The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-03-16
Frederic Haskin's Letter
The National Health Shortaee.

Washington, D. C., March IAN
annual survey of the young men Of
the nations to determine their
phyoical condition and what can be
done to improve It was suggested
the other day by General Pershing
in an address to some high school
cadets here.
General Pershing was thinking
OF his experience in the war. He
reminded his hearers that so per
cent Of the men called for service
were physically unit, and he point
ed out the pressing need for some
thing to remedy this situation.
The state Of the national health
as revealed BY the draft seems to
have been really the most sensa-
tional f..ct Of the war. It has
spurred congress to draft and hold
hearings upon comprehensive meas
ures for physical education. 1t
seems to have made a deep impress
sion upon every thoughtful person
in the country. II about half Of the
young men which the United States
produces are weak, sick, under
sized, crippled, or otherwise inef-
ficient, what is going to become of
us as a nation? What is the use
Of producing goods il we can't pro-
duce men? What is nation ex-
cept the people who compose it? II
half of those people are needlessly
unfit through undernourishment,
ignorance and preventable disease,
how much does our claim to ma
tiQnal greatness and success really
amount to?
These seem to be the questions
that thoughtful Americans are ask
ing themselves. They stand out all
over the voluminous hearings upon
the Tess bill for physical educa-
ton.
This measure provides for a
large appropriation to be divided
among the states for use in pro-
noting physical education. on the
condition that each state must it.
self appropriate as much as it re-
ceives from the federal government.
What Can Be Donel
Many of the leading educators
and physicians of the country ap-
peared before the committee on ed
ucation in connection with this
bill. They agreed unanimously
that the draft had revealed an
alarming condition of the public
health, and that nothing could be
more important than to do what
ever can be. done to remedy this
condition.
1T does not make any difference
how much waterpower We have, or
how many great projects there may
be at any time," said DR.. Joseph E.
Raycroft of Princeton. 1.-THE real
wealth Of the nation is the health
and efficiency Of its people. Moth
ing else matters to the same ex-
tent"
| DR.. Raycroft reminded the COM
mittee that not only did the draft
board find it necessary to reject
about. 35 per cent of the me, az
physically unfit, but that from 40
to 50 per cent of those accepted in
the various drafts were found unfit
after they were in the army and
had to be sent to hospitals or to
development battalions. This GER
tainly leaves tn. number of really
sound men in the country painfully
small. DR.. Raycroft admits that
the examinations we're hasty and
, not always Efficient, but he thinks
they undoubtedly erred as much
one way as the other. He points
out that the physical standard was
lowered five different times in the
effort to get enough men. In this
way four million men were raised.
Shortly before the armistice, when
1t looked as though fifth million
would be needed, he said it was a
serious question whether another
million men fit to fight could be
found in America. In other words.
nation of more than a hundred
million people could not put for
ward 100000 men fit to carry a
gun.
Most interesting are the reasons
which various experts assigned for
the low physical standard of man
hood prevailing in this country