THE FIT AND THE UNFIT

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 99, 21 January 1919, Page 6

THE FIT AND THE UNFIT

BALLOTED MEN CLASSIFIED

| ; THE NUMBERS ORDERED TO [ CAMP The total number of reservists called up for service under the' Military Service Act was 134,632. The first ballot was taken on November 23, 1916, ai:d after that date the compulsory system, established under the Act, was maintained concurrently with voluntary recruiting. The ballot figures, therefore, do not cover all the men who passed through the hands of the military medical officers during the period between November, 1916, and the signing of the armistice. Nor do they include all the men who volunteered for service before* the initiation of ' fh'p compulsory scheme. Men who were accepted under the'voluntary system'generally became 'soldiers (some of them failed to mobilise), and they were not enrolled in the Expeditionary Force Reserve. The | volunteers who were rejected became members of the Reserve, and were called later in the ballots. ,

, There were various sources of wastage in respect of the, balloted men, and the medical boards did not have an opportunity to deal with all the 134,632 men whose names appeared in the Gazette. About 10,500 names were struck off tho lists, the men concerned being dead, of alien birth, out of New Zealand permanently, in prison for serious offences, or already members of the Expeditionary Forces. This total included 6ome men whose appeals were allowed or who were classed D (totally unfit) on account of some severe disability, such as the loss of a limb or insanity.

The number of men remaining for disposal after the wastage mentioned above was 124,075, and of this number 66,673 wore classed 02 (unfit foriactive service). - The mimbe-r obtained' for camp was 38,903."- The C 2 men,represented 53.73 of the men available for disposal, and the lit men 31.35 per cent. The balancp- included 2268 men, or 1.82 per cent.,' who are classified as "lost." These "lost" men have not been traced. Some of them are shirkers, some 'of v them doubtless are outside New Zealand. Their cases are in the hands of the Director of Personal Services, who has caused warrants to be issued in many instances.

Final | figures regarding the medical examinations of,these balloted men are • not .yet available. Tlie 124,075 men available for disposal included men who wero classed D (totally iinfit)-, men whose appeals were allowed, and men whose appeals were adjourned sine die. Many of these appellants were medically'exaniined, and the results will be shown when the final figures are issued. The statistics now available deal with 110,612 of the men available for disposal, and they show the following results:—

Sunt to camp (including CI) ... 32,171 Under orders for camp , 6,732 Fit appellants not finally dealt with 4,432 Temporarily unfit ■ , 604 Unfit (.classed C 2) .!.......;.. 66,673' • ■ 110,612 The number of First Division men I drawn by ballot was BU,OBu, aiid of this number 72,354 were available for ,disI posal after the wastage' already mentioned {i The appeals of 5189 men were adjourned sine die. Excluding the men whose appeals were adjourned 'sine dio and also men not examined, men "lost'' and appellants whose cases were not | finally disposed of, the number of First [Division men obtained for medical examination may bj shown as follow:— | Passed for camp ■(including CI) 24,039 Temporarily unlit '. '.. 162 Unfit (classed C 2) 40,027 Appellants not finally disposed of .......... 586 64,796 The C 2 Be-Examination Board dealt later with the First Division C 2 men, and as a result of its activities 3611 were given orders to enter camp. The work was not complete when the signthe armistice put an end to recruiting effort in New Zealand. Three classes of the Second Division were covered by the ballots, namely, Class A (no children), Class B (one child), and Class C (two children). The results may be summarised as folfollow:— . Class Class Class " A. B. ■ C. iN'umber called 13,466 17,507 23,576 Available for K disposal ...... 11,736 16,955 23,197 Appeals adjourn.cd fine.die... SB2 1,384 '1,552 Passed for camp ...... 2,277 , 3,942 5,034 Temporarily unfit :.-..' '20 111 244 Unfit ' (classed C 2) 7,986 10,568 13,544 Appeals not disposed of. 335 _ 790 2,463 These-figures are not quite final, but they are sufficiently accurate for purposes of comparison. They show that tho percentage of fit men to the total number drawn in tho ballots (including "fit'appellants whose appeals.were not finally disposed of, but not including some-fit men wdiose appeals were adjourned sine die) was as follows: — First Division 35.57 . Second Division— Class A 19.39 Class B 27.02 Class C 31.79 AH ballots ■ ?.. 32.18 The proportion of men drawn in the ballots, and not traced was under 2 per cent, of the total number. If the names under inquiry are added to those remaining in tho hands of the Director of Personal Services the percentages of "lost" men are ns follows:—First Division, 2.64; Class 4. 1.38; Class B, .68; Class C, .56; all ballots, 1.90. It will be noticed that tho men with children occupy a favourable position in these comparisons.