The Arvada enterprise., 1920-01-29

thoughts tt.n 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 burst of glory.
Others there We're 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 nll slackcrs. They
fought hunger and cold. bent their
backs beyond the straining point.
Worst Of all. they waited. 1t Is estl-
mated that 2O.OOO.6OO civilians died
from weakness, fatigue, strain. broken
hearts-the horror OF waiting de-
stroyed resistance. These we're the
un1erfed older men and women. the
scared. undernourished children. Ii
there any wonder that Europe has II
death look In her eyes? Death has
been her morning thought, It 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 IL now totaling. The figures are
appalling. They stagger her imaRina-
tion. 1t Ia easy to write them. I'm
possible to understand their full nean-
ing. The mind can't grasp It.; the
world is bewildered by the number. II
Is too stupendous. too horrible for un-
derstanding. Think Of II. seven and a
half million young men. for the most
part between the ages Of eighteen ana
thirty. the youth, the strength. the
spirit, the man power OF Europe. dead
twenty million from civil life dead.
over twelve and half million wound
ed.
Who can measure this lossf.
War brought death. 1t did more
1t stopped BIRTH In the devastated re-
glons 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 1919
WAS 1875. the lowest on record. NAL
lett calculated that the birth rate had
fallen IL per cent In England and
Wales by 1915.
The Journal OF Hereilty quotes Saw.
orgnan as having estimated TINT II will
take England at least ten years. Ger
many II years. Italy ~ years and
France 20 years to rccupernte their
populations. These calculations by
Savorgnan were made before the fear
ful losses Of the campaign OF 1913.
A village In France. BlerancOurt.
tells what the war has done to the man
pDwer Of Europe. This village. which
IL In the Chateau Thierry- -SolssOns dis.
trict. had n population Of u thousand
people before the war. Its losses have
been tnbulated. Twenty-six soldiers
from this village were killed In the
war. Ninety-seven Of the villagers
died from war privations. The total
Of 123 In the death toll Of n village
Of thousand. .
The figures I 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
! was told that 81 per cent Ot the men
between twenty and forty years were
listed as dend or incapacItated for
work. Further. that II would take
France over 70 years 10 recover l'er
normal population.
II In said that II will take Italy 10
years and England % years to regain
normality Of population.
The human waste Of the war lS more
than Snd memories. The loss Of man
power makes grave problem. II has
thrown out Of balance the domestic
scheme Of the world. II will be felt
for years. There are \ great many
more young women than men. Home
life In bound TO suffer. There will he
fewer marriages. fewer children. Sta-
tistics only tell part Of the story.
tCepyrisht, is3s. Western Nswspsp per Uaios,