South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-05-21
HoW to Make Fit the Unfit
BY WOODS HUTCHINSON. NJ. D.

The fierce light of the red torch
of war is a wonderful revealer Of
inmost truths. Not in half a CEN
fury of peaceful life would we have
got such a vivid and striking X-ray
picture of the very framework and
| vitals Of the nation as we have had
thrown upon the screen for US dur
ing the past six months.
Like most such intimate revela-
| tons il proved disconcerting, not 10
say disquieting at first. To the gen.
! eral American public it came as
! something of a shock that of two
! and a half millions of our young
/ men in the very flower of their
youth examined for military service
] 29 per cent were rejected on &C
| count of physical defects. Nearly a
/ third of our young manhood, in the
/ healthiest and most vigorous decade
/ of life unfit, Then what must the
| physique of the rest of us be like =?
/ All that we had ever heard of mod
/ ern degeneracy and the decay of ma
tiOnal vigor and health under city
/ conditions, seemed TO be confirmed.
But shocks of this sort are often
wholesome and the reaction from
/ this one after the first gasp was
| prompt and healthy. What are We
going TO do about it," was the first
| question that almost asked itself.
! How much of this unfitness is pre-
ventable? How much of it durable ?
\ How can we go about it TO make the
/ best of the present situation and to
/ lessen the chances of its occurring
again in future?
To these the answers were prompt
I and hopeful for the future. At least
/ half. if not two-thirds OF these
/ shortcomings that caused rejection
are due TO preventable causes. Fully
a third of them can be cured by the
] resources of medical science and an
other third patched up and improv-
ell so as TO make them capable of
useful national service in some other
/ position than in the front line. SO
I that twO-thirds Of the difficulties
/ can be remedied if we attack the
problem with vigor and intelligence.
Furthermore the percentage of
unftness is disquieting enough and
not at all to our credit. we have the
\ partial consolation Of knowing that
We have solid ground under our
feet and a good foundation for fu-
ture improvement from the fact
that the percentage of rejected men
in draft examinations is little or
no higher than it was half a CEN
| fury or a century ago.
Indeed in our civil war for in
stance. the percentage of reflections
was actually slightly higher about
81 per cent, although this included
also men of more advanced ages
A like comparison was found 70
hold in Europe between the per-
centage of drafted men rejected in
the Napoleonic wars and in the
/ present colossal struggle. after
] making allowance for the difference
/ in standards of examination and the
/ much closer attention paid 10 COM
/ paratively minor defects. such as
eye-strain. defective teeth. ear-trou-
l bles. fiat-foot. etc. Nearly a third
of the reflections for instance in our
own recent examinations were due
I TO conditions OF the eyes and
\ teeth.
Moreover the standard expecta-
ton and rate laid down by military
Y experts and used in calculating the
/ probable fishting strength OF a ma
/ ton is that Of the men Of military
axe only so per cent Will be found
\ M for actual service, though this
I covers a wider range OF ages than
\ our draft and includes men up 70
1 40 or IS years OF age. And the rate
\ OF unftness in times OF peace runs
I higher still, in our own regular
army for instance from so per cent
/ 10 20 per cent OF the recruits are re-
/ jected and in the English standing
| army so per cent 10 so per cent.
So that it is hardly necessary 70
\ labor under the discouraging belief
that we have TO deal with a decay