458 SUEGEONS' REPORTS — IOWA — FIRST DISTRICT. 



illy cnlculatcd for tlio privations, exposure, and hardships of tbe camp or field. It is no argument 

 to assert that thousands among our bravest and best soldiers have been theyonng, the undeveloped, 

 the inexperienced; it is replied that these have survived by a natural vigor of constitution, have 

 come up through great tribulation, and have stepped over the graves of thousands more that sunk 

 beneath the trial. Heuce every opportunity should be given the examiningsurgeon or the board 

 of inspection to make a thorough scrutiny of every recruit that is presented for enlistment ; and it 

 is believed that no man can examine with accuracy per clicm more than eighty men, and for this 

 work the surgeon should have eight full workiug hours. During much of the year not even this 

 number of hours can be secured in broad daylight, aud no other light but this is suitable for the 

 physical examination of men. * * * 



Frauds ijractieedi &c. — These have been 'h-ari nantes in gurgite vasto!'^ A very few drafted 

 men have simulated diseases that were not apparent to the board. It was said, with how much 

 truth it is not known, that certain lawyers attemi)ted in some instances to teach their clients, 

 drafted men, a method of acting during the exainiiiatioa that would deceive the board ; but their 

 elforts were futile, and, so far as known, no fraud attemi)ted was successful. Of malingerers there 

 were plenty, and often their statements were sustained by the affidavits of the family-physician ; 

 but, due respect being jiaid to all outside evidence of disability, the final decision in each case 

 rested with the requirements of paragraph 85. But there is immeasurable fraud in the wholesale 

 and unscrupulous lying and perjury of substitutes aud recruits in entering the service; and this 

 especially in regard to the age. Boys of fifteen or younger came with the parents' written con- 

 sent; they make the declaration on their enlistment-paper that they are eighteen years of age; 

 and if their i)hysical development in the main corroborates their statement, there is no way under 

 the law or regulations to reject them. » # * 



There are very great obstacles in the way of a satisfactory performance of this duty. How may 

 they be removed, or at least how can they be corrected °? First, by increasing the standard of the 

 qualifications of recruits. Fix it as a law that no man shall be accepted to serve in the ranks v.'ith 

 a less measurement of chest immediately over — that is, above — the nipple at exi)iration than thirty- 

 one inches, and with an expansive mobility of two inches, or the measurement of chest at inspira- 

 tion of thirty-three inches. A firm adherence to this rule will exclude the vast majority of all boys 

 who come to enlist between fourteen and seventeen years of age, and it will seldom exclude a 

 recruit over eighteen years who, in. other respects, may be adjudged fit for service. Better have 

 fifty men with that measurement than one hundred men with a less size of chest, as indicative of 

 the vital capacity. Secondly, require, in all cases of doubt as to age, not only the " declaration," but 

 the affidavit of the recruit, aud also the affidavit of parent or guardian. Thirdly, make the decision 

 of the surgeon, since he is held officially responsible, final in every case as to the qualification of a 

 recruit. Fourthly, every recruiting-station of such proportions as a provost-marshal's office should 

 be provided with a i)air of scales, and every recruit should be accurately weighed as well as meas- 

 ured; and a certain standard of weight should be fixed in accordance with the experience of Army 

 medical officers. Millions of dollars and thousands of valuable lives could be saved by a rigid 

 adherence to these arbitrary rules and measurements ; for they would exclude the hosts of boys 

 who crowd the ranks, and die on the first severe trial of their muscle. 



There are many reasons why so many boys under eighteen years of age have been accepted into 

 the service. First, the board of enrollment of a given district is anxious to fill its quota by volunteers 

 without resort to draft. It argues thus : here are recruits that do not appear to be eighteen years 

 old, but the law says their own declaration is conclusive as to that matter; if they are not accepted 

 here, they will go to a neighboring State or district to enlist, and this district will lose them. Such 

 officers then, to secure the men to their own district, accept them. Secondly, officers returned from 

 service speak in glowing terms of the earnestness, fortitude, and endurance of boys; and occa- 

 sionally a boy who has been out three years in service, and is not yet eighteen years old, returns, 

 looks healthy, strong, aud every way improved. These argue for young soldiers; while, if the his- 

 tory of this war has been read aright, it is only a counterpart of other wars, in which experience 

 declares that a person under eighteen years is not, as a geneial rule, fit for milirary service. Thirdly, 

 the boys themselves are importunate. They boast to the surgeon of their strength at the plow, in 



