National Affairs: More Magruders

Rear Admiral Thomas Pickett Magruder having commanded attention for the subject with his writing in the Saturday Evening Post, Navy faultfinders less eminent but no less vehement are now able to make themselves heard. One such faultfinder is Dr. W. Armistead Gills, U. S. N. retired. Dr. Gills has written two books—The Price of a Sailor’s Life and Three Years Under the Hammer—to set forth what he considers gross ineptitude in the Navy health service. Not until last week, however, did his objections attain the resonance of front page headlines.

The Lions Club of York, Pa., was Dr. Gill’s immediate audience last week as he flayed— “. . . The commissioning of recent graduates in medicine, attracted to the Naval Health Service by an assured stipend, a voiceless clientele, lack of competition and diagnosis backed by military rank.”

The fact that the smallest Navy sick list since the War (1925-26) included more than half the Navy’s personnel.

The fact (according to Dr. Gill’s survey) that 38% of Navy officers on the active list have diabetes, Bright’s disease, heart trouble, ruptures or other defects.

Cried Dr. Gills: “. . . Any information [about Navy health] which Rear Admiral Magruder lack’s, I can give him. . . . We need more Magruders and fewer recruiting posters. . . .In the interest of human life, I do not propose to be muzzled! . . :