SURGEONS REPORTS OHIO — EIGHTH DISTRICT. 407 



to exempt a mau in such a condition if be had any discretionary power ? Would such a man be 

 received for a recruit ? 1 think not. It may he necessary to greatly restrict surgeons of boards of 

 enrollment, but they ought to be men of sufBcient intelligence and honesty to be allowed a little more 

 discretionary power. # # » 



Number of men thai can be examined in a day with accuracy. — A decent respect for the opinions 

 of the people and the rights of the drafted man requires that the surgeon shall hear the statements 

 of the man drafted and read such affidavits as he may present from respectable physicians, and 

 then carefully examine such parts as he claims arc diseased. Therefore, iu my judgment, ten 

 minutes should be allowed for each examination on an average, making six per hour; and allowing 

 eight working hours by daylight, this would make forty-eight. AhonX. fifty is as many as one sur- 

 geon can examine with accuracj' in a day and avoid the charge of indecent haste. 



Frauds jjracticcd, dkc. — False statements as to age are perhaps the most frequent exemplifications 

 of fiaud in all classes, whether enrolled, drafted, recruits, or substitutes, and the statement of the 

 man to be examined will almost always be corroborated by some friend or neighbor; and the difficulty 

 of disproving those statements gives a boldness and audacity to them that frequently defies con- 

 tradiction. The enrolled and dralted men feign lameness occasioned by some strain, bruise, wound, 

 fracture, or other injury, and to confirm their statements will show some scar or blemisb which they 

 claim at times lames them, and tbeir statements will be corroborated by other persons; or they will 

 feign disease of the kidneys or spine, or some other portion not easily detected by physical exami- 

 tiou, and their statements will be supported by the affidavits of some physician, and as those 

 physicians are frequently unknown to the surgeon, and experience has proven that there are some 

 not too ])atriotic or honest to make false statements, the examining-surgeon is frequently imi)osed 

 upon, and Iraudspeipetrated. The reverse of this prevails in recruits and substitutes; for they, 

 instead of magnifying, conceal their infirmities. Substitutes very frequently commit frauds by the 

 claim of alienage, and if they are not residents of the district, the reverse is difficult to prove. It is 

 difficult to prevent such frauds. Enrolled and drafted men cannot well be punished, but recruits and 

 substitutes might, by withholding pay and bounty iu case tbey made fraudulent statements before 

 the surgeon. # * * 



My opinion is in lavor of tbe native-born American, between the ages of eighteen and thirty 

 years, as being the best soldier. Young men are fond of novelty, change, and excitement, and 

 have more enterprise and dash than older ones ; are not so likely to become homesick ; can travel 

 lighter, and adapt themselves with greater ease to new modes of life, and bear the irregularities of 

 the service better than older persons for the same reason that they can learn a trade or profession 

 easier in early than in later life. 



Negro soldierts. — I have very little knowledge of the qualifications of the negro for military 

 service other than that common to all; but his physical development and patience under priva- 

 tions and fatigue, together with his strong attachment to his superior when kindly treated, inclines 

 me to believe that he would make an excellent soldier in the regular service. I would, therefore, 

 recommend the Government to employ a limited number in that capacity. 



The enrollment-law, as now amended, did not go into operation until near the close of the last 

 dralt, and therefore cannot be said to be fairly tested, but in my opinion the section which prohibits 

 enrolled men from enlisting out of the sub-district iu which they are respectively enrolled is a great 

 improvement upon the old one. 



The principle, as I understand it, of dividing the country into small sub-districts was that each 

 section should contribute its just share of men, not money. But bj' allowing men enrolled in one 

 sub-district to enlist to tbe credit of another, that principle was violated and rendered almost a 

 nullity. 



Again, it was absurd to allow men enrolled in one sub-district to enlist to the credit of another 

 when it forbade them from going as substitutes even for men in tbeir own sub-disti'ict. 



Tbe effect was to lessen the material in a particular locality, and thus increase the chauces of a 

 draft to the remainder. It was even worse ; for if they enlisted as substitutes for men in their own 

 sub-district, they would be credited to the locality in which they were enrolled; whereas, if they 

 enlisted to tbe credit of other localities, tbey not only lessened the enrollment in their own sub- 

 district alter tbe apportionment was made, but they reduced the quotas of other sub- districts to 



