Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-04-13
EUROPE'S FUTURE POPULATION
ny FREDERIC .J.mAsI<I

! ny FREDER
| WASHINGTON. u. G., April 1.-THE
! countries OF Europe now at war may
| In future wears bo populated by n
| Ncistablc race of dwarfs. If the war
| continues much longer. according to
| the Spc"uiaiiona OF some scientists In
| tcr"St Is now turning largely away
from the war itself and toward it's
ultimate effects. social and industrial
One o. Tho most interesting questions
presented Is what changes tho war will
cause In the races Of Europe. ana this
! Is or Immediate Importance to ,hc
! american people. for by immigration
We VIII Fh"r" whatever heritage the
! war leaves TO the European nations
Speculation ns TO the future size OF
! Europeans Is based largely upon the
Well known fact that the Napolconic
vars reduced IN" average size of the
/ French people. This is an opinion COM
! monty held IN France itself and IS
| adequately established by the records
! or the army Napoleon had repeatedly
/ I" lower the standard Of height which
| he had SGT for his soldiers. Further
! more. the measurements of the young
| men who annually offered themselves
! Tor compulsory service shows that dur
! inE The twenty year period Of the war
| III" number Of thos" rejected for In
| sufficient size greatly Increased
y loss Of size in itself is not i'm
| portant but il pretty certainly iinplics
! loss OF other valuable physical uuaii-
| ties. Thus during the period OF the
| great French wars, tho number OF con
! Scripts wh" had 10 hc rejected because
| OF inhrmiticS Increased ou"-thlrd
Destructive to- Human Tissues.
/ Nov III" scientists who argue tha,
the present war * 30 result IN q phy-
| SlcalIy degenerate European race. point
out tina, In" present war II much wors"
than any preceding one. Il is destroy
| ms men IN Unprecedented NUMBERS
| ! ne total losses of I,trnt,, In l.
| wounded ana missing have been csti-
I mated as high as io.Oo0,onu mon Fur
! thermor". the number of lu"u who have
! been taken from the battlonclds as
/ nervous wrecks or insane is trciucud-
| Gus. The m;.jdcninE mouo,ouv Of
| trench warfare. tn. terrific shock OF
| heavy artillery. tho US" Of poison gases
! all combine TO render the war more
| destructive to human tissue than any
| that was ever waEcd before.
This Sidc OF the picture has Of course
| been greatly emphasized ia this conn
! Try. while tho other has been almost
/ overlooked. There are y Number of
| scientists who contend that war IS bon
! chciHl and necessary. ono OF the MOST
| convincing Of these is Or. otto Aumou
| Of Jena, who points out thai :hc con-
| nict between nations is the most ma
| l"siic form OF the struggle for exist
I cncc. and is really woriing out OF
the laws OF natural selection.
/ The pncincists deny this catccorjcal-
ly. asserting thai the process of natural
i selection Is reversed. Thus in the bat
/ Ties ui wild animals in a wildciI, So
/ the weakest are always killed the
! strong survive, and The breed is i'm
| proved. In war, however. the strong
est and fittcst are forced TO 20 TO the
| front and be killed OF manned, while
| the UNIT arc carefully protected Al
| home. The recruiting Office says to
tho walking citizen. You are not good
| enough TO he Il soldier. go home and
| he Il father"
Supported Ivy biology.
| So those who assert that war in
| jurcs the race seem TO have tho best OF
| il. if the question is view from Il bioio-
Gical standpoint. The militarist philoso-
| piers claim that the proportion de-
| stroycd is not really large enough to
| have great effect. and tina, the dam
| age is In part compensated by an in
creased birth rate after war. They
! cannot, however, diSprovc the terrible
| loss OF race strength both by death
and injury in war like the present
| one.
Thcy assert. however. tina, the great
est benefits OF war are spiritual Dur
I ing the war, they say the hcroism and
+ unsclfishn"ss OF people stimu-
: lated. Persons who have devoted all
/ their lives to gathering riches often
/ freely give these to the cause. The
! men Of The race learn how to face
| death. the women how TO face sacri-
! fee. In peace, hcroism is possible only
/ for a fcw--such as explorers and adj
! venturers In war. hcroisn becomes
! the common experience of the race.
f; Nations often produce their greatest
. men after vars Tile Germans, Goethe.
/ Schiller and Kant came after the desc
/ latinG Thirty Years War. Poland pro-
| duccd wonderful crop OF SenluSeS
! while she was being ovcrrun by the
! armies OF Europe and torn to pieces
/ 10y them. The great American psyche
/ losist. William james believed in this
! stimulating effect OF war. and in his
/ volume. THE VIII To Relieve he gives
/ AN impressive list of nations and pco-
. pies that have done great things in
the face Of threatened or partial de-
/ struciiou II is Il striking fac; that re-
. licious scctS which have been pcrsc-
cuted and bounded about the earth
qualities. The Iiugcnots The Puritans
| and the Waldenses. are wcll-known eX-
! amplcs.
Spirit Quickened by War.
This quickenine of the spiritual life
of "a nation by war may be traced to
some extent throughout history. In {,
short war. assert the militarists, IL
| mutton works OF the ia; aud sloth ac-
! cumulatcd by years of undisturhcd in
dustry its spiritual qualities are
sifed. The paciflcists' reply to this
/ Is that war has brutalizinS as well az
stimulating effects, and that above all.
its rewards cannot possibly he worth
the terrific price being paid in the
| present struggle.
There are many kinds OF loss to the
nations engaged besides those actually
killed on the field of battle. The Sc
| robustness OF this latter is probably cX-
| aggerated in tho mind of the average
American, as ii has been I'm the utter
ances OF host of amateur and pro-
fcssional pacifcists. Thus the losses Of
! Germany have been placed az high as