MEDICAL EXAMINATION

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 March 1917, Page 6

MEDICAL EXAMINATION

THE TEST FoT “PIT” fy?F.M. HEVEPE (TM’i’K iS.M. JH'-XEDIM, Marrh id, '! im (jtio6! ion of i nereased aI iowalions io .soldmr.s ,s dependants was discussed at the meeting- of ilm Otago Patriotic and General WeliiitT- Association this morning.Tin.' lion, d. T- Paul referred to the mutter in the course of a delta to on the (juestion of imideijuaie medical examination of prospective soldiers. Mr Paul said that the formation of (lie two new hodies—the Mational Assoeiation and file Second Division League - - would have been unnecessary had the Petrolic Association, which was not only a Patriotic Association, but a General "Welfare Association, done their duty- 'There was absolute dissatisfaction in regard to what was being done by the (Government for soldiers' dependants. With respecr to tinnew regulations which wore brought into being to oiiale men to obtain financial assistance, and so leave (heir affairs in order when they were called up, he ( Mr Paul) had heard of lots of appeals for such assistance, but ot none that had been granted- Due man who had applied for help had received in reply a long list of questions to be answered- One of these questions was, “Have your wife’s parents any means T “Surely," said -Mr Paul, “when a man marries lie does not expect his wife's parents to have to keep her again- ’ 11/John Roberts. C.IJ.G-, and the Hay or, expressed the opinion that some improvement was necessary. and the matter was referred to a committee to go into and report.

At the mooting of the‘Otago Patriotic Association to-day, Ur J. McAllen began what proved io be a lengthy discussion on the subject of the large number of men who had been passed as lit lor foreign service by the medical examiners and subsequently found to bo quite unfit even for camp training- Air AlcAlleti said that lie wished to draw attention to a

paragraph that had appealed in flic Press in which il had been stated that a New Zealand doctor on active service had stigmatised the sending of unfit men on active service as an “absolute disgrace.'’ Many men of the 12th to 17th Reinforcements, said the doctor, had never been out of England, but were still in cam]) owing to their infirmities- One of these men was suffering trom lateral curvature of tin* spine. The Mayor said there was a good deal of truth in what Mr McAllen had said, and the committee knew only too well the serious consequences- Many men had been passed as fit and sent to Camp who after being there a short period had absolutely broken do\vn and been. sent, back- Uuu

rase he might mention was liiat of a man wno alter being in ( ain|) a lew weeks, had been sen! bark in a slate vouch made him unite incapable. of doing any work, Jlc would, inueed, nave to !;e placed in a sanatorium, probably, lor several monl Ins- 1 he sliaine ol 1 1 wa.s that, the Defence Department: declined to recognise any responsibility in these cases. They asserted liiat the man must have had the malady when he went into camp. A largo number of iicarf-hrc.iking eases had come under his notice, and the Soldiers and Dependants’ Committee had (lone their best to help- i lie assistance rendered, however, was eating up tin' funds liiat they would like to have conserved for assist in mod who came hack from the front. Mr Solomon said lhaC scarcely a day passed but that he heard the same story about balloted men who had been previously Mturned down' as volunteers, not once, but several times, being passed as iit alter a very slight examination. by the Medical .Board, There was something very extraordinary about this, for surely a man pronounced unfit by competent floetors could nut become fit in a tew weeks. The Mayor: They have lowered the standard considerably, Mr Solomon: Thai is so. and individual cases could lie understood, but the practice has become too general. Mir Paul said, whether rightly or wrongly, the man in the street asserted that practically every balloted man was passed as fit and ‘‘tried out” at Trentbam. If this was so, it was an absolutely wrong thing. They all knew that many men were able to take care of themselves and could go about their usual duties, but under a .strenuous military training their health was seriously impaired. Many such cases bad come before the Soldiers’ Welfare Committee, and there were many others that did not come before themFather Coffey followed by citing cases ' which bad come under

Ins personal knowledge. There ivas one of a young man in the country, who had been given a, certificate by a private physician to the effect that a bad foot would debar him from passing as fit, yet the Medical Board had passed him for active service, and when asked to look at the certificate had refused. Moreover, they had refused to examine the-man's foot when he requested them to do soA tied her case was that of a man who had been compelled to give up his ordinary occupation, doctors having pronounced him as .■suffering from incipient consumption : yet he. too. had been passed as “fit** by the Medical Board- It meant that this man would become a burden on tlie State.

.Mr •(obtusion said that in* himself had brought up litis ver\ matter betore lio l Association .some tin>“ ago. Men had been passed as lit for active service who were mi more hi led to go i uto v, arfare than many of the poor creatures In our hospitals. lie could give numbers of instances that had cotm.; under ids notice of such men becoming a burden upon the community. The Mayor said that there was no doubt that there were grounds for complaint. The (tovernment's attitude regarding those men who were thrown out of camp was disgraceful- They were soldiers. and yet the uovernment repudiated any responsibility, t ’ ‘Shame-" ) These men should be given the right to apply for pensions and should receive their pay until such pension;! bad been It was eventually resolved that this question and Unit of increased payment to soldiers' ' dependents t;e referred, to a sub-com-uniter to go thoroughly into and Vmmr!.