Chapter: THE WOMEN'S INDUSTRIAL HOME, HACKNEY

This Home is one of much the same class as that which I have just
described. It has accommodation for forty-eight girls, of whom over
1,000 have passed through the Institution, where they are generally
kept for a period of six months. Most of the young women in the Home
when I visited it had been thieves. One, who was twenty-seven years of
age, had stolen ever since she was twelve, and the lady in charge told
me that when she came to them everything she had on her, and almost
all the articles in her trunk were the property of former mistresses.

In answer to my questions, Commissioner Cox informed me that the
result of their work in this Home was so satisfactory that they
scarcely liked to announce it. They computed, however, that taken on a
three years' test--for the subsequent career of each inmate is
followed for that period--90 per cent of the cases prove to be
permanent moral cures. This, when the previous history of these young
women is considered, may, I think, be accounted a great triumph. No
money contribution is asked or expected in this particular Home.
Indeed, it would not be forthcoming from the class of girls who are
sent or come here to be reformed, many of whom, on entering, are
destitute of underclothing and other necessaries, The needlework which
they do, however, is sold, and helps to pay for the upkeep of the
place.

I asked what was done if any of them refused to work. The answer was
that this very rarely happened, as the women-Officers shared in their
labours, and the girls could not for shame's sake sit idle while their
Officers worked. I visited the room where this sewing was in progress,
and observed that Commissioner Cox, who conducted me, was received
with hearty, and to all appearance, spontaneous clapping of hands,
which seemed to indicate that these poor young women are happy and
contented. The hours of labour kept in the Home are those laid down in
the Factory Acts.

While looking at the work produced by the inmates, I asked
Commissioner Cox if she had anything to say as to the charges of
sweating which are sometimes brought against the Army, and of
underselling in the markets. Her answer was:--

'We do not compete in the markets at all, as we do not make sufficient
articles, and never work for the trade or supply wholesale; we sell
the garments we make one by one by means of our pedlars. It is
necessary that we should do this in order to support our girls. Either
we must manufacture and sell the work, or they must starve.'

Here we have the whole charge of sweating by the Army in a nutshell,
and the answer to it.

In this Home a system has been devised for providing each girl with an
outfit when she leaves. It is managed by means of a kind of deferred
pay, which is increased if she keeps up to the standard of work
required. Thus, gradually, she earns her outfit, and leaves the place
with a box of good clothes. The first thing provided is a pair of
boots, then a suitable box, and lastly, the materials which they make
into clothes.

This house, like all the others, I found to be extremely well
arranged, with properly-ventilated dormitories, and well suited to its
purposes.

 Dr. Rivers is completing his last evening rounds at Craiglockhart before leaving for his new position in London. Willard, the soldier who was paralyzed below the waist, has begun walking again, though he credits his recovery to a surgical intervention by the psychologist instead of admitting that his condition was mental. At the end of his rounds, Dr. Rivers meets with Sassoon and notices that the lieutenant seems subdued, as if he has "given up hope of influencing events". Sassoon has come from a meeting with a famous pacifist who has scolded him for agreeing to participate in the war again. Dr. Rivers advises Sassoon to avoid getting into further trouble before his rescheduled board review. The psychologist moves into a boarding house in London, where the constant air raids interfere with his sleep. Dr. Rivers begins to feel increasingly ill in the sinister setting of war-time London. At his new position, he studies the incidence of shell-shock in different branches of the Royal Flying Corps, discovering that men who pilot observation balloons have the highest rate of breakdowns. The soldiers are trapped in the balloons without any ability to attack or defend themselves, leaving them helpless, which induces shell-shock. Dr. Rivers compares the immobilized soldiers to women during peace time, whose prescribed social roles leave them helpless and vulnerable to bouts of hysteria. In addition to his new work, Dr. Rivers remains in touch with many of his former patients. Eventually, Dr. Rivers accepts an invitation to visit Queen Square Hospital, where one of his colleagues, Dr. Yealland, is using extreme physical methods to achieve results in shell-shocked patients. When Rivers arrives, he walks down an eerily silent corridor that reminds him of his patients' descriptions of "No Man's Land. Along the way, he encounters a horribly disfigured man who gives the psychologist a disturbing look. Dr. Yealland and an entourage of doctors and nurses walk over to meet Dr. Rivers. Dr. Yealland is aggressive and authoritarian, relishing the power he holds over patients. The men under his care seem depressed, but Dr. Yealland does not care much about their mental well-being. Unlike Rivers, Yealland is interested in conducting strictly in one-time, physical treatments. The group walks through the wards and arrives at the bed of the disfigured man that Dr. Rivers spied in the hallway. Yealland speaks about this patient clinically, as if he were a specimen to be dissected and repaired. When the patient expresses fear of the painful treatments the doctor has planned for him, Yealland condescendingly silences him in an "almost God-like tone". The group moves on to another patient named Callan who suffers from mutism. Dr. Yealland accuses Callan of having a poor attitude. Meanwhile, another doctor describes the horrific medical treatments to which Callan has been subjected, including having lit cigarettes pushed into his tongue and being shocked with electrodes. Dr. Rivers is taken aback by the extreme nature of the so-called cures and is interested in witnessing a one of Dr. Yealland's sessions with Callan. Dr. Yealland reveals that he only has one private session with each patient and does not allow them to leave until he deems them cured. Dr. Yealland warns Rivers that Callan's session could last for an extended period of time, given his anti-authoritarian nature. Dr. Rivers understands and agrees to stay for the entire treatment

