THE DEFENCE SCHEME.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 912, 3 September 1910, Page 10

THE DEFENCE SCHEME.

; : .MEDICAL BRANCH. ■_, ' - : ■ Sir,— Though-■this appears to be somewhat a late hour at .which to refer to Dofence Acts and the .memorandum recently presented to.both. Houses, the. importance of the matter is such that I feel fully'■•justified'in bringing Wore .those who are interested in the new defence scheme the: matter of. dental services for the coming, aviny of. 30,000 which we : . tire all assured will ■ be. a terror. to everyone in'the near future-if- only left .'to ,it ; self. .' ' ,- ..- '•. ' '■-,'. '■ I Ihave noted that the various, establishments of M.1., infantry,, etc., are ; eet forth iii some ' considerable 'detail, but the medical branch of the service-. could' woU.be' amplified. .It is a recognised,fact nowadays that .the medical service must be -of'a high .order in. every army, for the deaths from sickness are as much to bo feared, as the high velocity projectile i£ u leader wishes to keep )iis force efficient. . It. is also . a fact; that, many medical men,. or -rather, nil:medical men, as well ns the. dentists, .recognise that many of the disturbances of the digestive tract uriso primarily, from tho--constant contamination of the food, and therefore of, t)je stomach and intestines, ,by tbe. bacteria and bacterial, products of. insanitary and that have Jittlo acquaintance . with; tho tooth-bruslv and aro blessed with many decaying stumps whose tiny of usefulness lias long passed. By attending'to the mouths of the young follows who are on tho way through their, training,'.and who. nro 'becoming acquainted with tho toil.somei idea of tho soldier's : life- in the camps of exorcise, it is possible'.that much good may be. done, not only to the men. themselves iu the .prevention of petty ailments, but also to their children, for it is safe to say that when once a man has'known-what it is to have decent attention to his teeth he will see that those 'dependent on him do not fall into ways To "provide sufficient dental attention, it is, to my mind, only necessary_ to increase the personnel of a lent division, field ambulance, by the addition of from '1 to -1 dentists, with, ciniiniissiouod rank, or to attach one or two to each infantry battalion,; , though the former ' is preferable. At the (ii\me time it will be necessary to provide a certain number of men to nut..as mechanics, etc., and I would suggest ■ tintt these should be druirii from

tlib number" of tlioso who have not, at the .time of their being liable for. ser* vice, passed their filial dentaloxamiuatioiis. ':.. , ■'..:' That the Dental should' be separate from the medical service is not desirable for .the same executive-officers and statf, virtually, could carry out the routine du- . tics necessary in the administration of what would really be a .supernumerary branch of tlio senior service. Itaurns, etc., would be sent through the eaui'j channel as the medical returns, of which, they would bo part. The appointment of a largo permanent stall' would not be necessary, for one officer stationed in one of the district quarters would attend to ali tho special organising that would bo necessary, both in his mm and.the other districts. \. ■ With tho dental school in Dunedin in full • blast, * and with an organisation stictr as. the New-Zealand Dental Association, in tho land, it seems .rather peculiar that ; neither the-brilliant Government party.'nor..lW equally brilliant Sir Jo.seph lnivo exorcised, their brains towards making their defence scheme as perfect as possible. 13ut perhaps' the N.Z.D.A. is defunct—or horrible thought, in favoui of a change of Ministry.—l am, etc., -. , , . ..-■ .CAKTIi KOUGK ■■ . liarotonga, August 17. :