The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1892-06-16

Can human folly, regarded from some
special point of view, be considered
subject for scientific observation? We
do not hesitate to answer in the afirma.
tive, although up to the present time it
has never been classified, and although it
forms whole too vast and too complex
to belong to any special genius. or deter.
mined category. It's magnitude and uni.
versatility have doubtless kept it outside of
positive studies, properly 80 called. Even
now ne do not pretend to treat the i'm
mense subject in its full extent, but sim.
ply wish to examine one of its most in
teresting and serious phases, the military
system of the fourteen hundred
million human beings who people this
planet.
How many men are destroyed by war
in century,? Official reports and docu.
ments enable US to calculate the number
of soldiers who have keen killed or have
died during modern wars. We know that
during The unaccountable Franco. German
war of 1870 II, 25OOOO men were slain
on the two sides that during the useless
Crimean war of 1S54-55, 785,00O we're
slain; that during the short Italian war
of 1859, $4,000 men fell on the field of
battle, or died in hospitals that the game
of chess between Prussia and Austria in
1866 deprived $4,000 individuals of life {;
that in the United States the strife be.
tween the North aud South caused the
death of 100000 men in 1861 g.; We
know also that the wars OF the frat en-
pire poured out the blood of FIVE million
Europeans, and that France has taken up
arms twenty times since 1916. On ad-
ding the number of victims of war
during the last century, total Of 49,.
840,900 is reached in the civilized
countries of Europe and in the United
States.
Commencing with the Trojan war, the
case has been the same in all ages of his
tory. Certain remarkable battles, fought
hand to hand with knife or club. have
had the memorable honor of leaving as
many as two hundred thousand men
dead on the field; as examples We cite the
defeat of the Cimbrians aud the Teutons
by Marius, and the last exploits of Atti.
Ia. Iighteent twenty million men
are killed every century in Europe by the
enlightened institution of war. If these
men, averaging 30 years of age, should
join hands, they would form line $500
leagues long, crossing all Europe and
Asia.
The nations of the extreme Orient (the
Chinese and their neighbors) form SEC.
ond human consolidation, and shed about
the same quantity of blood. Gengis Khan
and Tamerlane marked their routes with
pyramids Of. heads. Barbsrous nations
also are engaged in combata, seldom kill.
ing fewer than four to FIVE million beings
10 q century. The total number destroy
ed every century in political, religious or
international wars is ct least forty mil
lions.
General statistics prove that since the
Trojan war, 5000 years ago, not single
year has elapsed in which some war has
not killed its proportionate number. Dur
ing the thirty centuries which have elaps
ed since the beginning of Asiatic and
European history loss of 100000 q
century makes the total number destroy
ed BY var to be 1,2OO,0oo,O0O, a number
very nearly representing The total popu-
lation of the globe at the present day.
Twelve hundred millions