War Department: Surgeon-General's Office,
Washington, D. C., May 22, 1899.
To the Editor:
—Your editorial note relating to "The Army Medical Service" (See Journal, May 20, p 1123) indicates that a misapprehension exists with reference to the appointment of medical officers in the army, and I consider it my duty to correct this at the earliest possible moment.Appointments in the regular army are made entirely on the recommendation of army medical boards convened for the purpose of examining the candidates who present themselves, and neither political nor personal influence has any weight in these appointments.Regimental surgeons of volunteer regiments under existing laws are appointed by governors of States, and neither the secretary of war nor the surgeon-general of the army has anything to do with these appointments.Division and brigade surgeons of volunteers, and the medical officers of the so-called immune regiments, have been appointed by the President