The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-03-04
MORAL OF BOER BRAVERY.
Nations Must Improve the Physia ne
of Their Laborers.
From the London Lancet.

From the LONDON Lancet.
With but few exceptions the Beers live
in the open country. Indeed, il has been
said that the ambition of the Boer is to
be surrounded by so vast tract of land
that he cannot see the dwelling of his
nearest neighbor
Then his occupations are all outdoor oc-
cupa lions. He must ride enormous dis
tanceS to go to church, to do his shopping,
to fetch a medicine man, or to pay
visit.
For his food supply he depends TO some
extent on hunting, and here we have
again healthgiving occupation, TO say
nothing of the incidental fact that this en-
abes him to become an excellent marks
man.
There is the all-important fact that he
Is exempt from the health-wearing trials
alike of wealth and of poverty, neither
sUrfeited by luxurious living nor starved
for want of the necessaries of existence.
But what in the long run often proves
more fatal still is that terrible strain on
the nervous system due TO the want Of
leisure, the want of freedom from anxiety
caused by overweight civilization, and
the acuteness of the struggle for existence.
The Boer mind is not torn and harassed
by the ambitious hope of wealth or the
constant dread of bankruptcy, or poverty,
debt and starvation. He feels quite sa fe
as to the morrow's existence. His land
is not overpopulated, but underpopuated.
He knows nothing either of our sordid
poverty, of our overcrowding and of all
the insalubrious and degrading conX-
tons bred of misery that accompany and
put to shame our wealth. 1t would not
be possible to find a Submerged tenth
among the Beers. Therefore the Beers
are free from those nerve disorders that
11r.
OF the populations in the great commercial
centers.
Even the Beers are taller, stronger and
of more powerful physique than the Eng
lish 1t is quite a common occurrence to
meet a Boer six feet six inches in hight
The Boer who has taken to town life and
acquired town vices may degenerate like
other people, but this is not of frequent
occurrence. Even those who do live in
towns often preserve their primitive and
simple methods of existence President
Kruger himself is a good example. He
still keeps up the pastoral habit of 60
ing TO bed at o'clock in the evening, and
he is up by o'clock in the morning.
But apart from the flesh and bone, the
big, strong frames, and the hard muscles
developed by the healthy constant outdoor
exercise, the Beers have practical freedom
from the diseases due to alcoholism and
vice. They are not total abstainers but
they are remarkably sober and drunken
ness is rare among them. Equally impor-
tant from the health point of view is the
fact that the BOer Is essentially a moral
man. On the other hand, how often are
British soldiers punished for drunkenness
and invaded through their vices. Not
only is almost every Boer physically fit
to take the field and fight for his coun-
try, but he is a stronger, healthier and
bigger man than even those who have
h., 81. Mol
fit to serve in the British army.
If the entire male population of our
country, without any sort of select ton,
from the age of IA to 60 years. were made
to stand forth they would present a sorry
spectacle as compared with a similar
crowd of Beers. Let any one, for in
stance, take his stand in a crowded street
in the center of Glasgow and note how
many men will pass him whose backs are
straight, who have expanded chests and
healthy compilations.
Again in Lancashire, let the observer
note the dwarfed figures and pallid faces
of the thousands of factory women as
they leave the mills And London, with
its West End slums fostering under the
shadow of neighboring mansions and its
boundless stretch of East End misery,
what sort of army would this huge me-
tropolis produce if every male inhabitant
were called under arms?
For these purposes the occupation of
the agriculturist is far better preparation
than the labor of the town worker. Let
any one study the distribution of the pop
uation in Great Britain and he will at
once see the disadvantage which in this
respect the Beers possess. The moral is
very simple.
The efforts of legislation and of phllan-
thropy should be directed first, to the
endeevor to get as large a section of the
population as possible back on to the land
Second we should strive to make town
life as similar to country life as is pos
sible. Therefore our streets should be as
broad and our houses surrounded with as
much open space as circumstances will
admit All Accommodations of filth which
corrupt the atmosphere of towns should
be removed with the utmost celerity and
means of communication should be so
multiplied and reduced in cost as to en-
able townsfolk to, enjoy the maximum of
exercise in the open country. If we must
fight for our empire, such measures are
Indispensable.