Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1918-05-24
Today-.-n and Other Days

lOlOIldl lOT'PS dpgl'pdICh ''''
7G1 men. This, Of course, does
not mean that at any time there
was anything like hat number OF
men in the field. but simply that,
from first to last, there were that
number Of men sworn into the
service. Many Of these were IN
the army throughout the war;
many others served for periods
Of but a few weeks or a few
months. But the figure repre-
sents the number Of individuals
passed into the service during
the period Of the war, and as
such is the only one that can
have value.
The population Of the United
States, according to the census
of 1890, was in round numbers
four millions. It is hard to be-
Iieye that the increase from 1888
to 1890 was more than enough
to offset the loss by death and by
emigration to Canada, the West
Indies and Great Britain, during
The period 1775-1783. On this
basis, then, we find that the
Colonies put into their armies
approximately EIGHT per cent OF
their total population.
This performance was dupli-
:atcd in 1872. From a pOpula-
zion Of 1900, 600 there was re-
cruited a total armed force of
sos, 0l6; the percentage IS a tritle
lrger, but still, in round num-
)ars, eight. Our efforts in the
next war, that with Mexico,
we're as trivial as those in con-
nection with the disturbance of
1893. In the one case we found
l0l, 1872 soldiers in a p0pUIationof
23 millions; in the other, 223, 1875
men enlisted out of a total of 76
million souls. In both instances
he percentage is we'll below
)ne-half Of one per cent-not
seaIIy enough to talk about.
The truly prodigious military
effort OF the American people
was that of the Civil war. The
Northern States, from a popuIa-
tion of %. 600, 600, secured 1853
l32 men for the service; the
South found about LOO, 900 of
It's eleven million residents who
could be put under arms, On the
one side thirteen per cent of the
entire population was put into
war; on the other, ten per cent
in the entire nation, in rounC
numbers, one person in every
eight. Until the present debaclt
of nations, this performance was
uniQue-a source of constan'
wonder in all quarters.
One year ago the strength o.
the American army was 2l2,O3l
today it is 1852, TBS. Our popu
( lation is conceded to be 100 mil
4 lions for purposes Of discussion
, So in spite of the heavy increase
, which we have scored for on
i armies, we have put but 1.6 pc
cent of our number in uniform.
1 Yet we talk of supreme effort
in terms of a Gigantic" arm,
of five million men! May we no
well pause to realize that befor
{ we shall have equaled the per
S Torrance of the thirteen Colonie
# we shall have increased thi
figure by half, that before W
- shall have put ourselves on a pa
! with the beaten Confederacy W
u shall have doubled it? MAY W
s.; not give thought to the fact tina
t. in order to put forth an etfol
}, duplicating that Of the NORTH
y we must raise an army of THU
: teen and a half million men?
II 1t is absurd to look with con
! placence upon the insignifcar
military aid which the averae
II American has in his mind whe
he c%ontemplates our share in tn
great war. There are plenty {
ID people now living who fought i
y, the Civil war; plenty more VIII
lie lived through it. If we wouI
On but remind ourselves that befol
+ we shall have eQualed Il
ur achievement of their generation
or we must still put $780, (
ne troops in the field. perhaps v
d should look with less complacent
of upon what we have done, ar
VS. with less misgivingS upon Il
r raising of the next million, or Il
millions after that,