THE MALINGERERS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1763, 13 December 1917, Page 4

THE MALINGERERS.

HOW THEY OPERATE. MEDICAL BOARDS ARE WARY. Malingerers do not appear to be plentiful in New Zealand, but the military medical boards are not without experience of them. This experience has been acquired slowly and sometimes painfully. The medical officers have had to learn to be suspicious, and if occasionally they appear disinclined to accept a perfectly genuine story of physical weakness or past, ill-health from a recruit, the blame for their incredulity must rest on the shoulders of the other men who have tried to “work points.” The doctors cannot believe everything they are told, and their knowledge of human nature would have to be very deep indeed to enable them to separate the true from the false at a glance. There are various grades of malingerers. The straight-out malingerer is the man who, though fit for miltary service, seeks to convince the medical board- that he is unfit. He may affect to be deaf, or shortsighted, or lame; or he may even use a drug to cultivate an appearance of a bad heart or weakness of some other organ. Unfortunately l there is reason to believe that in some parts of New Zealand malingerers of this type had expert assistance,’ presumably in return for payment. Their chance of success nowadays is small, for the medical officers are practised and wary. But in the early days of conscription cases of successful fraud occurred. The combing over that has been undertaken has brought some decidedly suspicious cases to light, and the individuals concerned have gone to camp. Another type of malingerer is the man who really has nothing wrong with him except a general flabbiness, but who is firmly convinced-that Tie could never stand the strain of training. He probably takes little exercise, eats 100 much, smokes many cigarettes, and works and sleeps in ill-ventilated rooms. He suffers from indigestion, he may have “a heart,” and he knows from experience that he cannot run twenty yards after a tram without feellug very blown and uncomfortable. This man seldom has much difficulty in providing himself with a certificate to the effect that his health is not good, and lie arms himself with this document when he goes before the medical board. Many men of this class had to bo set down as unfit at first, because there was every possibility that if they went into one of the A camps they really would break down under the sudden strain. But the Cl camp docs wonders with these men. They are taken in hand gradually, given graduated exercises under wholesome conditions, and turned into fit soldiers. Their pride in the change is often as great as their astonishment. Amusing stories are told of the attempts made to deceive the medical boards. It may seem a simple thing to simulate deafness, for example'. But as a matter of fact the rcci’uit who pits his wits against experienced medical officers in such a test is almost certain to be defeated ignominously. There was one man who maintained his-role through all the usual tests. He could not hear a word that was said to him unless it was shouted. He appeared to be so deaf that his services could not possibly be used in the Expeditionary Force. The two doctors consulted, and agreed, in low tones, that the man must be regarded as unfit. They wrote something on a paper, and pointed the deaf man to door. Then, as he turned away, one doctor remarked quietly: “You had better take your papers with you.” The recruit turned and reached his hand for the papers at once. It was the final test, and he had failed to maintain his imposition. He was passed fit. 'The Military Service Act makes malingerers, but the authorities tend to the view that the best treatment for the would-be unfit recruit is that provided in the training camps. Clause 39'of the Act provides that Every person shall be guilty of an indictable offence, punishable by imprisonment with hard labour for any term not exceeding three years, who . . . . wilfully deceives:or attempts to deceive any medical officer in respect of the medical examination of any member of the Expeditionary Force, or of any person offering himself for service with that Force, whether such member or person so offering is the accused himself or any other person.—Dominion.