Medical examination before entry into the forces is the responsibility of the Ministry of Labour. The Ministry has furnished a statement of which a copy is enclosed. It is impossible to give separate figures for the army, which is presumably what the President wished to have, as the statistics record all men examined before entry into any of the Services, there being no means of distinguishing those who subsequently pass into a particular service. It is not possible, either, to indicate the various disabilities on account of which men are placed in grades 3 or 4, which under present practice are not called up for service. The information contained in the enclosed statement, with the exception of the definition of the four grades, is of the most secret nature as it reveals the numbers of men who have been examined. Some particulars of the percentages of men found to be fit have passed into the press, but of course no information as to actual numbers has been published. |