the membership of the Com- 
mission ; and as the men probably predominate, the present proportion of 
two women and three men seems entirely logical. 
Points of View Represented 
In the matter of adequate representation of divergent points of view, 
social and economic, the Commission seems well constituted. One of the 
first essentials in the work of any State Commission is that strict business 
principles shall be applied. The presence on the Commission of two 
eminently successful business men should insure this. That these gentle- 
men give liberally of their time both to attend the meetings of the Com- 
mission and, in their capacity as members of the Shop Committee, to 
consider and pass upon the varied and perplexing problems of shop man- 
agement that continually arise, does insure the application of business 
principles just so far as these can be applied in shops where the workers 
are laboring under so serious a handicap as blindness imposes. 
The presence on the Commission of two women, both well known for 
their humanitarian and philanthropic activities, one of whom has had many 
years of experience in relief work of all kinds, insures that the purely busi- 
ness point of view shall not be so prominent that the philanthropic and 
humanitarian aspects of the Commission's activities shall be lost sight of. 
That one of these women has been blind for many years assures the 
Commission that it has at least the point of view of those who have lost 
sight in adult life. 
12 That the fifth member of the Commission is an educator of the blind 
whose two years' experience as a teacher in the Royal Normal College for 
the Blind in London, England, under that eminent teacher of the blind, 
Sir Francis Campbell, himself blind, has been followed by twenty-six years' 
experience as the directing head of two of our leading schools for the 
blind, insures to the Commission constantly the point of view of a leader 
in the education of the blind in America. 
The question may fairly be raised whether one or two additional points 
of view might be represented on the Commission with advantage to the 
blind. Would it be helpful if there were added to the Commission a phy- 
sician, and one blind from birth or early childhood ? Unquestionably, it is 
important that the Commission have the benefit of these two points of 
view, but it is not absolutely essential that they be represented in the per- 
sonnel of the Commission. The viewpoint of the former is constantly 
secured through the close association with such institutions as the Massa- 
chusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, through constant interviews which the 
Commission's employees have with oculists who have attended patients 
during the oncoming of blindness, and through the work on prevention 
and in behalf of those with defective vision which is a part of the work 
delegated by law to the Commission. And the point of view of all the 
blind is unquestionably secured to the Commission through its thirteen 
blind and partially blind employees and the seven home teachers, four of 
whom are totally and one partially blind, supplemented by the many shades 
of opinion expressed by the workers in the Commission's shops and in 
their own homes. The chief, if not the only reason, then, for adding to 
the numbers of the Commission is with a view to disarming criticism, 
which, in the judgment of the writer, would not be effected by the addi- 
tion of a blind person to the Commission. Such increase is, therefore, not 
recommended. 
Meetings 
Regular meetings of the Commission are held every two weeks-a 
provision which seems to the writer deserving of special commendation, 
as it insures to the Commissioners a much more intimate knowledge of the 
many problems with which they must deal. Monthly meetings of organiza- 
tions, public and private alike, are usually considered quite sufficient and 
are the customary thing. The State and the blind for whose benefit the 
Commission exists are to be congratulated upon having a Commission 
whose members are able and willing to give to their official duties double 
the time that is usually expected of the members of such bodies. 
Inquiry elicited the information that the meetings are regularly 
attended by a majority of the Commissioners, and that it is rare that the 
number (three) necessary for a quorum is not present. 
13 IV. Central Office Staff 
It is extremely difficult for an outsider with but a limited time at his 
disposal to secure accurate information upon such questions as the quali- 
fications, division of labor, and relation to each other and to the Commis- 
sion of a staff of workers. The writer spent three entire days and portions 
of two days of his stay in Boston in the central office and among the staff 
of that office, conferring with nearly all of them and talking quite at 
length with several. Quite extended conferences were held with the 
General Superintendent, the Superintendent of Training and Employ- 
ment for Men, the Superintendent of Training and Employment for 
Women, the Field Agent for the Prevention of Blindness, the Field 
Worker who distributes the case work, the Field Worker on Employment, 
the Accountant, and with three home teachers. These conferences were 
wholly informal and quite intimate and sympathetic, with the result that 
the writer feels that he acquired rather intimate and first-hand knowledge 
of the staff. The following observations are the result of the information 
thus gained: 
Qualifications 
The impression made upon an earnest searcher after the truth con- 
cerning the qualifications of the staff is that the Commission has been 
extremely fortunate in the selection of its force. For several years I have 
followed with intense interest the work of Miss Wright, and a closer and 
somewhat critical examination of the organization which she has worked 
out under the general direction of the Commission intensifies the belief 
that she is by training and experience peculiarly adapted to the position 
she holds. I have known, too, for some time Mr. Holmes, Miss Rand, 
Mr. Greene, Mr. Cole, and Miss Lewis. I have always believed that each 
of these five workers was peculiarly fitted to his particular task, and the 
more intimate knowledge gained of their general qualifications only served 
to strengthen this belief. 
I spent several hours looking into the operations of the salesroom, the 
methods in vogue in helping the blind workers in their homes by furnish- 
ing them raw materials, supervising and directing their work and mar- 
keting their products, and discovered nothing to criticize unfavorably and 
no changes in method to suggest. Miss Rand and Miss Cummings seem to 
be working with intelligence, sympathy, and remarkable devotion upon an 
exceedingly difficult and discouraging problem. There is great need for 
opportunities for work for blind people, particularly women, in their 
homes, but there is scarcely a more difficult problem in the entire range of 
work for the adult blind. 
There is great need of the development throughout the entire country 
of suitable educational methods and opportunities for pupils with impaired 
vision. Toward the solution of this important problem the Massachusetts 
14 Commission has already made important contributions, and the work of 
Mr. Greene for the prevention of blindness and for the education of those 
with defective sight is well and favorably known. 
As the problems involved in the work under the supervision of 
Mr. Holmes, Kir. Cole, and Miss Lewis belong chiefly to other members 
of the Survey Committee, I concerned myself with them only as they 
seemed to be a part of the topic assigned to me. 
I spent some little time at Woolson House Shop and took dinner with 
the workers there. Woolson House and the shop connected with it are 
expensive to maintain; but every one working for and with blind women 
realizes how exceedingly difficult it is to find remunerative industries for 
this needy portion of the blind population. Miss Lewis is working sym- 
pathetically, conscientiously, and intelligently at a very difficult problem. 
I am unable to make any constructive criticism here; I can only commend 
both the shop management and the service rendered by and through 
Woolson House. I trust the recent efforts made to extend the service of 
the House along new lines will prove successful. 
My visit to the Cambridge Industries was too hurried to warrant any 
expression of opinion beyond the statement that I was impressed with 
the air of industry that obtained in the shops and the apparent spirit of 
contentment among the workmen. This seemed particularly to be true 
in the broom and willow departments. I could not avoid contrasting the 
present condition of these men occupied and contented in their work with 
their condition under any pension system that could be devised. 
I spent from two to three hours with Mr. Holmes, getting his point of 
view concerning his own work and also with reference to future work for 
the blind of the State. His direction of the work of the Massachusetts 
Commission for the Blind shops, so far as it can be judged at long range, 
seems along lines dictated by common sense and reason. I gave consider- 
able thought and attention to a possible larger field of usefulness for 
Mr. Holmes's powers, being particularly urged to do so by the General 
Superintendent. Mr. Holmes, too, gave me his fullest confidence and 
talked frankly and freely. I am unable, however, to make any very helpful 
recommendations here. The General Superintendent's suggestion that he 
might be very helpful in the consideration and assignment of cases appealed 
to me as a possible field for larger service. 
Salaries 
I have been furnished with duplicate copies of the information con- 
cerning each employee of the Commission which the Executive Council 
Committee on Standardization of Salaries requires each employee, in a 
"permanent or regularly established position in the State service," to 
furnish upon suitable blanks known as " Form A." These blanks call for 
detailed information upon a number of points, among which are the follow- 
15 ing which are germane to the subject of the salaries of the Commission's 
employees; viz., salary, detailed description of work, time devoted to work, 
and vacations. A careful study of these blanks fails to reveal any extrav- 
agances in salaries paid. On the contrary, a careful reading of the state- 
ments of the duties of the employees and their hours of labor conveys the 
impression that in this matter of salaries the Commission is applying strict 
business principles. 
But I question whether in a few instances salaries should not be in- 
creased. E. g., I am surprised to learn that the General Superintendent 
is not receiving a larger compensation. Considering her training, experi- 
ence, social, and executive ability, she can easily command a larger salary. 
A man who would do the work as efficiently as I believe she is doing it 
would command double the salary. 
If the Accountant is doing her work as satisfactorily as appears, her 
compensation seems rather inadequate. Her position is one of exceptional 
responsibility and her duties seem arduous. But the business men on the 
Commission are better judges of this than the writer. 
If the work of the Home Teachers is as satisfactory as a superficial 
examination of it indicates, it would seem that their compensation should 
be increased. And I make this recommendation all the more emphatic if 
I am correct in my understanding that they have been receiving these 
salaries since the teaching of blind adults in their homes was begun fifteen 
years ago. Would it not be well to adopt the idea of a graduated increase 
in compensation upon the basis of length of satisfactory service ? I have 
just learned that the New York State Commission has recently determined 
upon the following schedule of salaries for its home teachers, increases 
being contingent upon satisfactory service: 
First year $720.00 
Second year 780.00 
Third year 840.00 
Fourth year 900.00 
Fifth year 1,000.00 
As Home Teachers are usually granted an additional allowance for 
guides and for traveling expenses for both themselves and guides, these 
salaries seem rather excessive. But I believe the principle to be sound. 
I recommend its adoption to the Commission, the amount and rate of 
increase to be determined by conditions in the State of Massachusetts. 
After all, the matter of compensating its employees can best be deter- 
mined by those who know conditions more intimately than is possible for 
an outsider to learn them in five days. These impressions are noted, 
however, in the performance of my duties as a member of the Survey 
Committee. 
16 Division of Labor 
Impressions gained by my rather intimate association with the central 
office staff for several days are to the effect that the staff is well organized 
with a view to preventing overlapping of duties and to securing the best 
possible results for the blind of the State. I was particularly well im- 
pressed with the method of handling the "case work," a method that I 
heartily commend to workers for the blind elsewhere. While I gave only 
a superficial examination to the individual card records, because this topic 
was assigned to another member of the Committee, I believe these records 
are exceptionally well kept. Records of this kind have little value unless 
kept strictly up to date; and to keep them up to date requires that a large 
amount of detailed clerical work be done with accuracy and dispatch. From 
my own limited experience and observation, I know that only those who 
have a rather intimate knowledge of systems of record keeping have any 
conception of the vast amount of labor involved. Herein lies the only 
reason for my mention of the topic, viz., that while a merely superficial 
knowledge of the requirements of the central office may lead one to suppose 
that the staff is larger than it need be, one need not pursue his investigation 
far to satisfy himself that each member of the staff has his full quota of 
important work. The farther I pursued my investigations the more fully 
I became convinced that when the full scope of the Commission's activities 
was understood, the need for every member of the staff became apparent. 
I understand that the division superintendents are appointed and may 
be removed from office by the Commission, but that they are directly re- 
sponsible to the General Superintendent. There seems here to be a division 
of responsibility or accountability that is incompatible with the highest 
efficiency. Experience has established beyond question the fact that the 
best results are obtained where the entire responsibility of an organization 
is placed in the hands of one individual, who is held responsible for results. 
There is no question in my mind that all the division superintendents should 
be chosen by the General Superintendent, subject to the approval of the 
Commission. And in order that there be no possible misunderstanding 
among the division superintendents or any of the officers of the Commis- 
sion, this policy should be clearly announced. 
In my investigations I learned that there is a slight misunderstanding 
on the part of one, possibly of two, of the division superintendents on this 
question of accountability. One expressed the feeling that the General 
Superintendent has gradually assumed authority which she did not orig- 
inally have and which, as he understood it, it was not the intention of the 
Commission that she should possess. So far as I could learn, all the others 
understood that they were directly responsible to the General Superim 
tendent and the plan was wholly satisfactory. 
Relations to Each Other and to the Commission 
17 I realize that the present General Superintendent was not appointed 
immediately to succeed her predecessor; that the organization continued 
without change for some time; and that she has gradually acquired sub- 
stantially all the powers and duties of General Superintendent. Inquiry 
from members of the Commission, from the one division superintendent 
most pronounced in his dissatisfaction with the present arrangement, and 
from the General Superintendent herself, led me to the conclusion that, 
with these exceptions, there is now a fairly clear understanding that the 
General Superintendent has entire charge under the Commission of all its 
activities, and that the division superintendents are responsible to the 
Commission through the General Superintendent. The requirements by 
the Executive Council Committee on Standardization of Salaries that in 
answering the inquiries concerning "each permanent or regularly estab- 
lished position in the State service" each employee of the Commission in 
his "official record" shall describe his work in detail, indicating as clearly 
as possible the scope and character of his duties, whether office, traveling, 
or field work, and whether he supervises or directs the work of other 
employees, coupled with the discriminating manner in which these records 
have been "approved" and signed, should, and I believe will, be of distinct 
value in clarifying this whole matter of the relations of the entire staff 
to each other and to the Commission. 
I would particularly commend the method pursued at the meetings 
of the Commission, whereby the division superintendents are present while 
their recommendations are being considered. This plan should result in 
better acquainting the Commission with the problems these superintendents 
have to meet and in enabling the Commission to know its employees better, 
with the resulting ability to judge with greater fairness their qualifications 
for their positions and the degree of success being attained in their work. 
If the General Superintendent is always present at these meetings and her 
opinion is frequently asked, no division superintendent can get the wrong 
notion of his relation to the General Superintendent and to the Commission. 
V. Definition of Blindness 
A visit to any one of our residential or day schools for the blind will 
furnish concrete evidence of the difficulty of formulating a workable 
definition of blindness. "Border line" cases, whether of sight or mentality, 
furnish a large proportion of the most difficult problems in all work for 
the blind. After several years' study of the problem, the oculist at the 
Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind, Dr. T. B. Hollo- 
way, has determined that as a general rule a boy or girl who possesses only 
one-tenth or less of normal vision is eligible as a pupil of the school. 
Substantially the same view has been expressed by the oculists of several 
other schools for the blind. All information available seems to substantiate 
18 the view that the Commission's statement in their sixth annual report 
covers the ground admirably, and that it would be difficult to formulate 
a better statement of the problem. 
VI. Scope of Work of a Commission for the Blind 
The ideal towards which a State Commission for the Blind should aim 
is the largest possible service to every blind person within the confines of 
the State. This ideal has been well stated in the Ninth Annual Report 
of the Commission, under the topic, "Summary of Work of the Past Year." 
My study of the Commission's activities leads me to believe that the Com- 
mission is working towards this goal as rapidly as possible with the funds 
placed at its disposal. 
I have never considered relief work as a province of a Commission for 
the Blind; but with the apparent tendency toward providing State pen- 
sions for the blind population, the question may fairly be raised whether 
the powers and duties of the Commission may not well be increased to 
permit the granting of needed relief. Whether this relief should be dis- 
tributed through the Commission or through the ordinary channels for 
granting relief is a question upon which there may be an honest difference 
of opinion; but upon the statement that the Commission has or can secure 
better than any other organization the facts upon which the need for relief 
is apparent, there can be only unanimity of opinion. If the Commission 
is granted the necessary increase in appropriation by slight additions to 
its corps of field workers, it can easily investigate every case of blindness 
needing relief. Indeed, the necessary facts with reference to a large num- 
ber of cases are already within the possession of the Commission. All 
that is needed is that the State shall empower the Commission to make all 
the necessary investigations and provide the funds for the additional field 
workers and for the needed relief. Such a plan will be far more satis- 
factory and economical than a general pension system. 
General Conclusions 
During my five days' study of the Commission's activities and of the 
organization through which it attempts to carry on the work it is author- 
ized to do, I made an honest attempt to discover the strength and the 
weakness of the organization. I approached the problem in an entirely 
unprejudiced state of mind, but with a determination to know the truth. 
In this effort I was afforded every assistance by members of the Commis- 
sion, by the General Superintendent, the division superintendents, and by 
every member of the staff who could answer such questions as I raised 
or supply information I was seeking. There was manifest on the part of 
every employee an earnest desire to aid me in getting at the truth, and 
there was a notable absence of any effort to prejudice my opinions in any 
way. 
19 I have endeavored to set forth my findings as fully and as helpfully as 
possible and to speak with entire candor. Careful search failed to reveal 
any serious fundamental defects in the organization or in the methods of 
the Commission's activities. In general, I have only commendation for 
the Commission and its employees, and hope that the State legislators may 
be wise enough to grant a generous increase in funds, that the Commission 
may be given an opportunity to prove the correctness or the incorrectness 
of its plans to provide relief for the blind in some other manner than by 
a general pension system. 
Respectfully submitted, 
(Signed) O. H. Burritt. 
February 2, 1917. 
20 Topic No. 2 
MATTERS OF RECORD AND REPORT 
SURVEY BY J. J. DOW, Superintendent 
Minnesota State School for the Blind, Faribault, Minn. 
MINNESOTA SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND 
Faribault, Minn. 
January 30, 1917. 
Sir Frederick Fraser, 
Superintendent, School for the Blind, 
Halifax, N. S. 
Dear Sir :- 
Reporting on the subject assigned me with reference to the Massachu- 
setts Commission for the Blind, I will say that I spent a week in Boston 
and vicinity looking over the work of the Commission in all of its phases, 
in doing which I was given every facility by the officers and staff of the 
Commission. While my particular subjects were records and reports, I 
felt that I could not properly cover these subjects unless I had definite 
knowledge from direct observation of the matters which were the subjects 
of Record and Report. I went over very thoroughly and carefully the 
office arrangements and faciliites for keeping readily available all informa- 
tion concerning the blind of all ages and conditions in the State, and 
especially concerning those who have been at any time under consideration 
for employment or aid in any form. 
I also carefully looked over the financial methods and the system of 
bookkeeping covering all the financial activities of the Commission in all 
parts of the state, and especially in the adjacent salesroom, the shops in 
the vicinity of Boston, and the shops in towns in other parts of the State. 
The details of expenditure for service of all kinds were exhibited in a 
special tabulation furnished me, and were in accord with the same as they 
appear on the financial books. 
A file of the published reports of the Commission has been in my hands 
from year to year in my own office, and I have given very careful consider- 
ation afresh to the matter they contain, and have made careful comparison 
of the statements of these reports with the facts and conditions which came 
under my observation during my visit in Boston. 
Speaking in detail of these various phases of the work of the Com- 
mission, I will say of the published reports which include all important 
21 proceedings of the Commission itself and its staff, together with special 
studies by field agents and other officials, that I consider them on the whole 
the most important and valuable of any matter concerning the blind 
presented to the public in printed form. The extended discussions from 
year to year of the methods pursued in Massachusetts and elsewhere for 
Conservation of Vision in public school work have in particular been of 
immense value and have widely stimulated thought and action on this 
important subject. The eminently sane and wholesome discussion of the 
pension question in the ninth report is another illustration of the great 
value of the matter of these reports. 
It is hardly necessary to add that these reports contain from year to 
year full and complete accounts of the material and social activities of the 
Commission in great detail. So far as my observation could extend in 
the limited time at my disposal, the published statements of these activities 
were borne out by the- facts. 
It has been my privilege to visit shops and observe the industrial work 
of the blind in institutions from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast, and I have 
nowhere seen work handled any better or apparently with greater efficiency 
than in the Cambridge industries of the Commission. The system and 
methods of assembling, exhibiting, and selling the industrial products of 
the blind in their homes also appeared to me eminently practical and 
successful. 
The registry system of the blind of the State was familiar to me as 
being practically the same as that employed in the State of Minnesota. 
The double system of alphabetical and regional card indexes and the more 
elaborate registry sheets with attached records seem to me the best and 
most readily available of any record system. The perfection with which 
it was carried out was to me a matter of admiration and envy. In my 
judgment it can hardly be improved on. 
In investigating the system of records, it was possible incidentally to 
observe the methods of dealing with the different individuals forming the 
subject of the records to a limited and incidental extent. In these few 
cases which came under my observation, I was impressed with the thorough 
nature of the investigations made and with the kindly but apparently just 
decisions and action in each case. I was convinced from the uniform 
character of the records examined that they were a fair sample of the 
whole. 
Any organization or system can be largely made or marred by the 
character of the persons engaged in carrying it out. In this respect, 
the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind seemed to me to be particu- 
larly fortunate. The President and two other of the members of the Com- 
mission whom I met were evidently deeply impressed with the importance 
and necessity of the work, and seemed more than ready to give their time 
and thought without stint toward rendering it efficient and successful. 
22 The exceedingly capable General Superintendent, Miss Lucy Wright, 
more than met the high opinion I had formed of her from my study of her 
reports and special papers. Her large grasp of the needs and conditions 
of the blind and her sane and wise views upon all questions coming within 
the field of her duties were a revelation and an inspiration. So, too, the 
office and industrial staff seemed wisely chosen and harmoniously efficient. 
It is just possible that one studying the work of the Commission more 
extendedly and more minutely than I was able to do might suggest modi- 
fications in some minor details which would be improvements upon the 
present methods. Indeed, it is more than probable that those in charge of 
its operations see more clearly than any one else such possibilities; but 
I am firmly convinced that in the general scope of its work of investigation 
and record, of industrial and social activity, and of publicity and preven- 
tion work, it is hardly likely to be improved upon, and certainly is not 
surpassed by any similar organization in this country. 
Respectfully submitted, 
(Signed) James J. Dow, 
Superintendent. 
23 Topic No. 3 
THE BLIND IN THE COMMUNITY 
SURVEY BY EDWARD M. VAN CLEVE, Principal 
New York Institute for the Education of the Blind, New York, N. Y. 
REPORT OF INVESTIGATION 
MASSACHUSETTS COMMISSION FOR THE BLIND 
To this investigator was assigned 
Topic HI-The Blind in the Community. 
1. Field Work.-2. Home Teaching.-3. Work in Competition 
with the Sighted.-4. Home Work. Salesroom.-5. Local 
Centers. 
December 6 to 9, 1916, was the period given to a personal visitation, 
the time being spent chiefly at the office of the Massachusetts Commission 
for the Blind, 3 Park Street, Boston, Mass. The opportunity was taken 
to visit in another city three blind persons who had come under the instruc- 
tion of a home teacher. 
Every sub-topic was carefully considered. In this report I shall present 
only a general comment, without attempt to review the work of ten years 
exhaustively; criticism, if any is worth noting; and a finding. 
1. Field Work. The method of the Commission in securing informa- 
tion about where blind people are shows how well the forces for human 
betterment are organized in Massachusetts. Not only the Commission's 
agents, but also all organizations one can think of, help to bring to the 
notice of the Commission the occurrence of blindness. One is struck with 
the promptness of action following information. What this action may be 
is determined by the requirements of the case. The use of the various 
means of the Commission for helpfulness is admirably illustrated in the 
case of Mr. , teamster, reported blind by the Massachusetts Charitable 
Eye and Ear Hospital, visited in his sister's home where he felt himself 
a burden, encouraged, given a visit in the family of another blind man 
wholesomely cheerful and effective, taught by home teachers to use his 
hands as a workman, located in a shop, now happily employed. This result, 
told in a sentence, required months of careful and wise management, with 
many visits by field agents. Not every case turns out favorably, even 
with patient and painstaking effort, but the impression of the investigator 
is that no effort is omitted to attain success. 
24 Unfavorable criticism has been heard to the effect that field work 
so-called-which included investigation of the case and bringing into action 
appropriate agencies for relief-smackstoo strongly of Associated Charities 
procedure. What such criticism really amounts to it is hard to determine, 
and without definition its consideration in respect to the work of the 
Commission is impracticable. 
It seemed to this investigator that the field work is done with intelli- 
gence, sympathy, and effectiveness. The question of method is important, 
and some determination must soon be made whether this field work may 
better be done by the blind home teachers, increasing the number of these 
so that the addition to their duties will not withdraw them too much from 
their chief function of teaching, or by continuing the present method. I 
think the home teacher will be better able to get to the heart of most 
situations, but there is practically always need for using trained eyesight 
in making the investigation. Therefore, I should favor enlarging the 
function of the home teacher sufficiently to let the initial steps toward 
helping the blind be taken by the home teacher, and when the confidence 
of the subject is gained, a trained investigator should be called in by the 
home teacher. 
2. Home Teaching has been only lately (since June, 1916) under the 
Commission's charge. For fifteen years this service to the blind has been 
rendered through the Perkins Institution, which was at the time of under- 
taking it the only State agency engaged in work for the blind. No more 
effective home teaching has been done anywhere, I believe, than in Massa- 
chusetts, due to the earnest and intelligent service of the teachers, some 
of whom have been in the service from 1900. Testimony to the good work 
of these teachers comes from all sources. In the change of status from 
employees of the Perkins Institution to service with the Commission, 
there have arisen questions of importance, some of them having to do 
wholly with administration or the personal equation, others with matters 
of principle; with the questions of length of vacation, supervision of the 
work, increased compensation, etc., the Commission seems to be dealing 
in a spirit of generosity as well as wisdom. I take up a few questions of 
principle: Is the field covered? No, or at most inadequately. Teachers 
seem to be spreading their efforts over too wide an area. More intensive 
work would seem possible if visits could be made to pupils more frequently, 
and less time spent in travel. If it be determined that to a home teacher 
should be assigned more social service along with teaching, then the re- 
striction of field would be practicable, provided the number of teachers 
could be increased. 
At this point it is proper to say that not one of the five teachers but 
gives more than faithful service, for every one works overtime and 
wholeheartedly. Already the effort had been made, before the teaching 
came under the Commission, while these home teachers were still part of 
25 Perkins Institution's organization, to do service to the State in ameliorat- 
ing the condition of the blind, as well as service to the blind individuals 
by teaching them. That is, the home teachers had taken upon themselves 
social service, though they had, strictly speaking, no call to such work. 
In any change now, it seems to this investigator that the home teacher 
should become more of a figure, with added social service responsibilities, 
directly reporting to the General Superintendent, and supported and 
assisted in the case work by the field agent and staff. In no other way can 
cooperation with local agencies be so effectively secured as by making 
the home teacher a general local representative of all work for the blind, 
the State's man in the community, adviser and helper to the local organiza- 
tion, as well as the local organization's means of reaching its own blind 
problem. The home teacher must know how to secure such cooperation 
and be something of a social worker, interested in prevention of blindness, 
too-in fact, the Commission's local representative for all its various 
interests. 
It is an opportune moment for a review of the accomplishments of 
home teaching. To these teachers, as to all teachers, encouragement will 
come when they learn of the results of their efforts. Pupils receive instruc- 
tion and then pass out of the teacher's ken. What use has been made of 
this instruction? How have the blind pupils benefited? A review of this 
sort is not only desirable but wholly possible with the admirable system 
of records maintained by the Commission. 
3. Work in Competition with the Sighted in factories becomes more 
and more difficult to secure. That blind workers often do well has been 
asserted and proved so many times by the Massachusetts Commission for 
the Blind that it is now a truism. But the application of the Workmen's 
Compensation Law deters employers, and work for the blind in factories 
is only likely to be a success when the law of supply and demand forces 
employers to accept handicapped workmen when the unhandicapped are 
not to be had. 
On the other hand, the man or woman in his own home, workshop, 
greenhouse, or wherever he may labor, may compete successfully with the 
sighted when subsidized, and this is as wholly desirable a form of subsidy 
as that of the subsidized shop. 
This Commission has tried every conceivable means to secure oppor- 
tunities for the blind to work in factories, with varying success, of course, 
but with such pertinacity and enthusiasm, such ingenuity and inventive- 
ness, as to arouse the investigator's admiration. 
4. A Salesroom for Home Products has been maintained, furnishing 
opportunities of employment to some who would probably otherwise be 
idle. Purchases of material are made and work on the material by blind 
operatives is paid for at fair rates; some make their own purchases and 
send their product to the salesroom on consignment. On work ordered 
26 by the Commission, transportation charges to and from the home of the 
worker are paid by the Commission. The blind worker at home receives 
the full selling price of an article, less cost of raw material. Consignors 
ship their consignments to the salesroom at their own expense. 
This department is wholly justified, in the opinion of the investigator, 
though its turnover is small, and a judicious expansion of this business 
would be advisable. 
A suggestion was made in the course of my investigation that purchases 
of materials to supply to workers in their homes, heretofore and at present 
made by home teachers as a friendly act on the part of these teachers and 
not officially a duty, might be made at a saving through a central purchas- 
ing agency. On inquiry it appeared that the total purchases in a year are 
between $300 and $400; so small a business would hardly justify the 
machinery of a central purchasing agency, and the establishment of such 
an agency is not recommended. 
5. Local centers in aid of the blind in a community are desirable 
cooperating agencies. One such center (at New Bedford) has reported 
its satisfaction in rendering help to the blind of its neighborhood, and urges 
the formation of bands of philanthropically inclined persons for similar 
activity elsewhere. The benefits of such service are for the giver as much 
as for the recipient. 
In conclusion, let me say that two questions immediately project them- 
selves into any consideration of this organization's effectiveness. They 
are: What have been the results of the Commission's work in benefiting 
the State? What in serving the blind? I conceive that both the blind 
and the State are to be considered, not the blind alone. 
As respects the blind in the community, the topic under consideration, 
I have answered these two questions under the several sub-topics, but this 
general statement may be accepted as the all-inclusive answer: Before all 
things else, the Commission has offered an improved viewpoint. By this 
the public have been helped to see the problem of the blind as their own 
problem. They have been taught to find the blind, to look upon their 
assistance and encouragement as a local problem; that the blind are not a 
class to be congregated, not to be shelved and neglected, but to be given 
a chance. And the blind in the community have been helped to find them- 
selves and their place of greatest usefulness. 
Thus, while serving the State as its first duty, but in a vital sense both 
a warm and wise friend of the blind, the Commission is not primarily a 
dispenser of relief; rather it is an arm of the State lending needed uplift 
to the handicapped citizen, helping him to find himself in his community, 
and, on the other hand, saving to useful citizenship and active employment 
the person who might otherwise be dependent. 
27 Topic No. 4 
SUBSIDIZED SHOPS 
SURVEY BY E. P. MORFORD, Superintendent 
Brooklyn Indzistrial Home for the Blind, Brooklyn, N. Y. 
INDUSTRIAL HOME FOR THE BLIND 
512 Gates Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. 
January, 1917. 
Sir Frederick Fraser. 
Dear Sir: 
In compliance with your request to act as a member of a Commission 
to make a survey of the work as accomplished by the Massachusetts Com- 
mission for the Blind during the past ten years, I beg to submit the follow- 
ing report on the subject matter assigned to me. 
Subsidized Shops 
I have spent several days in Massachusetts and have personally in- 
spected the various shops that are being conducted by the Commission, 
and have interviewed the members of the shop staff and talked with the 
blind workers. 
The practical systematic handling of the problems by the Commission 
is highly commendable, and I feel that friendly criticism and helpful 
suggestions are all that are necessary. 
It is a basic fact that blind manual labor due to existing conditions in 
the industrial world must be subsidized if the intent is to make the indi- 
vidual a self-supporting wage earner. 
The problem is, to what extent is it needed to realize the handicap of 
blindness, and how shall it be administered for the betterment of the 
individual ? 
The policy of the Commission is to furnish the raw material, provide 
the shop, supply the supervision and instruction, market the product, and 
pay the blind worker the full selling price less the cost of material only. 
Is this policy sound ? Is it good business ? Is it elevating the blind worker 
as a social unit ? 
The two methods of administering this subsidy adopted by the Com- 
mission, namely, a flat-rate wage and a sliding-scale wage, are both com- 
mendable, but do their faults outweigh their virtues ? 
28 A flat-rate wage discriminates against the rapid worker and places a 
premium on the slow worker. It reduces the earning capacity of floor 
space, of machinery, tools, etc. 
A sliding-scale wage known as augmentation of wages affords oppor- 
tunity for both rapid and slow workers to realize to their capacity the 
result of their labor, but with a decreasing ratio of increase up to a certain 
amount. The decreasing ratio of increase discriminates against the rapid 
worker in favor of the slow worker. It pays the worker up to this amount 
more than the selling price less the cost of material. It is a cumbersome 
method and entails considerable clerical work. 
A simple piece-work scale based on similar scales used by manufac- 
turers of similar products, and sufficiently padded to make up for the 
handicap of blindness, would be much more efficient. For example, note 
the Perkins Shop, Boston, Mass., or Industrial Home for the Blind, 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 
The method of handling the products in all the shops cannot be much 
improved, considering conditions, buildings, locations, etc. The labor- 
saving machinery and other devices that have been introduced, and the 
smoothness with which the various operations fit into each other, very 
materially increase the efficiency by eliminating laborious work and im- 
proving the quality of the output; but the quantity of the output is below 
normal. 
The blind workers as a group are contented and in harmony with the 
administration. They realize the advantages they are receiving and are 
appreciative, but there is evidence of an undercurrent of restlessness due 
to outside influences. 
The staff is well organized and quite efficient. The spirit of coopera- 
tion and harmony is very apparent and, above all, the enthusiasm shown by 
the staff members makes itself felt at every turn. 
The means of industrial training are somewhat limited, due to the fact 
that the untrained workers must be admitted as apprentices and fitted into 
the shop system to the best possible advantage of all. 
To a limited extent this plan will provide industrial training, but it 
frequently necessitates the transferring of regular employees from work 
with which they are familiar to that with which they are not familiar. 
Such changes are not relished by the regular worker, and tend to dis- 
turb the equilibrium and tranquillity of the shop. 
In the shops outside of Boston these conditions do not prevail; at least, 
not to the same extent, and these shops might be utilized as feeders to the 
Cambridge Shops. 
A non-residential trade training shop especially for men would effec- 
tively solve this problem. All applicants for industrial training could be 
thoroughly tried out and trained accordingly. 
29 Questions of mental and physical ability and of inclination or disin- 
clination to work, etc., could be solved. 
A residential center for trade training or employment is not desirable, 
because it would in due time become a retreat or blind hotel of defective 
blind. The environment would prove a serious obstacle in the pathway of 
newly blinded people seeking training or employment. 
Conditions of regular employment are good. There seems to be abun- 
dant work, and orders are booked far in advance. 
All business is dependent on supply and demand, which in turn governs 
the regularity of employment. In a shop where blind people are employed, 
conditions are somewhat different. Primarily, the business is not conducted 
for profit to the employer, but for profit to the blind employee. It is the 
wages that he earns that keep him from being a public charge; conse- 
quently the supply of work must be regular and the demand for the 
product must be stimulated to keep pace with the supply. 
Selling through the medium of the central salesroom is an excellent 
one, and from the sales that have been made it has proved its practicability 
as a means for bringing the public and the products of the blind together. 
Its value is very great. 
From the central salesroom a mail order business could be developed 
that would reach into all parts of the State, and other salesrooms estab- 
lished in different cities. Why not have a blind girl operating a power 
machine in the central salesroom? 
All outside agencies that can be induced to handle the output of the 
shops should be utilized to their fullest capacity. 
The Commission should see to it that all the State and municipal 
departments use their products. Much could be done toward providing 
more work for the blind if all the other State institutions and boards which 
use brooms and mops, which have chairs to be reseated, linen to be 
hemmed, etc., would avail themselves of the opportunity to employ the 
blind. 
There should be no question concerning blind canvassers or the use of 
blind canvassers. If the individual is capable of performing the duties 
involved in any certain occupation, he should be employed. Blindness 
should be no barrier. 
Personal appearance, education, culture, ability to get about, etc., are 
details; important ones, to be sure, but applicable to the sighted just as 
much as to the blind. 
Respectfully submitted, 
(Signed) Eben P. Morford. 
30 Topic No. 5 
relation of commission to 
OTHER AGENCIES 
Supervisor of Classes for Conservation of Eyesight, 
Board of Education, Cleveland, Ohio 
SURVEY BY R. B. IRWIN 
January 3, 1917. 
Sir Frederick Fraser, 
Chairman. 
Dear Sir Frederick: 
I visited the Massachusetts Commission office on Thursday morning, 
November 23, and left Boston Saturday night, December 2. Practically 
every minute of this time was spent discussing the work of the Commission 
with the various members of the staff, interviewing heads of organizations 
having a practical or logical relationship to the Commission for the Blind, 
and talking with various representative blind people. 
The topic of this survey of the work of the Massachusetts Commission 
for the Blind assigned to me is that having to do with the relationship of 
the Commission to other social agencies and to organizations of the blind. 
I was especially asked to consider existing and proposed methods for meet- 
ing the need for poor relief to the needy blind. Any one at all familiar 
with the multiplicity and high degree of specialization of the social agencies 
of Massachusetts will realize that it would be manifestly impossible in 
such a short period of time to make anything like a critical study of the 
entire field in which the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind might 
conceivably have relations with other social agencies. For this reason, 
I confined my observations primarily to two lines of endeavor, namely, 
Prevention of blindness, including conservation of vision; and Relief. 
These two activities could only be sampled here and there, in order to get 
the trend of policies and the effectiveness of the efforts put forth. 
I wish to express at the outset my appreciation of the absolute frank- 
ness and the desire to be of the greatest help in getting at the real situation 
exhibited by every member of the staff. 
Before one can discuss intelligently the relation of the Massachusetts 
Commission to other social agencies in the State, he should first get some 
Cooperation with Various Relief Agencies 
31 statement of the conception of the proper function of the Commission in 
that community. The activities of a commission for the blind, in whatever 
State it may be, are, of course, limited by the powers and duties intrusted 
to it by the legislature by which it was created. A commission, though, 
which is directed by persons with broad vision and earnest devotion has a 
certain ideal toward which it is striving. If its legislative authority is not 
broad enough, then the General Court should be asked to amend the law 
creating it. So far as I could make out, the function of the Massachusetts 
Commission is to study the condition and needs of the blind in the State, 
and to devise ways and means to meet these needs. So far as possible it 
is the policy of the Commission to utilize existing agencies which may 
cooperate in the solution of the various problems arising out of blindness. 
When no agency can be enlisted in the work, or when existing agencies 
are inadequate to the task, then only will the Commission undertake to 
create new machinery for dealing with the special problems. I was much 
impressed with the ability of the Commission's agents to enlist the coopera- 
tion of other organizations. The Commission seems to be upon the most 
cordial relations with other State and private social agencies, and enjoys 
the respect of the most advanced social workers in the community. The 
Commission has shown a willingness to do its special task in the light of 
its relation to a general program which has won for it the most cordial 
approbation of those striving to coordinate social effort in the State. This 
requires patience and forbearance, for there is a danger that an organiza- 
tion working in behalf of a class of people which makes so strong an appeal 
to public sympathy as do the blind may retard the achievement of certain 
desired ends by endeavoring to keep step and to work shoulder to shoulder 
with others in a comprehensive social program. This plan of cooperation, 
though, wins for the Commission friends who are invaluable in a thorough- 
going system of case-work. 
Cooperation with Agencies for the Blind 
The relation of the Commission for the Blind to special agencies 
organized in behalf of the blind is very close. The Massachusetts Asso- 
ciation for the Blind works in such close harmony with the Commission 
that it is difficult for an outsider to determine the exact line of demarca- 
tion between the activities of the Commission and those of the Association. 
The mechanical connection between these organizations, brought about by 
the presence of a member of the Commission upon the Board of the 
Massachusetts Association, is an illustration of the close cooperation of 
these two agencies, rather than an explanation of it. The close team-work 
of these two organizations grows out of a singleness of purpose and the 
unselfish devotion to the cause of the blind actuating both. The value of a 
private association for the blind in working out a general State program 
is so manifest as to make one wonder how other State commissions manage 
32 to operate without such an auxiliary. The convenience of an association of 
this kind, unlimited by legislative restrictions or considerations of public 
policy, makes many undertakings in behalf of the blind possible which 
might otherwise be left unattempted. Possibly the most valuable assistance 
which this Association renders in the solution of the problem of the blind 
is its recreational work. Perhaps the blind need recreation quite as much 
as employment, but public opinion is not yet clear enough upon this point 
to make it possible for a State agency to give this side of the work its due 
attention. 
In considering the relationship of the Commission to the Nursery for 
Blind Babies, I feel that it is very wise that the General Superintendent 
should serve on the advisory board of the Nursery. In few phases of 
philanthropic work is there more need for wisdom than in the training 
of little blind children. The presence of a trained social worker on the 
Board of this Nursery has had, I believe, a very salutary effect upon 
the management and aims of the Institution. The broad policy of the 
Nursery in opening its doors to the phlyctenular keratitis cases, brought 
to the attention of the Commission in its work in conjunction with the 
hospitals, is most fortunate. This practice goes far toward making the re- 
sults of the prevention of blindness activity of the Commission permanent, 
so far as this class of case-work is concerned. I was much interested in the 
statement of the matron of the Nursery regarding the influence of these 
little temporary sojourners upon the more permanent population. Entering 
as they do, they bring with them a little of the outside normal environment. 
The matron says that she has noted a marked change in the other children 
since these temporary inmates have been received. The presence of three 
or four children coming from normal homes has given a spontaneity and 
leaven to the entire group. The advent of these little convalescents has 
broken up old habits of speech and little set games, and has introduced a 
new life, new ideas, and new standards. 
The membership of the Director of the Perkins Institution upon the 
Commission insures cooperation between the Commission and this School. 
Without knowing the difficulties in the way of such a move, it occurred 
to me that this connection between the Perkins Institution and the Com- 
mission might well be developed in such a way that some of the Perkins 
plant could be utilized by the Commission during the long summer vaca- 
tions for the purpose of instructing blind adults. How far this might be 
carried out, and just how far such cooperation might be practicable, 
remains with the management of the two organizations to determine. 
The relation of the Commission to organizations of the blind seems, 
with the exception of one organization, to be more cordial than is often 
found in other States. The one organization to which I refer is the 
Blind Welfare Union. The difficulty in this particular case grows, in a 
measure, out of a difference of opinion between the management of the 
33 Commission for the Blind and the leaders of the Welfare Union regard- 
ing blind pensions. The leaders of the Union feel convinced that the most 
satisfactory solution of the problems of the blind is a general flat county 
pension of $150 per annum for all blind persons having an income of less 
than $300 a year. In the opinion of these persons, this pension should be 
distributed with the use of as little machinery as possible. The attitude 
of the Commission upon this question is a desire to make every effort to 
utilize other existing relief agencies to meet the needs of the indigent 
blind persons before special machinery and special public relief funds are 
provided for them. Until a satisfactory solution of the blind relief prob- 
lem is put into operation, I see no hope for bringing about more harmonious 
relations between these two organizations. 
Conservation of Vision and Prevention of Blindness 
Hospitals and Boards of Health 
Prevention of blindness and conservation of vision work conducted 
by the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind is at one with the general 
policy of the Commission. This has consisted primarily of the collection 
of data and the distribution of information in every way that the limited 
funds appropriated for this work will permit. All classes of agencies 
which obviously should take an interest in the prevention of blindness, 
and some whose responsibility in this respect is not so obvious, have been 
urged by the Commission to take all necessary measures to eliminate 
unnecessary blindness. Hospitals have been urged to develop follow-up 
work in this direction. By means of periodical inquiries into the thorough- 
ness of this follow-up work, and by stimulating the interest of the medical 
profession in the local communities in this activity, the Commission has 
acted as the State-appointed representative of that class of patients with 
whom the hospitals must concern themselves if insidious eye affections 
are not to result in complete loss or permanent impairment of vision. The 
Commission has also stood as the champion of children who have a right 
to be protected against the ravages of ophthalmia neonatorum, by keeping 
the medical profession, boards of health, and societies interested in the 
protection of children awake to the need of a rigid enforcement of laws 
against eye neglect. Some interesting studies are now being made upon 
the results of treatment for glaucoma afforded by certain Boston hospitals. 
This may shed much light upon the comparative efficiency of the general 
follow-up nurse plan, as contrasted with that of the special eye nurse. 
Public Schools 
Conservation of the vision of school children has received much atten- 
tion at the hands of the Commission during the past two or three years. 
34 As a result of studies made in several Massachusetts cities, classes for 
children with impaired eyesight have been opened in Boston, Cambridge, 
New Bedford, and Springfield. Similar steps are under contemplation in 
other cities of the Commonwealth. After the establishment of these classes, 
no official connection with them is maintained. The nearest approach to 
this is the regular visits made by a conservation of vision agent of the 
Commission upon the pupils in one of the Boston classes. By means of 
these visits, an effort is made to keep the teacher of this class constantly 
informed as to the eye condition of her charges. As these special conser- 
vation of vision classes form but a very minute part of the general school 
system which maintains them, and as the average public school official 
knows very little about the problem which these classes are designed to 
meet, it is to be regretted that there is no scheme by which those in the 
State most interested and best informed upon this subject can insist upon 
general principles and standards in their operation. For example, it is to 
be deplored that, when a city opens classes which depend for their success 
upon a great deal of individual attention, a minimum enrollment should 
be fixed which is so large as to make any amount of individual instruction 
impossible. I should recommend that some plan be worked out by which 
cities opening such classes may receive a State subsidy similar to that 
allowed by the States of Wisconsin and Ohio. The State assistance ren- 
dered vocational training schools in Massachusetts would, it seems to me, 
afford a valuable precedent. With such a subsidy, the State could exercise 
a supervision which would tend to standardize methods and greatly increase 
the efficiency of such instruction. This supervision should be removed 
as little as possible from the State scheme of public instruction. It would 
be most valuable, however, to give the State Commission for the Blind a 
certain voice in the direction of these classes which form so important 
a part of the conservation of vision work of the State. It would seem 
feasible to establish some joint arrangement between the State Commission 
for the Blind and the State Board of Education which would give to the 
direction of these classes the wisdom of the former and the prestige of 
the latter. 
Problem of Blind Relief 
At best, most of the work for the adult blind must be of a palliative 
nature. In the mind of the lay public, and to some extent among workers 
for the blind, there is a lack of definiteness of purpose in dealing with the 
problems presented by the blind men and women of the community. To 
a larger extent than in most social work must the individual be considered 
case by case, rather than as a member of a class. Some one has said that 
there is no problem of the blind. Each individual blind person is a prob- 
lem in himself. However true this may be, there are a few rather clearly 
defined fundamental principles. The needs of those who come to the 
35 attention of an organization such as the Massachusetts Commission for the 
Blind are for the most part education, employment, recreation, or relief. 
Any general work for the blind attempts, in a measure, to satisfy these 
four demands which stand in the way of self-expression. Sometimes 
these needs have been of so long standing that even the desire for self- 
expression has largely subsided. Then must the worker for the blind 
endeavor to stimulate and direct this desire. For the most part, however, 
one should endeavor to meet these needs and then step aside, so as not to 
interfere with freedom of expression. 
Workshops and Augmentation of Wages 
The workshops of the Commission were organized with two funda- 
mental aims. The major consideration is that of employment; the minor 
object is to pay wages. It is the combination of these two aims, with the 
emphasis upon the element of employment, which justifies the expenditure 
of upwards of a dollar or more to pay the blind-employee a dollar. The 
industry has not yet been discovered which can be operated with an un- 
selected group of blind employees in such a way as to pay from the profits 
a wage which will enable the less efficient members of the force to support 
themselves. Many employed blind persons, therefore, are still subjects for 
relief. It is the policy of some workshops, if not practically all of them, 
to pay larger wages than is justified by the profits on the enterprise. Up 
to a certain point this wage in excess of profits is the justifiable cost of 
meeting the need of employment. There is no agreement among workers 
for the blind as to just what relation this cost of providing employment 
should bear to the profit on the industry from which the true wages are 
paid. This is determined in each shop, either by the limit of the resources 
available or upon the grounds of policy. 
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 in- 
genious 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 depend- 
ing 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 
36 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 appren- 
tices. 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 Occu- 
pational 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 appel- 
lation of its opponents. An institution which endeavors to be a temporary 
abode for men learning a trade, and at the same time a permanent resi- 
dence for workmen unfit for one reason or another to hold their own in the 
community, must be confronted with innumerable problems. I am con- 
vinced 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 dis- 
satisfaction 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 disre- 
garding 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 Massachu- 
setts during the past three-fourths of a century have done more than any 
37 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 Indus- 
trial Aid Fund. This comes as near the payment of actual relief money 
as, in my opinion, the Commission should approach. If wisely and fear- 
lessly administered, it will enable the Commission to assist a group of blind 
members of the community in a truly constructive way. This aid may some- 
times 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 tem- 
porary 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. 
Aid from Relief Agencies 
For more than a quarter of a century the blind people of Massachusetts 
have urged the General Court from time to time to grant a "pension" to the 
needy blind residents of the Commonwealth. This claim is based upon the 
conviction that there is a large amount of poverty which may be traced 
directly to the handicap of blindness. Since this poverty resulting directly 
from blindness is due to no fault of the individual himself, the blind people 
feel that it should be relieved in some direct way which will carry with it 
no social stigma. Furthermore, it should be associated with none of the 
indignity which so frequently accompanies a searching social investigation. 
Not being social workers, and not being trained in the modern principles 
of organized philanthropy, an easily obtained flat rate "pension" to all 
needy blind persons seems to them the simplest and most effective solution 
of the situation. It is admitted by the advocates of the "pension" that it 
may result in a certain amount of fraud. But the sums of money received 
by fraudulent means, it is contended, will not be likely to exceed the cost 
of a thoroughgoing system of investigation. It is further contended that 
the unsophisticated needy blind persons are no more likely to make incor- 
rect statements of their condition than are the "high-salaried" investi- 
gators who feel that it is incumbent upon them to make findings which 
will justify their employment. 
The granting of relief by modern organizations is an effort to relieve 
poverty not on the basis of pity, but on the basis of justice. If this be true, 
it is a reflection on the efficiency of this machinery that there should be 
38 connected with the reception of such relief a stigma which tends to 
degrade the individual who is so placed that he must continue to receive 
the alms and bear the disgrace. Perhaps nowhere in the country is the 
reluctance to become a "pauper" stronger than in New England. This, 
of course, has its beneficial effects in restraining persons who might other- 
wise endeavor to impose upon charitable agencies, but there can be no 
question that it works a hardship upon certain persons, some of whom 
are without sight, who are compelled to sell their respect in this connection 
in order to obtain the necessities of life. It is the half-conscious conviction 
of the public of the injustice of this situation which made the authors of 
the Mothers' Aid Law declare the recipients not to be "paupers," while at 
the same time prohibiting such mothers from obtaining settlement in any 
town while receiving this public aid. This is why we have "pensions for 
the blind" instead of "blind relief." It is an effort to attach to the recep- 
tion of blind relief that sense of just due which has grown up in the pub- 
lic mind around the soldier's pepsion. This, however, is a subterfuge 
which carries with it dangers of a fundamental nature. It is an effort to 
relieve certain classes from the effect of a certain error in the administra- 
tion of charity without attacking the error. 
Whether or not Massachusetts is in need of a special blind relief law 
is a question upon which I, in my short visit, was not able entirely to sat- 
isfy myself. I feel certain that unless those most competent to solve these 
problems work out some general plan for the relief of the needy blind in 
a way carrying with it no stigma, the lay friends of the blind are going to 
take matters into their own hands. Special "blind pensions" and "blind 
relief laws" seem to be the order of the day throughout the country. They 
have been hastily drawn by persons who have made no thoroughgoing 
investigation into the operation of similar laws in other States. Blindness 
makes its own strong appeal, and, if I mistake not, the people of Massa- 
chusetts, in the long run, are not unlike those in our States farther West. 
An effort is being made by the Massachusetts Commission to get at the 
real facts regarding the granting of relief to blind persons by the various 
towns of the State. The information available at the time of my visit 
indicated that in a few districts overseers of the poor had taken into 
account the special needs of the blind in fixing the amount of relief 
granted, but in most cases the sums allowed to the blind applicants are the 
conventional amount doled out to paupers of the community. 
It cannot be denied that the handicap of blindness forces the most 
efficient sightless person down far nearer the poverty border line than he 
would otherwise be. Consider, for example, the case of a man with a 
modicum of vision, which enables him to take his place in the community 
in some inferior position. He may have intelligence and energy slightly 
superior to his associates, and by the exercise of ingenuity and unflagging 
industry is able to earn a wage amounting to possibly two-thirds of what 
39 the average man with sight would be able to command. The limitation in 
his wage means self-denial amounting in many cases to inadequate food, 
clothing, and medical attention. He cannot select occupations which will 
be healthful, and must many times work under unsanitary conditions. He 
cannot save against the "rainy days" which are bound to come to him 
sooner than to other men. The first sign of breaking throws him upon the 
public. Such a man should not be forced into an almshouse, nor should he 
be compelled to submit to the disgrace usually associated with town relief. 
Again, take the case of an old woman who has lost her sight in later 
life. She goes to the home of the relative upon whom she has the greatest 
legal and moral claim. If she could see, she would do many little things 
about the house that would go far toward making her welcome there. As 
she is blind, though-and blind after the age of ready adaptation-she 
is not a help in any way, but a great care to the family. In appealing for 
relief to the overseers, it would appear from the Commission's investiga- 
tions that she is usually treated upon exactly the same basis as is an elderly 
woman with sight. 
Again, take the case of a young woman who has attended a school for 
the blind, or who has had a good education before losing her sight, with 
all the refining influence and raised standards of living which go with such 
an early training. It is obvious that a larger percentage of such women 
are likely to become more or less charges upon the public than those enjoy- 
ing eyesight. Her high standard of living resulting from her early edu- 
cation makes her feel the sting of poverty much more keenly than does 
the typical recipient of relief. Those best acquainted with the blind realize 
that the poverty line for her is much higher up in the scale of weekly 
income than for those who have not had her early advantages. 
These are but three typical cases. One could multiply them indefinitely. 
The fact is, in my judgment, that blindness should be taken into considera- 
tion as a large contributing factor in making persons fit subjects for out- 
door relief. The flat pension without investigation, without adjustment to 
other incomes, and without corresponding demand for some sort of return 
from the individual, is not the true solution. Blindness in itself seldom 
carries with it any claim upon the public, but blindness in itself does tend 
to convert otherwise self-supporting persons into dependents. It is not 
fair to the blind, whose road is already hard enough, to subject them either 
to the pangs of keen want because their special need is not realized; nor is 
it fair to subject them to the stigma accompanying the reception of out- 
door relief when they are forced to this situation by no fault of their own. 
Blindness makes a stronger appeal to public sympathy than does almost 
any other handicap. Let us not delay special provision for this class 
simply because other handicapped persons should be included in the social 
program of which special blind relief is a part. Those most enlightened 
concerning the pioblems of the blind, and those upon whose interest the 
40 blind have the greatest claim, should endeavor rather to blaze the way for 
handicapped classes. If, in so doing, we can formulate a plan for special 
aid that will dovetail into any general social program to be completed 
later, then so much the better. 
My study of the Massachusetts situation convinced me that there were 
two steps which may be taken for adequately meeting the needs of the 
blind for relief. Perhaps the wiser plan will be to try to take one step and, 
should it prove inadequate, then to try the other. The first step, it seems 
to me, is one which the Commission can properly take without disrupting 
its machinery. This is the appointment of agents to act as special advo- 
cates of the blind wherever persons without sight are making a just appeal 
to the overseers for relief. It may be that these special advocates will in 
time be able to so educate the overseers and the public that justice will be 
done to the blind without a special relief law. This must, of course, take 
years to accomplish, and the patience of the blind and their friends will 
be tried many times before anything anoroaching a satisfactory condition 
will be obtained. Should this prove inadequate or impracticable, a special 
blind relief law in some form is bound to come. In formulating such a 
law, it appears to me that there is a valuable suggestion contained in the 
Mothers' Aid Law. In brief, the Mothers' Aid Law authorizes boards of 
overseers of towns to provide adequate relief to needy mothers of depend- 
ent children. One-third of the money thus paid is refunded to the town 
by the State on condition that the overseers administer the relief in a way 
approved by the State Board of Charities. In this way the Board of 
Charities is able to supervise and standardize the administration of this aid. 
I would suggest that some such plan be followed in respect to the blind. 
The supervision, however, should be shared jointly by the Commission 
for the Blind and the State Board of Charities. The State Board of 
Charities should have the bulk of the responsibility. This would insure 
an administration of the blind relief in accordance with approved princi- 
ples of granting relief laid down by the State Board of Charities, and at 
the same time the Commission for the Blind could see to it that the 
peculiar angle growing out of blindness is not disregarded. 
One of the grounds of dissatisfaction with the State Commission for 
the Blind voiced by the Welfare Union is the lack of a representative blind 
person upon this Board. The contention is that some blind person who is 
making a success in life under the handicap of blindness should be ap- 
pointed. Such a person, they feel, would be, in a sense, their special repre- 
sentative, to whom they could appeal with a confidence of sympathy and 
comprehension. 
This criticism contains a certain element of truth. Should the Governor 
at some future time see fit to comply with this demand, much care should 
be exercised in the selection of the blind person. Without the presence on 
the Board of a representative blind man who has won his way in spite of 
41 his handicap, every member of the Commission feels it incumbent upon 
him to strive to see for himself the blind man's point of view. With such 
a practical blind person upon the Board, the other members will be likely 
to shift upon him the responsibility for calling to their attention the spe- 
cial viewpoint of the blind. Should this "practical blind man" be incapable 
of properly presenting this aspect at all times, the net result might be 
greater neglect of the special wishes of the blind than grows out of the 
present composition of the Board. 
There is one way in which the Commission might come closer to some 
of the blind people than it now does. In a large measure the public knowl- 
edge of the Commission for the Blind throughout the Commonwealth 
emanates from the blind people themselves. An effort should, therefore, 
be made to inform this group of people in some definite way as to just what 
the Commission is doing. A special Braille edition of an annual report 
not exceeding 10,000 words might be sent to a few hundred sightless read- 
ers. This would involve an initial expenditure of twenty or thirty dollars 
for plates, and perhaps fifty cents a copy for the report. 
Respectfully submitted, 
R. B. Irwin. 
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