440 



The Journal of Heredity 



many rejections for heart disease." 

 This defect may. of course, be a result 

 of syphilis. 



i\h(,K() CO.M.MISSIO.NKU Ol 1 ICLK. 



Heretofore, Negro troops have been 

 officered almost entirely by whites, but 

 a training camp is now estaVili.shed at 

 Des Moines, where 1,200 picked Negroes 

 are being tried out, the best of them to 

 get subaltern commis.sions. Dr. Joseph 

 H. Ward, jiictured alxive, is typical of 

 the new regime. If the Des Moines 

 cam J) is a success, the lower commissions 

 in all the Negro regiments should be 

 filled by colored officers. (Fig. 3.) 



From Alabama a member of the 

 association reports that "^bout 22% 

 of the Neproes had been rejected" in 

 one section of a larj.,'e city, "while over 

 30% of the whites had failed to pass 



the ])hysical examination. Local doc- 

 tors tell me that no exemptions are 

 made either for syphilis or gonorrhea 

 unless the disease has projjjressed to a 

 point causin}^ other physical defects 

 rendering the person unfit for service." 

 Another member, in Mississippi, says: 

 "There has been no greater proportion 

 of rejections of Negroes than of whites 

 lor any ])hysical disability or disease 

 cxcc])t in the case of tuberculosis. I 

 would say further that I do not believe 

 great weight could be given to any 

 figures obtained relating to the rejec- 

 tions because there is a certain tendency 

 at least among southern physicians to 

 discount a Negro's complaints and it is 

 difficult to recognize such a disease as 

 syphilis in any excei^t the early stages." 



AMOr.XT OF IXFKCTION 



The most reliable figures available 

 are those of Major Vedder of the Sur- 

 geon General's Office^ whose exten- 

 sive application of the Wassermann 

 test to applicants for enlistment con- 

 vinced him that 50% of the Negroes of 

 this age and class were syphilitic, as 

 compared with 20'"(, of the whites. If 

 the moro stringent examination given 

 at the cantonments leads to the exclu- 

 sion of all syphilitics, it will have two 

 very serious results: (1) it will exclude 

 many white soldiers who, if cured, 

 would be of much value; and (2) it will 

 exclude a much larger number of black 

 soldiers. Not only are these Negro 

 soldiers needed, but their exclusion 

 means in many cases that additional 

 Nordics mtist be called up to take 

 their places, thus throwing an unduly 

 heavy burden on the old American 

 stock, and crippling the nation by 

 drawing away men who are needed at 

 home to ])er])etuate the industrial ma- 

 chinery which is as important in modem 

 war as is the army. 



If all syphilitics who are not other- 

 wise imfit for service are enrolled in 

 separate battalions, cured, and then 

 called to the colors, the country will 

 gain immensely. If the announced 

 intention of the War Department ab- 

 solutely to exclude syi)hilitics is really 

 carried out, it mav well be held in the 



» Therapeutic Giiz'tle, May l.S, 1917. 



