The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-12-26
Losses of War compared with the
Increase Of Able.BOdied Men


A paragraph from Mr.. Kennedy's Com
pendulum of the Census, (now in course of
publication has been transferred to the
papers, in which he expresses the opinion,
that the number of 1.-THE killed, or perma-
nently disabled is greater than the in
crease of able bodied population. Mr.. Ken
nedy is very good authority, but think he
is mistaken and has left out of view some
important elements of calculation. AS all
the data for such a calculation are within
reach it is worth while to examine this
question. It has much to do with the
strength OF the country. and the effects of
the war upon it. Let US first ascertain the
increase of population and consequently
of able-b bodied men since April, 1861. All
the ratios of increased population are de-
termined by the census, In estimating
this number Mr. X. confines himself to the
ages OF Is and 40, which in the cases of vol
unteers won't do, for there are thousands
Of men over 45 among our volunteers, and
there is one in the Army Of the Cnmber-
land near so. Again, it won't do to sub
tract the natural deaths,'' for the census
itself does that. When 1000 men {for ex-
ample) pass the age of forty-five they do
that, after all the deaths Of the previous
period have been subtracted. So in the
army, the deaths by disease include both
ordinary and extraordinary deaths, There
are no other natural deaths" to be ac
counted for than those which are already
accounted for in the census, Or in the losses
losses OF the army. Again, it will not do
to say that the population "has not been
increased since the war, by immigration, to
the extent that existed before Ii we take
three, or four exceptional years, as the
standard, this is true. But it is not
true, when we take an acreage of immi-
grafton which is what governs the results
of the census-ten years of immigration
from 1850 to 1860, being taken together. In
five years, from 1850 to 1850, (inclusive,)
there arrived in the United States $50, 900
alien immigrants, which is an Average of
10000 per annum, which is less, according
to the published statements, than the alien
immigration of 1865. The alien immigra-
ton to the United States for forty years,
ending in 1860, was 5000 900, which is 1885,
600 per annum. 1t is, therefore, mistake
to suppose that immigration has fallen Off.
On the contrary, it is well known, that Ire
land is pouring on, her population by tens
Of thousands. Neither the benign Govern
ment Of Great Britain, the temptations of
Australia, the blessings of Canada, or the
exaggerated horrors OF the American war,
have been able to prevent the Irish from
seeking that land where their kindred have
found liberty and happiness. Perhaps, if
Vallandigham and Fernando Wood were
TO go, as ambassadors to Ireland and Ger
many, and represent what "tyrdnt'' we
lived under, and how the Government has
been perverted to "despotisna,'' the Irish
and Germans might be induced to stay at
home. As 1t is, it must be regarded as an
extraordinary phenomenon worthy the at
tention of metaphysicians, that they should
be willing to leave the blessed Government
of Europe to live under the tyrant Lin
coin. So it is. immigration is increa-
sing, instead of diminishing, and no de-
ductiOn of able-bodied men can be made
on that account. Let us now proceed
to the increase of population and losses
of "killed and permanently disabled"
l. Men in our volunteer troops are of all
ages, from below sixteen to above sixty
But to make the comparison fair, we will
take those between eighteen and sixty, he
tween which nearly all able bodied men
come. The war began in the middle of
April 1861, and in the middle of October,
1868, had lasted two years and a-half. The
increase ofmdies in two and a-balfyears from
those who were below to those who were
above eighteen, may be ascertained by
taking the whole increase of population
between eighteen and sixty, for the decen-
NAL period between 1850 and 1860 and then
taking one-tourth of that, which is the pro-
portion for two and a. half years. This
gives $50, 600 for the actual increase of able
bodied men since the aOar began for the whole
United States. From this, we must deduct
the proportion for the rebel States, and
tuel ueuuCt, IL we Cdu, Inc losses Dy the
war. The rebel proportion of white males,
ALLOWING for traction in Missouri and
Kentucky,) is one. fourth. Deducting this
from $4,000, leaves 4S7, 500 bodied
men added to the loyal population since
April, 1851, if there had been extraordina-
ry losses.
2. We now come to the losses i,s scar,
which cannot be exactly ascertained, but
for which we have some data. What are
the losses in battle, killed or dead by
wounds? We can come at this nearly.
though, of course, not exactly. We know
very nearly what the killed are, with the
exception of some small skirmishes, muir
ders, accidents, &c. Though the s9n ors
OF the time are often exaggerated, yet the
official reports, made long afterward, are
nearly correct, and then as to the woundeds
we have the hospital reports. Takings ONE
of the most signal battles as examples, and
disregarding prisoners, we have the fol-
lowing results. The losses are Union only.
since we cannot know what the rebels
We're:
Killed. Wind.
ISL bull tSun 41S oil
Wilson's Creek ......~........... 063 72l
90!