No. 3.] PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMINING IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY. 797 



Section 3. — Three hundred discharge cases from Camp Grant. 



This study is of the cases of 300 enlisted men who have been returned to civil life because 

 of mental incompetence for military duty through process of rejection on entrance examination 

 or of certificate of discharge for disability. These discharges and rejections were ordered by 

 the authorities at Camp Grant during the period beginning May 1 and ending August 15, 1918. 

 The material is otherwise unselected. 



The cases studied are those of 159 Negroes, 144 Caucasians, and 1 Mongolian. All the 

 negroes and 96 of the Caucasians are native born. For convenience, the single Mongolian has 

 been placed in the group of foreign-born Caucasians. 



Fifty per cent of the 300 subjects examined gave farming as their principal occupation. 

 Of this number, 47 are native-born whites, 100 are negroes, and 3 are foreign-born whites. 

 The 62 (30.6 per cent) recorded as unskilled laborers are divided as follows: Native-born whites, 

 13; negroes, 29; foreign-born whites, 20. The remaining 88 are distributed among 30 different 

 occupations. 



In collecting data concerning incomes, average weekly earnings for the year preceding the 

 date of entrance into the Army were recorded. The results are not to be contrasted with ante- 

 bellum figures since the demand for labor which has been growing rapidly since 1914 has greatly 

 increased the earning power even in groups as low in the scale as those of our study. 



An accurate estimate of earnings in the 300 cases examined is impossible due to lack of 

 definite information concerning maintenance values which fluctuate according to the social, 

 economic, and geographical distribution of the subjects. Fifty-six (18.6 per cent) received no 

 money compensation whatever and 77 (25.6 per cent) received maintenance in addition to a 

 money return. 



With two or three exceptions, these subjects were farmers. A few of the whites were 

 homesteaders and about one-third of the negroes were crop farmers (owners of small farms, 

 renters, or share laborers). The rest were either working for their parents without wages or 

 earning small sums as farm laborers. The maximum weekly cash income for white farmers 

 was $35 (1 case) and for negro farmers $20 (1 case). The average weekly money return 

 for 64 per cent of the white farmers who received a money wage was $13, while for the 52 per 

 cent of negro farmers earning $5 or more per week the average return was $10. Most of these 

 received maintenance in addition to cash. Thirty-six per cent of the white farmers and 33 

 per cent of the negro farmers received maintenance only. For the 300 cases the average weekly 

 earning power of those receiving a cash compensation exclusive of maintenance, was: 



For 76 native-born whites $14. 894 



For 1 24 negroes 10. 935 



For 43 foreign-born whites 18. 302 



Average for 300 13. 426 



The largest single wage recorded is $70 per week. This amount was earned by a white man 

 engaged in the construction of steel ships and probably includes pay for overtime. The subject 

 has a mental age of 9 years, 11 months. He was discharged as a "constitutional inferior" 

 because of obvious mental defect and a long criminal history in civil life and in the Army. 



Twenty-three per cent (23.3 per cent) of the total number reported no disease history. 

 Language difficulties, faulty memories, and ignorance of nomenclature on the part of the subjects 

 account to a degree for this high figure. If recourse could have been had to the testimony of 

 civil physicians and relatives, a considerable decrease doubtless would be shown. 



Among native-born whites the diseases showing the higher frequencies are: Measles, 14.75 

 per cent; pneumonia, 14.75 per cent; gastrointestinal troubles, 13.11 per cent; gonorrhea, 

 11.47 per cent; and rheumatism, 11.47 per cent. Among negroes the higher frequencies are: 

 Gonorrhea, 82.86 per cent; syphilis, 4S.57 per cent; malaria, 32.86 per cent; and typhoid fever, 

 14.29 per cent. Higher disease frequencies in the group of foreign-born whites are: Gonorrhea, 

 48.28 per cent, and syphilis, 13.8 per cent. The figures for venereal diseases are probably too 

 low, particularly in the syphilis item. 



