But here, again, one can not always apply sweeping
generalizations to individual cases. It might be supposed, for instance,
that in the Confederate army the best eugenic quality was represented by
the volunteers, the second best by those who stayed out until they were
conscripted, and the poorest by the deserters. Yet David Starr Jordan
and Harvey Ernest Jordan, who investigated the case with care, found
that this was hardly true and that, due to the peculiar circumstances,
the deserters were probably not as a class eugenically inferior to the
volunteers.[157] Again some wars, such as that between the United States
and Spain, probably develop a volunteer army made up largely of the
adventurous, the nomadic, and those who have fewer ties; it would be
difficult to demonstrate that they are superior to those who, having
settled positions at home, or family obligations, fail to volunteer. The
greatest damage appears to be done in such wars as those waged by great
European nations, where the whole able-bodied male population is called
out, and only those left at home who are physically or mentally unfit
for fighting--but not, it appears to be thought, unfit to perpetuate the
race.
Even within the army of one side, lethal selection is operative.
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