- 23 - 
The stations are so scattered that there are very few which can . 
toe attended from adjacent stations,raahing the number of medical 
officers now needed proportionately greater than formerly when 
many adjacent towns were garrisoned. There are at present 18 
medical officers in the Department who attend two stations and 
11 who attend three. Every medical officer in the Department 
whose services could possibly be spared has been released to meet 
the demands of the Board of Health. 
Should, any further emergency arise,calling for more medical 
officers this Department would be unable to meet it. 41 medical 
officers will be required to replace the contract surgeons whose 
time will expire during the next three months, since t formation 
of the present Department,December 1st,19 01 there have been 79 
losses and 27 gains of medical officers. There could hardly 
toe a more unsatisfactory plan for furnishing medical attendance 
to troops than the employment of contract surgeons. It is true 
there are young physicians who are willing to accept such appoint¬ 
ments,but the majority of them soon become thoroughly dissatisfied 
rith the status and ototain the annulment of their contracts as 
soon as they possibly can. The status of the contract surgeon 
.is wholly unsatisfactory to the officers and men of the Army. The 
position is utterly anomalous and incapable of satisfactory defini¬ 
te ion,although various attempts have been made to clear away the fog 
surrounding "’it. This vexed question has bothered the. Medical Depart¬ 
ment and the Array at large for many years and the only solution it 
is capable of is the abolition of the grade of contract surgeon. 
The tour of duty of the average medical officer in this Department 
is believed to be too short. By • the time he has. learned ..the. nature/^.. 
of the service and how to adapt himself thereto,he is ordered bach 
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to the United States and replaced toy another inexperie nced mart. This 
' ^ :ji ’ n i’ii.^m iji , I,, in I, ln n,-||i,i|-- • 1 -a. v ^ , 
transient service causes a distinct and continued loss to the. Govern- 
ment. It is recommended that,in place of the present mahe-shift ar¬ 
rangement of volunteer and contract -surgeons,an elastic corps of 
additional medical officers be formed similar to the corps of 
JF 
additional paymasters,which existed during the War with Spain 
$*» 
v/ 
