The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1899-03-30
Observation-Disclosures 30. 1888
Expansion and 1t. Fearful Penalties.

Mr.. Edward Atkinson, Of Brookline,
Mass. has published pamphlet Oh
The He'll of War and Its Penalties
with special reference to the penalties
of decentralization. debt, taxes ana
disease which our acquisition Of tropi-
cal COLONIES" must entail Parue'
ularly fearful to contemplate is the
penalty Of disease, which, according TO
statistics Of British experience in India
and French experience in Madagascar,
troops quartered in hot climates are
bound TO pay. The conditions in India
are not nearly so bad. according TO
Professor worcester's descriptions, as
the malarious conditions in the Philip
pines. Great care has been taken IN
India TO employ at each station all the
sanitary precautions known TO modern
science The climate is. as rule, dry
and many stations are designedly placed
in the hill country, which is conpara-
lively salubrious AS compared with
the Philippines, India is a healthy
country, Being for the most part farther
from the equator and civilized. Then
too, the English troops quartered there
are regulars, who can be compelled 10
observe precautions which volunteers
would disregard Yet the havoc wrought
by various diseases among the 10000
British troops is distressing TO contem-
plate. For the 20, 600 officers and men
the yearly average Of admissions to the
hospitals is 81. 73S, or $50 admissions
for each 900 men The average mum
Der Of days each soldier is sick is "a 80
the number in each thousand constant
ly sick is 90 So. :. These figures include
the healthy stations in the hill coI2try
as well al those in the more malarious
plains For comparison with our damp
and malarious Philippine Islands, the
stations in the plains Of India must be
taken. a sample Of the letter is
Ahmedabed. where the admissions to
the hospital are 3. Az per 1000 men
which means that each man averages
over three addissions to the hospital
OF the diseases that affect the men
about one-half are malaTial fever. while
loathsome constitutional disease accounts
for one third. Ofthe 2. 1893 men quarter
ed at Allahabad the number suffering
yearly from smallpox, euteric, cholera,
yellow and other fevers is 99l from
malarial fever, 3Sl from the dred con.
stitutional disease, 1925. and from
other diseases, 1875, making the total
OF admissions 10 the hospital yearly
1915. Taking various regiments we
find that the Royal Fusiliers, number
ing 9Si. have lis constantly sick; the
First Royal Welsh, numbering ST.
have 140 constantly sick, and so on.
Having regard exclusively for the con-
stitutional disease already mentioned
which saps the vitality Of those who
onco contract tive ind that in 1895
liz in each 900 were treated in hospi-
tai In Scotland, 1913 in Ireland and 1853
in England But on going to tropical
countries the cases at once become vast
Iy more numerous, becoming 3l4 for
each 900 men in the West Indies, 1888
in Ceylon, 359 in China. 479 in the
Straits and 522- IN India In Rohilk-
hand distrios the number Of such cases
waz-51i per 900 men and in Newgong
,013 Our troops in the Philippines,
being in a worse climate, without
sanitary safeguard and under less ex-
perienced officers, can hardly escape
like experiences, and it becomes a SER
ious question whether we are willing
TO pay 30 largely in the lives Of good
Americans for any advantage posses
sion of the Philippines might confer
on us
The experience Of the French IN the
conquest Of Madagascar should have
been q warning to President Mckinley.
In campaign Of ten months the French
army of IL, $50 men without any blood
ly encounter with the enemy, lost A.
1s9 men, or S25 Of every 1000. The
average Of deaths for the soldiers was
nearly 40 per 100, while in some com
mands it was over 60 per 100 One
battalion, which made forced march
upon Tsarasotrs, was annihilated by
disease, not one man Of their number
reaching the capital of Madagascar
On the other hand, but 800 Of the 1900
men recruited in Reunion and West
Africa died. The moral of all which
is that tropical climates are deadly and
favor the ravsges of certain diseases,
especially in the case Of men who go
to them from temperate climates.