physically examined by the Boards and, it is to be assumed in each and 

 every case, by a qualified medical examiner, and that of this number 

 730,756, or 29.11 per cent., were rejected. These rejections, however, 

 were only in the first instance by Local Boards. Subsequently, of 

 561,000 men examined by Boards of Appeal, of which number 413,384 

 had arrived in camp by November 20, the number rejected by camp 

 surgeons, and it may be assumed on the basis of a more rigid ex- 

 amination made under more satisfactory conditions, was 22,989, or 

 5.8 per cent. If it is therefore assumed that this percentage would 

 apply to the entire 730,756 men rejected for so-called "physical" 

 reasons by Local Boards, it would appear that 34.91 per cent, of the 

 men physically examined by the Boards were considered totally unfit 

 for active military service. 



DISCRETIONARY POWERS IN PHYSICAL EXAMINATIONS 



In the words of the Provost-Marshal General, "Doubtless the Local 

 Boards varied extremely in the strictness of their examinations. But 

 so also, it seems, did the camp surgeons." The experience shows 

 "that the percentage of rejections at camp varied between 0.72 per 

 cent, and 11.87 per cent.; and as the physical condition of the men 

 from the different regions cannot entirely account for this, it must be 

 attributable in part to differences of strictness in the examinations by 

 the camp surgeons." As to the important question whether the Surgeon 

 General's rules for physical examination, as set forth in the directions 

 to the Local Boards, were stricter than necessary for securing efficient 

 fighting men, it is said that on this point "the civilian surgeons have 

 expressed variant opinions," and a large majority "consider that the 

 physical requirements are not too exacting," but "a considerable number 

 deem the requirements too strict in many respects, notably as to the 

 weight and height relation, teeth, eyes and feet, and contend that the 

 regulations as strictly applied tend to exclude many capable and effi- 

 cient men." If a tendency towards over-emphasis upon relatively 

 unimportant physical or other factors concerning health and physique 

 was at all pronounced in connection with the original examinations 

 by the civilian surgeons of the Boards and subsequently by the army 

 surgeons at the camps, it is self-evident that a fairly large proportion 

 of men must have been rejected on so-called "physical grounds," 

 although quite probably of normal physique and average power of 

 endurance as determined by standards such as would govern in the 

 acceptance of risks for life insurance. It is therefore most regrettable 

 that an analysis should only have been made of the causes of 

 rejection of 10,258 recruits at eight different camps, which would indi- 

 cate that the rejections were by army surgeons and not by civilian 

 medical examiners in connection with the examinations made under 

 the direction of the Boards. The latter, unquestionably, are more 



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