Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-08-07
WANTS HARDING
To NAME BOARD
To END DISPUTE
Sprague Would Have
Doctors robe Sawyer
Legion Controversy.
Hospitals Not Always
Available for All Pa
tients, He Says.

Chicago, Aug. 6.-(By The Associ-
ated Press. )-Colonel A. A. Sprague
chairman of the American Legion's ma
tional rehabilitation committee, has
suggested to Brigader General Charles
ID. Sawyer, President Harding's physi-
clan, that the president be asked to
appoint committee of physicians to
decide the controversy between the
general and the legion over the hospi-
tai care given wounded soldiers.
Colonel Sprague Sunday night made
public his letter to General Sawyer,
who is chief co ordinator of the hos
pitallzation board.
The letter takes issue with state
ments made by General Sawyer in reply
to previous communications from the
legion officials as printed in the Con-
gressional Record
The letter, in part, follows:
The American public should know
teh situation as it really exists you
write, and then you go on to state that
there are 90 government hospitals with
a total bed capacity of 2S.412 beds, TO-,
191 of which are unoccupied.
Letter Widely Published
This latter assertion has been given
wide national publicity as a denial that
further hospital construction is neces-
sary.
THE impression is gained from your
statement that these beds are avail
able for sick and disabled service men.
on the face of the report. which the
veterans bureau publishes bi-weekly
containing this information, it states
in capital letters. This report is to be
used for administrative purposes only.
Total unoccupied beds cannot be in
terpreted to mean that all are avail
able on account of character of hos
pltals and geographic location This
is just what the American Legion says.
and what your statement denies
You have absolutely ignored, and
not mentioned in any way. the fact
clearly stated in the same report that
there were S.611 patients in contract
hospitals. 4157 Of whom are mental
and nervous cases. and 2.774 of whom
are tubercular 1t is for these men
that we demand the best the country
,an give.
The fact that you have omitted these
men from your statement to congress
again convinces us that you fail 10
the nature of this problem
and the tremendous changes that have
,een effected in medical science during
and since the war.
THE situation that really exists is
hat many of the 30 hospitals classed
is government hospitals are only emer-
yency buildings leased from year TO
'ear, which the government abandoned
is soon as proper disqualification can
'e secured in government owned hos
,itals
Cites Example
1T is not on statistics that the legion's !
,lea for proper disqualification is based. |
mt on constant daily observation of con- !
itions and personal contact with the |
tuatiOn in every one of the IA dis |
riots.
"On a visit to q nearby hospital,
ound the following situation:
Three men were hospitalized in one /
DOM, one of them mental case. an.
ther a general surgical case. and the
bird suffering from tuberculosis.
he mental case escaped one night and
'as recaptured, wandering about the
icinity in his pajamas. He was pnt
ack in the room and next night killed
he tubercular case with chair. while
he surgical patient looked on helplessly.
Colonel Shagrue suggests that the ply
icians come selected preferably from
he executive committee of the medical
ssociation who have no connection
18th the government service"