Evening star., 1898-09-17
S NOT TO BLAM E
Misapprehension Regarding the Sur
geon General.
OF THE DEPARTMENT
Commanding Officers Responsible
for Abuses.
AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT

The surgeon generals office OF the army
today gave out tie following statement
on the responsibility in the medical de-
partment of the army
Numerous letters from private individ-
uals and editorial articles have appeared in
the newspapers of the country since the
commencement of the war with Spain
which indicate that there is a widespread
misrepresentation with reference to the re-
sronsibility of the surgeon general of the
army. 1t would require superhuman power
to meet the expectation of many of those
who have criticised the surgeon general
for his administration of the affairs of the
medical department of the army. His re-
spcnsbility is great and to properly per-
form the duties incumbent upon him he
must devote his entire time and energies to
the administration of affairs pertaining to
his office. But it is quite impossible for
him personally to administer or even TO
supervise the medical administration OF
armies in the field. For this purpose there
is a chief surgeon for each military depart
nent, chief surgeon for each army corps,
for each division and for each brigade.
These chief surgeons are directly respon-
sibe to the commanding generals of the
troops with which they are serving. The
surgeon general has no direct authority
over them.
Duty of Ommanders.
1T is the duty of commanding officers of
regiments, brigades, divisions and corps to
correct any amuses existing III their sew
cral commands and to bring to the atten-
tion of higher authority any neglect of
duty or improper conduct the part OF
medical officers under their orders.
The regulations of the army and orders
from the War Department give directions
with reference to camp sanitation, the care
of the sick, etc, and il is the duty of COM
nanding officers to see that these regula-
tiCns and orders are obeyed To hold the
surgeon general of the army responsible
for the conduct of 800 more regimental
surgeons, appointed by governors of states,
most of them without any previous mill
tary experience, is absurd.
Contract Doctors.
The same is true as regards the six
hundred contract doctors who have been
employed. The urgent need for medical as
sstance made it impossible to have boards |
for the examination of these doctors, and |
ii was necessary to judge of their fitness |
upon such Endorsements as they We're able |
TO present. If some of them have proved |
to be incompetent negligent or intemper- |
ate this was TO have been expected among |
so large a number selected in this way. But
even if the corps, brigade and division sur
geons the regimental surgeons and the con- |
tract doctors were well qualified in every |
other respect, a large majority of them
were without previous experience with ref
erence to the care of troops in camp. They
We re unfamiliar with the methods of OBJ
tanning supplies and they could only become
efficient medical officers after having gain
cd experience and familiarize1 themselves
with army methods.
I'm short the surgeon general of the
army IL not personally responsible for the
neglect or incompetence of medical officers,
whether regular or volunteer What, then
are his responsibilities? AS chief of the
medical department he recommends the as
signment of medical officers to duty as
chief surgeons of army corps and of mill
tary departments, and these chief surgeons
responsible for the proper administra-
ton of medical affairs in the commands to
which they are attached. The surgeons Of
divisions and brgades, upon the recon-
mendation of the surgeon general, are or |
dered to report to commanding generals of
army corps for assignment to duty, and
after being SO assigned they are response |
bic for the administration of medical mat
ters in the particular division or brigade |
to which they have been assigned.
The Surgeon Generals Duties.
The surgeon general himself has direct |
charge of all general hospitals of the med
ical supply depots. of hospital ships, of the
Army Medical Museum. of the enlistment
and distribution of members of the hospital
corps, of disbursements for artificial limbs |
of the payment of all bills against the
medical department of the army, etc. In
addition to this numerous papers are refer
red to him by the adjutant general of the
army for opinion, and he has an enor-
nous correspondence various subjects
from persons both in and out of the army
AS an Indication Of the extent of the
official business which passes through the
Office Of the surgeon general 1t may be
stated that u clerical force of eighty-siX
experienced clerks has been found irsutf-
cient. and il has become necessary 20 apply
for additional clerical assistance
The surgeon general is responsible for
the purchase and issue of medical supplies
for the army; but ii is the duty of medical
officers on duty with troops to make timely
acquisitions for supplies, 1t is quite i'm
possible for the surgeon general to foresee
what the requirements may be for troops
located at the various posts and camps in
our own country and in the islands in
our possession. So far possible the sur
geon general has endeavored to anticipate
the wants of the army in the field. and at
each of the larger camps a branch supply
depot has been established. The war has
been largely conducted by telegraph. and
teIegraphic acquisitions for supplies are
constantly being received. These at
once transmitted to the proper supply de-
pot with orders for issue, but there is often
unavoidable delay at the supply depot in
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