theoretical principles and a more rational adaptation to practical service 

 requirements, and if they had been applied in the original examina- 

 tions and rejections under the First Draft, the proportion of rejections 

 would unquestionably have been substantially reduced. The general 

 assumption of a single rule of action as to fitness for military service 

 has, fortunately, been radically changed, and hereafter the men 

 accepted will be classified into four groups, as follows : 



(A) Acceptable for general military service; (B) acceptable for 

 general military service after being cured of remediable defect; (C) 

 acceptable for special or limited military service in a specified capacity 

 or occupation; (D) rejected and exempted from any military service. 



Under this plan of reclassification according to physical condition, 

 in a restricted sense of the term, provision will be made for the 

 military utilization of a much larger proportion of conscripts or 

 recruits than has heretofore been possible. It is stated to be the inten- 

 tion of the Provost-Marshal General to provide later for further inves- 

 tigation and reclassification of men acceptable for limited or special 

 service, so that each and every one may be assigned to the kind of 

 work least likely to endanger his health. 



EXAMINATIONS BY OFFICERS OF THE LINE 

 The possibilities of a material saving in effective man-power by 

 means of more careful and rational methods of physical selection are 

 clearly emphasized by the table following, which has been derived 

 from the annual reports of the Adjutant General for the five-year 

 period 1913-17: 



RECRUITING STATISTICS OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY 

 ADJUTANT GENERAL'S REPORTS 



1913-1917 

 ENLISTMENTS AT RECRUITING STATIONS 



Total 961,702 639,460 66.5 322,242 33.5 36,093 



According to this table, out of 961,702 applicants for military serv- 

 ice, 639,460, or 66.5 per cent., were rejected. All of these rejections 

 were, as far as known, on the basis of examinations made by non- 

 medical officers of the line. The rejection ratio, however, varied from 

 80 per cent, in 1913 to 51.0 per cent, during 1917. The very substantial 



85 



