The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1903-10-15
and more unreasonable every year. and
in addition getting scarcer.
THE HEALTH OF THE ARMY.

The report of Surgeon General r.
M. O'Reilly of the United States
ARMY, for the year ending June 30, has
Just been made public and it may
fairly be set down as one of the most
discouraging public documents, in
way that has been issued for some
time. General O'Reilly's department
deals solely with the health of the
army but as disease among the soldiers
in times of peace is to large extent
the result of immortality, the report
throws side lights on many matters of
interest
Taking the matter of intemperance
among the soldiers, for instance, it is
not altogether gratifying to learn that
the white boys of the service are in
comparably worse in this regard than
the native Filipinos whom they are
supposed to help civilize and Ameri-
canize, and that there is more than
twice as much alcoholic sickness
among the white men as among the
oolored troops of the army. Disheart-
ening as this may seem 1t is neverthe
less true according to the surgeon-gen-
erals report which says
The freedom of the Filipino from
the vice of drunkenness is strikingly
shown when we find that out of ), 900
men only three individuals were
treated for alcoholism in one year,
and that while white soldiers were
admitted to sick report on account of
misconduct i'll the use of alcohol at the
rate of pa rs per thousand and col bred
troops at the rate of 11.70, the Malay
scouts showed the extremely small ad-
mission rate of so per thousand.
On the whole, however, the health
of the white soldier, as shown by the
death rate and admissions for medical
treatment, is considerably better than
that of the negro or Malay. For the
whole army, at home and abroad,
during the year 1902. the white troops
showed an admission rate of 1,706. 33
thousand and death rate of IA 40.
The negro troops had 1,S97.74 admis-
sions and "a. II deaths thousand, and
the Malay scouts /, 707 81 admissions a
thousand and "a. 04 deaths. The white
race, therefore, gave the lowest figures
in sickness and much the lowest NOR
ality. The black race led in both, al
though the Malay closely approached it
| in death rate.
The death rate increased from 10. "a
| a thousand in 1901, to 10. 40 thousand
in 1902. This increase is said to be
due to cholera which caused 3. "a
deaths thousand. To offset this the
| general health was little improved
during the latter year, there being a
decrease from 1,79l.59 thousand in
1901 to / ,716 81 in 1909. The surgeon
general states, however, that neither
intoXication nor cholera are the
great problem of the department but
rather that the steadily increasing
prevalence of venereal diseases il the
most discouTaging feature in the sick
reports of the army. In this regard
General O'Reilly condemns the anti,
canteen law as the cause of the in
crease, saying:
1t is impossible not to attribute q
large part of the steadily increasing
venereal diseases of the army to the
loss of the canteen. where the soldier
if he so desired, could get his beef
throughout the month, but was moi
subjected to the temptations to in
temperance and vice now attendant
on the expenditure of full month
pay at the low resorts infesting thu
outskirts of our military reservations
This arraignment of the anti-canteeJ
movement is very familiar one
There is hardly department or pos
commander but has made simila
statement along the same line, and i
these numerous reports count for any
thing those who forced the abolish
ment of the army canteen, against tn
advice of army officers who knew tn
practical side of the question, mus
now look upon their work as ligh
that failed.