288 SUKGKONS' KEPORTS NKW JliKSEY TIIIKH DJ.STUICT. 



tLe course ivdoptt'd during tbc past year. A iew trifling altcratious, wbicli will suggest tbeuiselves 

 at oiiee to the luiiid of au experienced military surgeon, will remedy tbis difficulty. 



•'Tbe nmnber of men tbat can be pbysically examined per day witb accuracy." — Tiiis is a sub- 

 ject upon wbicb very great ditterenee of opinion may exist. Tbe answer depends upon wlietber 

 tbe surgeon is systematic in bis examinations and prompt in bis decisions; Vvbetber men present 

 themselves at regular or irregular intervals tbrougb tbe day ; tbe thoroughness of tbe examinations 

 and tbe number of hours devoted to tbe work. Supposing tbe surgeon to be prompt, energetic, 

 and systematic, tbe men presenting themselves regularly, being examined in the manner described, 

 and tbe hours of examination to be from 9 a. m. to 1 ]>. m. and from '2 \>. m. to i p. m., I should 

 say tbat one Jtiiiulnd enrolled men, not drafted, or seventy-jive drafted men, ov forty recruitu or snb- 

 stitute-s, would he (juite as many as any one surgeon, with an assistant, would be able to examine 

 accurately, and see that the proper record is made in each case. « # * 



The complaint has frequently been made tbat tbe Government has not always succeeded in 

 securing the services of tbe right kind of men for these positions. I am only surprised that it has 

 been found i)Ossible to secure the services of any medical man of good standing in these offices at 

 tbe inadequate comi)ensation allowed, witb the absence ot rank, and without oi)i)ortunity for pre- 

 ferment or distinction for special or extraordinary services. I can only account for tbe fact that 

 many of these surgeons are gentlemen of first-class ability by the knowledge that ver.\ many ot 

 them have served faithfully, honestly, and' steadily, through all kinds of evil tidings and reports, 

 more from patriotic motives than. any others. » * * 



It is almost impossible, within the compass of such a report as this, to give any detailed 

 account of the frauds attempted to be practiced by all kinds of people. Tbe most concise state- 

 merit that could be made, if it pretended to convey any adequate idea of the many attempted 

 impositions, would fill a moderate-sized volume. Men of apparent and recognized respectability 

 and loyalty have resorted to all imaginable artifices to evade tbe draft by feigning disabilities 

 which had not tbe shadow of a foundation in fact ; and some of the vilest scamps in creation have 

 combined with dishonest surgeons, bounty-brokers and runners, and members of townshi[)-com- 

 mittees, to deceive the examining-surgeon, and to conceal infirmities and disabilities known to exist, 

 in order to obtain the high bounties offered ; and which disabilities, if not detected by the examin- 

 ing surgeon, have been subsequently relied upon to secure the scoundrels' discharge. - 



The surgeon who could not be bought lias been threatened by letter and i)ersonally, and after 

 all has failed to induce him to pass or exemi)t unsountlmen he has been attacked in the public prints 

 as dishonest and unfair. I have but little to complain of in tbis respect myself, as I have been, as 

 a general rule, treated quite courteously by the people of the district; but I have been informed of 

 cases of persecution in other districts which have seemed to me most cruel and unjustifiable. Men 

 rejected as recruits or substitutes at oue office are " fixed up" and run to another and another until 

 at last some surgeon is found who, in the hurry of business, does not notice the disability, and the 

 man passes to present his claims for discbarge, in most pathetic terms, to the board of examiners 

 or the regimental surgeon, who, knowing nothing of the facts of the case, are very apt to hastily 

 decide that " the surgeon who passed this man must have been a fool or a knave." 1 have seen and 

 heard of some gross cases of injustice of this kind, and 1 cannot avoid alluding to them. Another 

 l)oint which it apiiears to me ought to be mentioned is, that I have bad a number of applications 

 made for exemption from draft by soldiers discharged for physical disability, and drawing pensions 

 therel'or ; in some of which cases the disability stated did not exist at all, so far as I could discover 

 alter careliil examination. In some of these cases, being fearful that I might be mistaken, and 

 unintentionally decide unjustly, I have taken the tronble to send the cases to '^esv York to be 

 examined by a surgeon of world-wide reputation for his professional skill, and in each case my 

 decision has been confirmed. In this connection, I would leniark that the appointment of surgeons 

 who have liad no experience in the detection of malingering, to the very responsible position of 

 l)ension-suigeons, is most unwise, and unjust both to the Government and to the people ; for, no matter 

 lunv lionest and well-meaning they may be, they are very apt to be deceived by the tricks of the pre- 

 tender, as it requires long practice, as I have previously stated, to detect his rascalities. Perhaps 

 the a[)i)licatious for pensions will soon number hundreds of thousands, and I would most respect- 

 fully suggest that justice to the (lovernment, to tbe discharged deserving invalid soldiers, and to 



