In a sermon on the scientific indictment of war, Dr. James H. Ecob says:
Soldiers must be young men; not only that, but young men of
the finest possible physical development. The question at once
presents itself, What effect must it have upon the physical
stamina of a people, if the very flower of its young men are led
out and fed to the cannon? What would we say of a farmer who
should lead out into the back lots the very flower of his stock
and shoot it down, leaving it there as food for crows and foxes?
At first we would cry, shameful waste? But a second thought,
more fundamental and portentous, is, what effect must such a
policy have upon the physical status or grade of the stock that
remains. If the best are thrown away and only the second best
are retained, progressive degeneration of the stock must result.
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