EUGENIC AND DYSGENIC EFFECTS OF WAR 235 



mines usually the scarcity of labor supply, but if the diminution of births 

 has been very pronounced and prolonged, it may happen that the diminution 

 of the unproductive population may compensate or even more than com- 

 pensate for such scarcity. It is well known that outstanding economists 

 have maintained that one of the factors of the present crisis caused by over- 

 production is due to the post-war diminution of the unproductive portion 

 of the population. The lack of sexual equilibrium in the adults determined 

 by the war may, on the other hand, have the opposite effects in a population 

 in which the males abound and in one in which they are normally scarce. 



The influences of war on the populations are so varied and multiple and 

 are often exerted so indirectly that, in order to give a comprehensive valua- 

 tion, it is first necessary to have a synthetic idea of them, an idea which 

 can be formed only by means of statistical data. On the other hand, we 

 must avoid the illusion of having thoroughly exhausted the subject by means 

 of these data, since statistics enables us to measure only some particularly 

 salient and generally immediate manifestations of such influences, while it 

 is harder for us to point out the less immediate or altogether remote conse- 

 quences. Therefore, after having finished the quantitative researches of- 

 fered by statistical data, it behooves us to verify the conclusions suggested 

 by them in the light of history, asking ourselves whether the differences 

 found between the peoples that have waged many wars and those that have 

 waged none are really such as our conclusions would have led us to expect, 

 and if not, how the divergence can be accounted for. 



Furthermore, it is obvious that the eugenic and dysgenic effects of war 

 must be considered not only from the intranational point of view but also 

 from the international point of view, the direct or inverse selection which 

 war determines within the elements of a population being susceptible of 

 being strengthened or, vice versa, corrected, or even outdone by a selection 

 which works along the same or opposite lines among the various nations. 



In comparison with such a vast program, the results so far obtained repre- 

 sent very little, I should say almost nothing. This fact should be a strong 

 urging to all scientists to make further researches. 



I shall tell of my findings following the order of topics as shown by the 

 program distributed to the members of the committee for the study of the 

 eugenic and dysgenic effects of war. 



THE EFFECTS OF THE MILITARY ORGANIZATION IN TIME OF PEACE 



Until now direct researches have been carried on only in Italy, where for 

 a certain period of time it has been possible to examine the percentage of 

 married men, and the number of their children, among the conscripts de- 



