Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1903-02-13
HANDICAP OF YOUTH.
Young Men q Europe Forced Into
y llss Military Bondage.
1 1lva1 Nations vytns with Each Other
: Armed supremacyTT1nhu-
Sus5sss Y eAcs Of the Service on
sli.4f laIL4l.o,a... Subjects. -A

0AAs0N 0Gd GCb AOA oily ASASs 81
time are usually struck by the large
ssinnmber Of young men who occupy
spQsitions of prominence and re-
slsponsibility in business, professional
life or the service of the state. This
40 due in grent part to the fact thai
the American youth has ample OPP
portunity to work at his chosen
craft Or profession without the un-
Welcome interruption Of compulsory
military service. Consumption is .
state Ct bondage which the young
man AS Of the European continent must
Undergo during the most yaluable
years Of hisslite. At q period when
lad should be strain,ng every nerve
,SSto win . place in the world he iss
,sIsompelled to give up the struggle and
gVAonform his ideas and even his phys;
Teal development to the Procrustean
standards Of military martinets, says
the Chicago Daily News.
a the various countries .of CONT
snahtal Europe military laws and
\ service are very much alike. Inter;
national riyalries and ambitions are
ever urging these nations tt keep
up with their neighbors in matters
of national defense. Even the small
er nationalities in some instances
have been armed by their big neigh
bors and proudly drag along their
burden of miliittarism. France, Ger
many, Austria and Italy compel
every able-bodied4Slad; Of 20 years Of
age to devote two years Of his life
to military service. Actually the
period Of service. required by law is
longer than two Years. VI Financial
considerations limit the term Of
training. In addition to this period
the European youth must perforce
belong to the reserve and devote ac-
cording to his age a longer or short
er part of his time each year to drill.
and m%aneuvers!.
At the present day therezare 1885,
OOO young men engaged in actual
military service in France, Austria,
Germany and Italy. These figures
take no account of Russia, Belgium,
Spain and other countries, but sim
liar conditions prevail in and a like
reasoning applies to those nations.
OF this large number of young men
snatched away from trade, craft or
employment 100000 are French, 51o,-
900 German, $4,000 Austrian ana
25O,0Oo italian. This vast amount Of
productive labor 10 annually lost
10 Europe.
s@a Only men in irst-class physical
condition are accepted for military
\ service. From six to seven per cent.
Of these mel are permanently in
jured by the seventies of army life
Many more are incapacitated from
pursuing the they had
mapped out for themselves. The
case OF n young German is sig
niicant. He had devoted almost nix
years to learning matchmaking. He
had taken the greatest pride and
pleasure in his skill as a craftsman
I md had become 10 expert in his
work that he saw before him the as
hu~rance9of a prosperous career. Two
young sisters as we'll az his mother
were dependent on him.
This lad was drafted into the ar.
! tillery at 20. Handling heavy shot
manipulating heavy guns. moving
run carriages and other rough worl
incident to artillery drill ruined hi,
delicate hands and untitled him fol
carrying on his old craft. When he
completed his term of service he saw
before him the necessity of learning
some other business or being reduced
to the level of an unskilled laborer
Meantime the family he had laboree
90 hard to keep together had beer
scattered.
One of the worst features OF mill
tary life is the cramping influence i
exerts on young men endowed will
any originality of thought or nativ,
powers of mind. Will power, tn,
faculty OF criticism or analysis, pow
err of organization, invention an,
gift for the simplifcation Of labo.
are not merely useless in Europea1
armies butt ven meet with the stern
eat repression. Mechanical obedi
ence and unreasoning execution of or
ders are the highest military svir
tues IN Europe. Such training speed
" units q young man for making hi
mark in the world of industry o,
commerce. The young European ma,
leave military life with a body unim
paired by its hardships, but he i
likely to be handicapped for tn
rest Of his natural days by the art
fetal state of mind his training ha
produced.
While the military system IL itsel
an exemplification Of the survival q
the fttest it encourages the surviv.
d weddings in civil life. The hal
the manned, the consumptive, tn
asthmatic, the young men wit
chronic complaints Of whatever sor
are given an immense advantage ov.
! 81 their competitors from the militia,
ranks, no matter how. sound in bod
The army wants only lads Of ii
highest physical standards. II
others = rejected. They pay
small yearly tax and are exemp
n a 20 %h,,c. aro11al ~ o4x.-l :.