Evening star., 1939-09-24
Strength Of Arms
Protects q Neutral
By Frederic J. HaSkin,

student of international politics and
military affairs is aware that the surest
guarantee of the neutral is, for an i'm
portant power strength of arms The
President has made it clear and the
voice OF the American people has made
1t clear that the United States does not
desire to become involved in a foreign
conflict.
Yet because 1t is so we'll learned les
son from the long chapters of experience
That. even though one follow the Gospel
injunction and turn the other cheek. it
Is just as we'll to have that cheek we'll de-
veloped IN the malar muscles, the Amer
lean people and, especially, those in au-
thority at Washington have been looking
over quietly the resources in men which
the Nation could muster.
So far as inanimate resources are con-
cerned, there need be no concern, The
United States can, alone, show in such
necessities as iron and steel, coal, copper,
petroleum and innumerable other neces-
sites OF warfare, front almost equal to
the rest of the world combined. AS to
some resources it can, by it's single self,
match all the other nations, potential
allies or potential enemies.
Admitting these things as all observ-
ers must, there remains to be considered
the human element. In the final analysis
the caliber of men rather than the cali
ber of guns determines the issue OF war.
If there are not enough men to fight a
war or If those men be lacking in the
qualities which make warriors. the wealth
In lnanlmate resources goes for nothing.
One may place the most useful weapons
in the hands of unskilled, unwilling. in
ept or undetermined men and they might
as well be armed with garden hoes. In
deed, as history has demonstrated, men
armed with farm implements, when de-
termined, have bested men armed with
the best of lethal weapons So there is
particular interest In the men the United
States has to show to any threatening
foe, whether the threat be immediate or
prospective and far in the future.
The United States Bureau of the Gen.
sus is regarded by such statisticians as
those assembled by the League of Ma
tions as the best organization Of its
kind in the world. No other nation has
such complete data regarding its citizens
Just now, these data are somewhat out of
date, save for fairly good estimates, be-
cause the last census was taken in 1890
But new decennial census is due next
April and all material will be brought up
to date. Meantime, estimates have been
made, based on what is known precisely,
which are within small fractions of the
truth.
So let us see. Without quoting Shake
speares Seven Ages of Man" it can be
assumed that men of fighting trim can
be placed between the ages of 20 and 40
years. To be sure, large number of the
soldiers of the World War and of the
American Civil War were much younger,
but, for present purposes, those ages will
suffice. The official Census Bureau rec
ords show that the United States had
men from 20 to 80 years of age number
ing 19.4380O0 in 1880, when the last
enumeration was made
The Census Bureau statisticians are
skillful men and their estimate that,
since 1890, some 100000 have been add
ed to those ranks may be taken as fairly
accurate. So here is a force of more than
20,00O0O0 men. The census takes in
every one, and, among these, there are
many who are crippled. many who have
illnesses which would render them in
capable of bearing arms but still
mighty army of the able-bodied would
remain.
In the World War draft there was a
primary exemption for married men. so
that marital status must be taken into
consideration. 1t must, meanwhile, be
borne in mind that the exemption for
marital reasons operates only in time of
relatively mild emergency. such as that
which obtained in the World War for the
United States. Should it come TO an
issue of defense of the country against
invasion, the marital exemption would be
tossed aside; indeed, married men are
the first to fight against invasion threat
ening their own homes.
So it is interesting to see how the male
population stands in that respect. OF
statistical necessity, the figures must be
for 1880, but the proportions remain
approximately the same
In that census year there were
100000 married men between the ages
Of 20 and "a: there were 2977,0OO between
the ages of Is and 20; there were 3.46S.-
900 between the ages of 80 and "a and
there were 5.500,0OO between the ages of
IS and 80. This makes a total of 13,445.-
600 married men, who, presumably, would
be exempted on the first draft. There
still would be an army, potentially, of
some 100000 men, subtracting the in
electives.
There is another interesting group.
Life begins at 40, according to scientists.
philosophers and braggarts. Between the
ages OF 40 and 49 years, the United States
shows a muster of nearly 5000 900 men.
and for skill and experience good MANY
OF these could run rings around the
youngsters under 40. The proportion of
married and unmarried holds about the
same, so one could figure on adding some
100000 to the roster out of this group.
An interesting fact is that those who
live in the country are more prone to
marry than those who dwell in cities.
For the Census Bureau classes of native-
born and for Negroes, it Is shown that
the men OF every age class show a lower