Unfortunately I must state the fact that the rank and file will not return better men than they were when they started. They have seen too much of ruthlessness, brutality, robbery, executions etc., and have come into contact with altogether too many bad characters in the foreign contingents.

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Unfortunately I must state the fact that the rank and file will not return better men than they were when they started. They have seen too much of ruthlessness, brutality, robbery, executions etc., and have come into contact with altogether too many bad characters in the foreign contingents." in the context of "Waldersee in his diary, 20 March 1901, in Beijing" to mean that wisdom is timeless.