CAMP REJECTS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3094, 26 May 1917, Page 6

CAMP REJECTS

■Complaints continue to reach us regarding' the large and apparently increasing number of men who after undergoing a brief period of training in camp aro rejected as unfit for military service. In many cases theso men have given up good positions or sacrificed business interests in response to tho summons to serve their country. They have been subjected to what is stated to be a strict and rigorous medical examination, have been passed as fit for': active service, have made all their arrangements accordingly, and then in' a week or two after entering camp have found themselves turned loose by tho military authorities as incapable of bearing _ the strain of active service conditions. In the majority of cases men so treated probably aro no worse off than before they went into camp. In some cases, however, it means hardship and possibly substantial lo£s. It is, 'of.course, impossible to avoid a certain percentage of camp rejections under any -system of medical inspection. • Physical weaknesses which disclose themselves under the test of camp training are not always detectable by. the military medical officers when the men como before them for examination prior to being sent into camp. But in spite of tho fact that the medical examination is stated to havo been made much more severe in recent times than was previously the case, arid in spite presumably of the added experience which the examining officers should have gained by reason of their continued performance of their duties, the number of men rejected after being passed into camp appears to he increasing. It has been suggested to us by one cor respondent, who has "passed through the mill," that a contributing, factor is the number oE men now coming forward over' 40 years of age. Many- of these men have led an easy'life so far as physical exertion is concerned for a number of years, and cannot now stand up to tho severe strain, imposed by the training for active service. Our informant states that four out of the eight men in his particular tent "knocked

under" and had to return to civilian life. A good deal of this sort of thing .10 doubt is, as stated, unavoidably hut it means waste of effort, dislocation of business interests and financial loss to the individual and to tho country. It is necessary, therefore, that every endeavour should he made to minimise the loss and inconvenience which must arise from such cases, but, ju'dging by recent experiences which nave come under our notice, position appears to bo growing worse rather than better. A return showing tho number of men who have been rejected by tho camp authorities as unfit for service after theso men had been sent into camp passed as fitfor service and the reasons for their rejection should prove a useful guide to tho Minister of Defence in, _ determining whether it is not possible to improve matters. With tho Second Division likely to'be called on a few months hence, when tho _ hardship and loss in such cases will he .so much greater than _ in the cases of tho singlo men, it is most necessary that an endeavour should bo made ,to devise methods by which this risk will be reduced to a minimum.