Interest on the Loan

The armed forces, with 6,226 doctors and 2,358 dentists on active duty, were clamoring for more; they would soon need 5,000 more doctors, 2,650 more dentists. Last week, with one dissenting vote (Marc-antonio), the House and Senate passed a bill to draft as many doctors and dentists (up to the age of 50) as the services may need.

What made the legislators see eye to eye was bipartisan impatience with doctors and dentists deferred in World War II and trained at Government expense, who had ignored appeals to pay their debt to their country by volunteering (TIME, July 31). In setting up doctor-draft priorities, Congress drew its first bead on men in this category, who have done no military service (or less than 90 days). They will go into uniform first. Nobody knows just how many there are, but with others who have served from 3 to 21 months (who will go next), they total 5,600 doctors and 3,000 dentists.

After them come the professionals who paid for their own schooling but who still have not served in the armed forces since 1940. Last to go: doctors and dentists (not in the reserves) who have put in more than 21 months of military duty since 1940.

One Congressman, Antonio M. Fernandez (Dem., N. Mex.), tried to excuse the Government-aided men for not volunteering, on the ground that each wanted to be sure that he was not going to make a personal sacrifice while others stayed home and reaped a rich harvest. More typical of the nation's feeling was the bitter comment of Scripps-Howard Columnist Robert C. Ruark: "To beat a draft and knock off a free medical education is quite a feat... I wouldn't weep for [this group] if they all got drafted on private's pay. They owe us some interest on the loan."

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