STATEMENT No. II
Losses of the year from various causes per cent. of strength.
1878.
1877.
1876.
1875. 1874.
Invalided . . . 2.73
2.53
2.99
3. 30
3.70
Discharged by Command
- ing Officers at their
own request . . 2.06
2. 41
2. 45
2. 59
2.73
Discharged for physical
disability . . . 1.16
.92
1.24
1.22 1. 08
Discharged for miscon-
duct, &c. . . . 1.53
.99
1. 08
1.16
1.53
Died . . .
.
2.52 1.34
1. 47
1. 63
1. 31
or on recruiting service who have been temporarily withdrawn from regiments.
The "total" embraces the mean number retained on the regimental rolls. These
vary in no appreciable degree from the strength of the various sections of the
Native Army in 1877 and preceding years. The mean total of the Regular
Army in 1877 was 44,755 ; in 1878, 45,105 ; of the Central India Force, 5,667
and 5,639 respectively ; of the Punjab Frontier Force 12,370 and 12,352 ; and
of Madras troops serving in the Bengal Presidency, 3,146 and 3,152; the grand
total for 1877 having been 65,940, and for 1878 it is 66,248.
7. Excluding for the present all mention of the Madras troops serving in
Bengal, the statistics regarding them being very partially available in this
department, it is to be observed that the mean strength of the Bengal Native
Army in all the sections had risen from 63,078 on the last day of 1877 to 64,576
on the 31st December 1878. There was thus a net increase of 1,498. The
total accessions to the Native Army during 1878 were 7,824, while the permanent
loss reached 6,326, the difference marking the absolute increase of strength. It
is only necessary to explain the items of the permanent loss : 1,592 died, 1,724
were invalided, 738 were discharged for physical disability, 1,301 received dis-
charges at their own request, and 970 were struck off for bad conduct, &c. With
an ever-varying strength as a denominator, a comparison can only be accurately
drawn by a series of percentages through several years, and this is given in
Statement II. The loss
by invaliding (other-
wise pensioning) sepoys
who are unfit for any
further service in the
field, has been higher in
1878 than in 1877, but
lower than in-the three
preceding years ; the
variation reaches as
much as 12 per mille.
in the quinquennial
series. The number of
men who left the Army
at their own request exhibit a lower ratio than in any former year, while those
who were discharged either for, physical disability or for misconduct exhibit no
marked fluctuation, though both classes were in a proportion markedly higher
than in 1877
as shown in the last
figures, exemplifies the
unparalelled excess of
the general sick list
which has befallen the
Native Army generally
throughout the year. In
Statement III the facts
of this general sickness
are embodied in the sim-
plest form ; and on
comparison with those
of the previous decade,
it will be seen that there
have been admitted into
hospital 178 per cent.,
2.52 per cent. have
died, and that the
daily average of sick has been 5.25 per cent. The nearest approach to this
rate of sickness occurred in 1869, a year remarkable for epidemic malarious
fever, but to which the increased sickness from exposure on active service
was not superadded. By way of contrast it may here be stated that in 1868,
when the want of rain produced a famine in the North-West, and agues were
almost unknown, the admissions were only 111.8 per cent., the deaths 1.65 per
cent., and the daily average sick 3.72 per cent.
8. The greatly increased death-rate of 1878,
STATEMENT No. III.
YEARS.
PER CENT. OF STRENGTH.
Admissions.
Deaths.
Daily Average Sick.
1868
111.8
1.65
3.72
1869
162.5
2 . 4 9
4 . 9 4
1870
159.8
1.86
4 . 7 3
1871
133.1
1.83
4 . 2 6
1872
152.6
2 . 0 1
4 . 5 4
1873
132.3
1.74
4 . 1 7
1874
132.9
1.31
4 . 2 3
1875
128.7
1.63
4 . 0 3
1876
140.4
1.47
3.91
1877
114.4
1.34
3.49
Average
136.8
1.73
4.20
1878
178.08
2.52
5.25