Waterbury Democrat., 1903-01-12
HANDICAP OF YOUTH.
Young Men of Europe Forced Into
 Military Bondage.
Rival Nations Vying with Each Other for Armed Supremacy-InaU-
 ence of the Service on
 Subj jectB.

y Il positions of prominence and re-. sponsibility in business, professional life or the service of the state. This is due in great part to the fact that the American youth has ample op portunity to work at his chosen craft or profession without the un- welcome interruption of compulsory military service. Conscription is g state of bondage which the young man of the European continent must undergo during the most valuable years of his life. At period when lad should be strainlng every nerve to win a place in the world he is compelled to give up the struggle and conform his ideas and even his phys icaI development to the Procrustean standards of military martinets, says the Chicago Daily News.
 In the various countries of conti- mental Europe military laws and service are very much alike. Inter national rivalries and ambitions are ever urging these nations to keep up with their neighbors in matters of national defense. Even the small CT nationalities in some instances have been armed by their big neigh bors and proudly drag along their burden of militarism. France, Ger many, Austria and Italy compel every able-bodied lad 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, but 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 CT part of his time each year to drill and maneuvers.
 At the present day there are 1,655,- 900 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 like reasoning applies to those nations. Of this large number of young men snatched away from trade, craft or
 
 1 900 German, 335,ooO Austrian and | 25o,ooo Italian. This vast amount of productive labor is annually lost to Europe.
 Only men in first-class physical condition are accepted for military service. From six to seven per cent. of these men are permanently in- l jured by the severities of army life Many more are incapacitated from pursuing theN careers they had mapped out for themselves. The case of one young German is sig nifcant. He had devoted almost six years to learning matchmaking. He had taken the greatest pride and l pleasure in his skill as craftsman and had become so expert in his work that he saw before him the as- 1 surance of a prosperous career. Two l young sisters as we'll as his mother were dependent on him.
 Tbfs lad was drafted into the ar tillery at 2o Handling heavy shot, manipulating heavy guns, moving gth carriages and other rough work incident to artillery drill ruined his delicate hands and united him for 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 l to the level of an unskilled laborer Meantime the family he had labored so hard to keep together had beer scattered.
 One of the worst features of mili tary life is the cramping influence ii exerts on young men endowed witt any originality of thought or native powers of mind. Will power, the faculty of criticism or analysis, pow CTS of organization, invention anc gift for the simp1iication of labor are not merely useless in European armies but even meet with the stern est repression. Mechanical obedi ence and unreasoning execution of or ders are the highest military vir tues in Europe. Such training speedi ly units a young man for making hi. mark in the world of industry o1 commerce. The young European may leave military life with body unim paired by it's hardships, but he i likely to be handicapped for tn, rest of his natural days by the arti ficial state of mind his training hal produced.
 While the military system is itsel an e2emplification of the survival O. the fittest it encourages the surviva of weddings in civil life. The halt the maimed, the consumptive, tn, asthmatic, the young men witt chronic complaints of whatever sort are given an immense advantage ove . their competitors from the militar, ranks, no matter how, sound in body The army wants only lads of tn highest physical standards. Tn others are rejected. They pay small yearly tax and are exempt They are thus enabled to attend t business or to work at their trades for which the army is meanwhile un ? fitting the others.
 In America parents value a soun mind in sound body for their of spring Tn Europe parents ofte1