The Deaf Part 7

[84] Purdon's Digest, 1903, p. 5023. In Georgia persons deaf and blind are expressly permitted to make wills if properly scrutinized. Code, 1911, -- 3844.

[85] See Laws of New Hamps.h.i.+re, 1895, ch. 131. This relief is here known as the "Granite State Mission". See also _Deaf-Mutes' Journal_, Feb. 9, 1911.

[86] See Laws, 1896, p. 419; 1898, p. 212; 1900, p. 369.

[87] This seems to have been begun in 1839, and continued nearly fifty years. See Laws, 1839, ch. 329; 1858, ch. 546; 1886, ch. 330. The sum of $100 was first granted to the _Radii_, and later appropriations to succeeding publications.

[88] Laws, p. 330. The law was secured by the efforts of the deaf themselves. See _Deaf-Mutes' Journal_, May 22, 1913.

[89] See Houst. Crim. Cas. (Del.), 291; 8 Jones L. (N. C.), 136; 14 Ma.s.s., 207. This last case was one of larceny. See also I. L. Peet, "Psychical Status and Criminal Responsibility of the Totally Uneducated Deaf and Dumb," 1872 (_Journal of Psychological Medicine_, Jan., 1872); _Annals_, xvii., 1872, p. 65.

[90] 37 S. W. (Tex.), 440; 118 Mo., 127; 39 S. C., 318; 1 Den. (N. Y.), 19; 23 Col., 314; 3 N. M., 134.

[91] See 16 Ohio St., 455, where a guardian was allowed; 41 N. J. Eq., 409, where the deaf were said to be liable to guardians.h.i.+p.

[92] See 1 Jones Eq. (N. C.), 221. In 4 Johns. Ch., 441, a New York case in 1820, it was said by Chancellor Kent that the deaf and dumb were considered _prima facie_ as insane, incapable of making a will and fit subjects for guardians.h.i.+p, by the civil law. The presumption was due, he said, to the fact that "want of hearing and speech exceedingly cramps the powers of the mind," but it was to be overcome by proof. In this case the presumption was overruled. The implication, however, never applied to the deaf not born so. At present there is no presumption in connection with wills, deeds, witnessing, or guardians.h.i.+p. See 3 Conn., 299; 27 Gratt. (Va.), 190; 6 Ga., 324; 3 Ired. (N. C.), 535. In the Missouri case, quoted above, it was said: "Presumption of idiocy does not seem to obtain in modern practice, at least not in the United States."

[93] The deaf as a cla.s.s may be said to be strongly opposed to nearly all forms of legal treatment different from those of their fellow-citizens. In Texas, where they have been exempted from a personal or property tax, they have made formal protest against the exemption.

_Annals_, l., 1905, p. 263; Report of Mississippi School, 1911, p. 72.

They have, as another instance, voiced opposition to the release of criminals on the ground of their deafness. See Proceedings of Convention of National a.s.sociation of the Deaf, ii., 1883, p. 16.

CHAPTER IV

ECONOMIC CONDITION OF THE DEAF

EXTENT TO WHICH THE DEAF ARE A WAGE-EARNING AND SELF-SUPPORTING ELEMENT OF THE POPULATION

In the want of the sense of hearing, and with it oftentimes the faculty of speech, the deaf are deprived of most important powers, and, it might appear, of an essential equipment for work among men. It is not to be denied that the deaf start out into life severely handicapped, nor can the difficulties which they must face in meeting the world pa.s.s unregarded.

Yet notwithstanding the particular adversity under which the deaf have to labor, they remain in full possession of all their other physical forces, and it may be a question whether on the whole they are to be considered disqualified from engaging in the industrial pursuits of men.

It may be that there are occupations in which their deafness will not prove of material consequence, and that in such fields they will be able to enter without serious impediment. In the present chapter we shall attempt to see how far these possibilities seem to be realized in the actual industrial life of the community. In other words, we shall consider what is the place of the deaf as economic factors in this life, and how far they are independent wage-earners, at the same time comparing their economic standing with that of the general population.

The returns of the census, covering the entire country and presenting the results of a careful investigation, will furnish our most complete source of information. Here[94] are reported in gainful occupations 12,678 deaf persons over ten years of age, or 38.1 per cent of the number of the deaf over this age.[95] This is somewhat less than the percentage for the general population, which is 50.2. Of the deaf twenty years of age and over, however, the percentage gainfully employed is 50.1, embracing 11,670 persons. In the following table is shown the number of the deaf over ten years of age in the five great occupations, with the respective percentages, and also the percentages for the general population.

GENERAL OCCUPATIONS OF THE DEAF

PER CENT PER OF GENERAL OCCUPATION NUMBER CENT POPULATION

Agricultural pursuits 4,761 37.5 35.7 Manufacturing and mechanical 4,583 36.1 24.4 Domestic and personal 2,395 18.9 19.2 Trade and transportation 552 4.4 16.4 Professional 387 3.1 4.3

It is seen from this that the proportions are very nearly the same for the deaf and the general population in agricultural pursuits, domestic and personal service, and professional service. In manufacturing and mechanical occupations the proportion of the deaf is indeed considerably higher. In trade and transportation, on the other hand, the proportion for the deaf is far lower than that for the general population--a condition to be accounted for by the very evident need of hearing in such pursuits.

Of the deaf engaged in agricultural pursuits, 3,366, or about three-fourths, are in a position of owners.h.i.+p or direction, being farmers, planters, or overseers; 1,218 are agricultural laborers, while 75 are gardeners, florists, or nursery-men. The large number of the deaf in professional occupations is in part explained by the fact that 206 are themselves engaged in the instruction of the deaf. Other specified occupations where fifty or more of the deaf are employed in each are as follows:

SPECIFIED OCCUPATIONS OF THE DEAF

Laborers not specified 1,217 Servants and waiters 712 Boot and shoemakers and repairers 559 Printers, lithographers and pressmen 382 Carpenters and joiners 371 Dressmakers 314 Seamstresses 306 Tailors 236 Painters, glaziers and varnishers 223 Launderers 210 Cigar and tobacco operators 162 Cabinet-makers 119 Merchants and dealers (retail) 115 Iron and steel workers 106 Clerks and copyists 105 Housekeepers and stewards 91 Machinists 87 Blacksmiths 84 Miners and quarrymen 81 Cotton mill operators 78 Barbers and hairdressers 74 Bakers 61 Agents 61 Artists and teachers of art 60 Harness and saddle makers and repairers 59 Draymen, hackmen, teamsters, etc. 56 Manufacturers and officials 55 Masons 52

So far, then, as appears from the findings of the United States census, the deaf are seen to be distributed among the chief industries very generally, and in very many of what are known as "trades" they are able to be profitably employed. In some activities of life deafness is of course an effectual barrier, but these are rather restricted ones. There is but one great division of employment in which the deaf cannot enter extensively, namely, commercial and mercantile pursuits. With these exceptions, the deaf are found to be industrially occupied like the rest of the community, and to be able to engage, and actually engaging, in most of the employments of men.[96]

In respect to the general economic status of the deaf, a second source of information, at the bottom of the scale, as it were, is to be found in the proportion of the deaf cared for in public alms-houses. Though a much greater proportion of the deaf are discovered here than of the general population, the deaf do not on the whole const.i.tute a large part of the alms-house population of the country. In 1910 the census reported 540 deaf-mutes to be in alms-houses, or six-tenths of one per cent of all their inmates.[97] That is to say, a little over one per cent (1.2) of the total number of the deaf in the United States are found to-day in alms-houses.[98]

Such is the evidence we have in respect to the economic standing of the deaf. Yet the fact that the deaf are usually found capable of taking care of themselves should not be, after all, a matter either of doubt or of wonder. They are for the most part, as we have indicated, quite "able-bodied," and but for their want of hearing are perfectly normal in respect to "doing a job." If they are skillful and efficient, their deafness proves comparatively little of a drawback. Another contributing cause in the situation lies in the fact that most of the deaf have attended the special schools provided for them, where industrial preparation with the opportunity to learn a trade is offered and largely availed of.[99] When they go out into the world, they may be supposed to have an industrial equipment, which, besides taking in view their handicap, is one in many respects fully equal to that of their hearing fellow-laborers; and though many of the deaf, apparently the greater number, do not follow the trade learned at school, yet there is no doubt that the training and lessons in industry there acquired prove of decided practical advantage.[100]

VIEWS OF THE DEAF AS TO THEIR ECONOMIC STANDING

To what extent the deaf hold themselves able to stand alongside the general population may well be indicated by what they themselves have to say. Of the adult deaf who have had schooling, it is claimed that eighty-one per cent are gainfully employed;[101] and that of the adult male deaf ninety per cent are self-supporting.[102] A large proportion are said to be the heads of families and the possessors of homes.[103]

In respect to the conditions of their employment, including that of wages, they are usually ready to declare that they are little different from those of the general population, sometimes taking pains to point out the substantial equality of the two.[104]

The views of the deaf in the whole matter of their industrial footing may be expressed as summed up in the following resolutions, which were reported by a special committee on industrial conditions of the deaf at the convention of the National a.s.sociation of the Deaf in 1904:[105]

1. There are few ordinary occupations in which the deaf do not or cannot engage.

2. Employers and foremen treat deaf workmen as they do hearing workmen.

3. Deafness is a hindrance to a great extent, but it is not such a formidable barrier as has popularly been supposed.

4. The deaf workman usually has steady work. Those that do not generally have only themselves to blame.

5. The deaf invariably get the same wages for the same cla.s.s of work as the hearing.

6. Employers and foremen are glad to have deaf workmen who can show that they have the ability to do the work expected of them, and take them on a basis equal to that of the hearing. If they are competent, their services secure ready recognition.[106]

THE DEAF AS ALMS-SEEKERS

It might be thought that the deaf might sometimes find their infirmity a useful means of soliciting alms from the public. But it is gratifying to learn that very few of them ever try to make capital out of their affliction. That a deaf man merely as such is in no wise to be considered a special beneficiary of charity is a principle spiritedly endorsed by nearly all the deaf themselves; and they are found to be the last to lend encouragement to any appeals for aid from the charitably disposed.[107]

On the other hand, it is a fact, perhaps not as widely known as it should be, that there are persons able to hear who often pretend to be deaf and dumb in order to work on the sensibilities of the public. To such appeals a far more ready response is met with than should be the case. The deaf themselves usually do what they can to prevent this, a certain number indeed going to considerable lengths in this direction, and not infrequently running such impostors down.[108] In nearly all the state a.s.sociations of the deaf as well as in the national organization it is made a particular object to investigate and prosecute mendicants simulating deafness, while in their papers a vigorous war is being waged.[109] At the same time by many of the deaf a campaign of education is being conducted for the enlightenment of the public. The following resolutions, adopted by the National a.s.sociation of the Deaf in 1910, attest their feeling in the matter:[110]

_Whereas_, There is no necessity for an educated deaf person to beg or solicit alms on account of deafness; and

_Whereas_, There are many cases of persons who are not really deaf, but hearing people, who prey on the sympathy of the public to the injury of the respectable and self-supporting deaf; therefore be it

_Resolved_, That it is the sense of the a.s.sociation that stringent laws should be enacted, making it a penal offense to ask pecuniary aid on account of deafness or on pretense of being "deaf and dumb."

Only very rarely, however, has legal cognizance been taken of this evil, though it may sometimes be included under the general charge of "vagrancy" or "imposture." In a few states there have been special enactments, as in New York[111] and Minnesota,[112] in the former the impersonation of a deaf man being expressly added to the offenses that const.i.tute imposture, and in the latter to those that const.i.tute vagrancy.

HOMES FOR THE DEAF

Homes for the deaf in America have never been organized on other than a small scale, and in the main they may be said to serve a purpose similar to that of homes for the aged and infirm generally. Though there is little call for such establishments to a wide extent, and though the proportion of the deaf to be benefited by them is small,[113] yet for a number of the deaf there is a peculiar need. These are deaf persons, usually the old and decrepit, who are without means to support themselves, and have no family or friends to look to for help. To them a special retreat in a.s.sociation with others in similar condition proves an immeasurable blessing, and in such their last years may be spent in tranquillity and comparative happiness.

The object of a home for the deaf is thus given for one of them.[114]