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 pass 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
| Occupation | Number | Per cent | Per cent of General 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 ownership 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
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 constitute 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 Association 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 class 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 associations 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 Association 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 Association 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 constitute imposture, and in the latter to those that constitute 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 association 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]
To take care of such of the deaf of the state as are incapacitated by reason of old age or other infirmity from taking care of themselves, to the end that they may have the comforts of a home, where they can associate with each other, and have the consolation of religious services in their own language of signs, instead of being sent to a county infirmary.
The purpose of another home is thus described:[115]
This home is unique, being the only institution of its kind in the state, owned and controlled by the deaf, who have formed themselves into an association, known as the Pennsylvania Society for the Advancement of the Deaf. Like our Ohio cousins, who have already established a similar home, we pride ourselves upon our ability to own and control such a responsible institution. The home owes its existence entirely to the charitable impulse of the deaf themselves, aided by the generosity of their hearing friends. It exists because of the desire to provide a home of rest for the infirm of our class during their declining years, so that they may find here comfort and happiness in congenial companionship and intelligent conversation.
At present there are five homes for the deaf.[116] They are found in the states of Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, there being two in New York.[117] The first to be created was the Gallaudet Home at Wappinger's Falls, New York, founded in 1885; the second the Ohio Home at Westerville in 1896; the third the home of St. Elizabeth's Industrial School in New York City in 1897; the fourth the New England Home at Everett, Massachusetts, in 1901;[118] and the fifth the Pennsylvania Home at Doyleston in 1902. The homes in Ohio and Pennsylvania are owned and controlled by the societies for the deaf in these respective states, the management being in the hands of trustees, in the former of twenty, and in the latter of nine. The Gallaudet Home is under the Church Mission to Deaf-Mutes of the Protestant Episcopal Church, with the direction vested in a board of twenty-five trustees. The home in Massachusetts is controlled by a private society organized for the purpose, with a board of fifteen trustees in charge. The home in New York City is a part of St. Elizabeth's Industrial School of the Roman Catholic Church.[119]
The homes are for the most part for the deaf of restricted areas, those in Pennsylvania and Ohio being for the deaf in these respective states. With but one exception,[120] they are open to the "aged and infirm," in some there being an age limitation of sixty years. The homes are in general free to those qualified to enter, and though a charge may be exacted from persons able to pay, this is seldom done, the homes being intended for the destitute and friendless.
The total number of inmates in the homes is 106, ranging in different ones from 13 to 30, and averaging about 20. The total annual cost of maintenance is $30,190, making the average cost of each inmate $290.[121] The value of the property of the homes is about $375,000, one home having two-thirds of this, and two homes four-fifths.
As little is received in the way of pay from inmates,[122] the homes have to depend for the most part upon private benevolence for their support. In the case of the Ohio and Pennsylvania homes this support comes largely from the deaf themselves.[123] In nearly all the homes there are a certain number of inmates, but usually a very small number, cared for at public expense. Private contributions to the homes are seldom large, though in one case these have amounted to a considerable sum.[124] They usually range from three or four thousand dollars a year to several times as much.[125]
Conclusions with Respect to the Economic Position of the Deaf
From all the foregoing we may conclude the following with respect to the economic position of the deaf:
1. The deaf are not a burden upon the community.
2. They are wage-earners in a degree that compares well with the general population.
3. The occupations open to them and in which they are successfully employed are much larger in number than is generally thought, and in many their infirmity is very little of a drawback.
4. The deaf hold themselves on an economic equality with the rest of their fellow-citizens, and ask no alms or favors of any kind.
5. Beyond homes for certain of the aged and infirm, which are called for in not a few quarters, the deaf stand in need of little distinctive economic treatment from society.