The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-02-13

where universal military service pre-
wallis. Using this method the COM
mittee has calculated that out OF
100000 men reaching military age
each year. $4,000 are At fop military
service, according TO the French
| standard
According to the figures presented
In the report more than nine-tenths
of the force Of 100000 trained troops
which the war ONCE division OF the
general staff thinks should be avail
able at the outbreak OF war could
be made up Of men Of nineteen and
twenty years. II the French standard
were applied, and men OF nineteen.
twenty and twenty-one years, accord
ing to the German standard.
Because Of her smaller popuia-
ton, and of the desire to keep her
forces as nearly equal to Germany's
as possible" the report says. France.
before the war. did not enforce such
strict physical standards as her
neighbor.
"In France the military class of
1910 consisted Of sol ,467 young men.
After examination they were divided
as follows:
Fit for active service. 231,70s
LESS fit, assigned to aux
Hilary service ... 1903
3-Unft. exempted from all
service ............... 24,O5Z
4EFinal assignment post
pOned S4.4US
EFF this ratio-7e.7 per cent--be
applied in the United States there are
900. o00 young men fit for service who
reach military age every year.
"In Germany in 1910 the young
men coming OF military age numbered
55s597. but only 81 per cent, or 2s5.-
H. Fa-
service classification. In this basis
45s, 900 of the United States 100000
would constitute available military
material
The task Of estimating the total
resources OF the nation In men avail
able for military service between the
ages OF eighteen and forty-nve. in
elusive, is more complex For. into
this calculation. there enter many
uncertain factors. In addition to the
morhidity rate and the physical re-
lection rate there is to be considered
the dependency OF families and the
need of men Of mature years In the
business and industry OF the country.
I'm 1910 the males from eighteen
to forty-five years old In the United
States numbered 2107I, 076. Although
approximately 1900 900 were aliens.
and therefore ineligible for military
service, the officials OF the census
bureau consider that the increase in
population between t4f8 and the SUM
mer OF 1916 has about compensated
for these.
Through a deduction OF IL per
cent for norhidity, the total OF al
e7l.07s becomes 20.544 800. and.
through deduction of about IL l-2
per cent for physical defects. there
L. F,,r I, o.
The census tables showing the
number of men in various occupa-
tions-farmers, factory workers. min
ers. physicians. lawyers. railroad en-
ployes, clerks. public officials, and
40 on--have been carefully examined
and the effort has been made to
reach an approximate estimate Of the
number that could be spared for mill
tary duty In serious emergency.
This leads to the estimate that IL
$685. 900 out of the 3o0sl.5e4 en-
ployed. or 5s.5 per cent. could be
brought into service II needed And
this percentage applied to the 49,
GOT. 600 physically At between eighteen
and forty-fve years old gives $685.
$40.
still unconsidered. however, IL
martial condition. or dependency.
Though unmarried men have depen-
dents there are married men who are
in such circumstances that they can
do military service without imposing
hardship upon their families How
nearly the latter come TO offsetting
the former cannot be stated. even APP
proximately. In this calculation all
the singled, widowed and divorced
men are assumed to be available and
all the married men unavailable.
- .f.-l-
teen 10 forty five years old. 46.35 per
cent are single, widowed or divorced
(4335 per cent being sinFie). II this
percentage be applied to the 1o,535.s4O
the figure arrived at after deduc-
tions for sickness, physical defects
and Industrial necessities--the NUNS
Der available for service becomes
ATS $50, or 22.7 per cent OF the en-
tire number of males from eighteen
to forty-fve. This ia about one out
OF five"