other than obvious moral grounds, probably convicts and persons other- 

 wise undesirable, representing 0.2 per cent, of the conscripts subjected 

 to final examination. These averages are based upon the returns for 

 1906-07, which are apparently normal and not influenced by urgent con- 

 siderations of impending war. 



The German rate of acceptance is, however, in a large measure 

 determined by the number available for military service. That 

 number naturally bears a direct relation to the authorized 

 effective strength of the army. The rapid growth in the German 

 population had made it possible to select conscripts with much greater 

 care than in certain other countries, especially France, where the avail- 

 able, material has rarely if ever within recent years been fully sufficient 

 to meet the required complement in accordance with the authorized 

 strength of the French army. For this reason the French statistics 

 cannot be considered strictly comparable with the German statistics, 

 and the fact that the average rate of acceptance was 72 per cent, in 

 France, against 66 per cent, in Germany, is not evidence of the physical 

 inferiority of the German recruiting material and its unsuitability for 

 military service. The discussion by Claassen includes the average rate 

 of acceptance for various countries, but for different periods of time, all, 

 however, subsequent to 1899. For Russia the rate is given as 85 per 

 cent.; for Norway, 76 per cent.; for Sweden (Province of Dalarne), 

 75 per cent. ; for France, 72 per cent. ; for Switzerland, 58.5 per cent., 

 and for Germany, 55.5 per cent. 



Another even more important factor which requires consideration 

 is the question as to how the number finally examined is constituted or 

 determined for military purposes. If, for illustration, those who are 

 seriously impaired in physique or who are mentally unsound or who 

 are below height are not required to present themselves at all but are 

 excused on grounds sufficient to a lay official, then the rate of rejec- 

 tions on final examinations would, of course, be correspondingly 

 diminished. It is generally understood that this is the case in France, 

 although the rate of final rejections as entirely unfit is 10.1 per cent., 

 against 6.6 per cent, for Germany. The interpretation of foreign 

 recruiting statistics is unfortunately further impaired by a strong bias 

 which precludes to a considerable degree the practical use of the data 

 available in a summarized form. 



INCONCLUSIVE ARMY REJECTION DATA 



The causes of rejection in recruiting as in the case of the so-called 

 causes of death are for statistical purposes limited to assumed primary 

 or determining causes, while secondary, although possibly equally 

 important, causes of rejection are obscured in the prevailing method of 

 statistical tabulation and analysis. If, for illustration, a recruit is 

 rejected because of deficiency of stature, it does not at all follow that 



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