The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1920-01-30

thoughts turn to the dead who while
they did not die In the war, died be-
cause of the war. Those who went out
In battle left life In a burst of glory.
Others there were who fell in their
tracks--exhaustion broken hearts sent
them west" She has not forgotten
how the home flank suffered. The stay
at-homes were not all slackers They
fought hunger and cold, bent their
backs beyond the strainsng point
Worst Of all, they waited. It Is esti-
mated that 20,000,0O0 civilians died
from weakness, fatigue, strain, broken
hearts-the horror Of waiting de-
stroyed resistance. These we're the
underfed older men and women, the
scared, undernourished children. Is
there any wonder that Europe has
death look In her eyes? Death has
been her morning thought, 1t has been
her night sob, and for four years made
up Of months, weeks, days, hours,
minutes and seconds death has been
her Nemesis.
She is now totaling. The figures are
appalling. They staggcr her imagina-
ton. 1t Is easy to write them, Inn
possible TO understand their full mean
ing. The mind, can't grasp It; the
world is bewildered by the number. 1t
Is too stupendous, too horrible for UNI
derstanding. Think of 1t, seven and a
half million young men, for. the most
part between the ages Of eighteen and
thirty, the youth. the strength, the
spirit, the man power of Europe, dead
twenty million from civil life dead,
over twelve and a half million wound
ed.
Who can measure this loss?
War brought death. 1t did more
it stopped birth. In the devastated re-
gions of Belgium. France, Italy, Po-
land, parts of Russia and the Balkan
countries, the birth rate fell to al
most nothing. In England and Wales
the birth rate in the last part of 1918
was 1915, the lowest on record. NAL
lett calculated that the birth rate had
fallen II per cent in England and
Wales by 1916.
The Journal of Heredity quotes Saw
orgnaD as having estimated that 1t win
take England at least ten years, Ger
many II years. Italy IS years and
France SO years TO recuperate their
populations. These calculations by
Savorgnan were made before the fear
full losses of the campaign of 1918.
A village in France, Blerancourt,
tells what the war has done to the man
power of Europe This village, which
Is in the Chateau Thierry- scissors dis
trict, had a population of thousand
people before the war. Its losses have
been tabulated. Twenty-six soldiers
from this village were killed in the
war. Ninety-seven of the villagers
died from war privations. The total
of 123 is the death toll Of village
Of thousand.
The figures have quoted from the
calculations of Savorgnan and Mallett
were made before the war was finished
Since the war, estimates have been
made, and these estimates show the
situation to be even worse. In France
l was told that 81 per cent of the men
between twenty and forty years were
listed as dead or incapscitated for
work. Further, that 1t would take
France over 20 years to recover her
normal population.
1t is said that 1t will take Italy so
years and England % years to regain
normality of population.
The human waste of the war is more
than sad memories. The loss of man
power makes a grave problem. 1t has
thrown out OF balance the domestic
scheme of the world. 1t will be felt
for years. There are great many
more young women than men. Home
life is bound to suffer. There. will be
fewer marriages. fewer children. Sta
tistics only tell part of the story.
Copyright. 1890 Western Newspaper UnionJ