The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-05-21 00:00:00

t ouiribge &bailer

SATURDAY, MAY 21, 1887.
lOUR SOLDIERS I
MONDAY was a military field-night in the
Commons. Such authorities on the art of
fighting and defence as Generals Fraser,
Goldsworthy, and Fitzwygram, Colonels
Duncan Nolan, Eyre, Hill, and Hughes-
Hallett, Sir Havelock Allan, and Sir Edward
Hamley, all had their say on important
questions concerning the Army; and besides
the soldier-specialists there were other mem-
bers of Parliament who contributed words
of wisdom to the debate on a three million
Vote for the land service. One important
point with regard to the maintenance of our
soldiers in fit fighting trim, and making
them as comfortable and contented in life as
they ought to be, is that of food, which cer-
tainly should be wholesome rand attractive,
sufficient in quantity, and of a nourishing
nature. Now some of the champions of
"Tommy Atkins" at St. Stephen's say this
is precisely what it is not. According to
the regulations three-quarters of a pound of
meat are served out daily per man. If each
Soldier got that weight of cooked meat upon
his dinner-plate at noon every day he would
not, with the supplementary rations he re-
ceives, be underfed; and no doubt there are
many good soldiers to Iwhom the military
dietary does not prove at all insufficient.
But, on the contrary, there:is a good per-
centage of brawny country lads and youths
from the mills and factories of the towns
who, on enlisting, often find themselves
hungry immediately after dinner. The
nominal three-fourths of a pound of flesh-
meat meant by Government for each man's
eating sinks down to somewhere between
four and six ounces in the dressing, because
of the elimination of bones and ;the waste of
the cooking operations. The soldiers'
spokesmen argue that they are not askine-
too much when they claim that the daily
allowance shall be three-quarters of a pound,
bone not reckoned. bo say we also. The
cooking waste for barrack-kitchens are
usually well-managed—is hardly avoidable,
but it would not be difficult to bone the meat
before the men's rations were allotted.
Seeing that the generally accepted idea s
that Government fully clothes and feeds the
soldier, and fiads him in a; certain daily
amount of pay also, which he is at liberty
to dispose of in his own way, 'our defenders
are not out of place in expecting a good
dinner, sufficient and substantial. The
popular belief. notwithstanding, this is the
only meal in the day with which the country
exclusively provides "Tommy Atkins." At
breakfast and supper, if he desire the where-
withal to make plain bread palatable or
sweeten any cheering beverage he may pre-
fer, he mast subscribe a portion of his pay
to the extra-rations fund. This should not
be. The soldier ought to have his daily
wants provided for, so that his pay should
be free from embargo or deductions; ar.d
even if the daily pay were reduced a little,
the rank and file would be freer from
grumbling and less dissatisfied than they
now are. Deficiencies in kit ought to be
provided for by those soldiers who are in any
way. to blame therefore; we are not com-
plaining of the regulation to that effect, but
each man should have a full kit free at first,
with no one article wanting. Clothing
accoutrements, and barrack necessaries be-
ing supplied, an ample table should always
be spread also, so that the great growing
lads among the recruits can always satisfy
the cravings of hunger without expending a
portion of their scanty pay to supplement
the governmental allowance of rood. if we
would keep up the physical strength of our
forces and prevent .nen deserting in search
of a more liberal dietary we shall have to
give serious attention to this matter and we
must not be deterred from taking steps in
tbe right direction because an alteration in
the regulations to effect the desideratum
stated on Monday by Dr. Farquharson would
cost the nation three-quarters of a million a
year. Good physique aud power of endur-
ance are, as Colonel Hughes-Hallet ably put
it, among the soldier's first requisites, and
these you cannot have with "short com-
mons. This is essentially a question of
"Tommy Atkins's ". welfare; the officers
have influence enough to look after them-
selves, and their mess arrangements are
under their own control. It is very little
use making our soldiers more sientific,
and educating them in mathematics,
mechanics, engineering, and all the arts of
war, if we do not first "fill their bedies," to
employ a homely vulgarism. Rightly or
wrongly rightly, we hold the private
o!dier is convinced that ',his ficountry ought
to feed him, clothe him, aail provide him
with whatever his avocation may need, leav-
ing him his pay for his own control and
uses. It is a scandal, and nothing else that
this is not an actual fact, but that a seldier
has to buy his own batter, and 0.. tractLal
necessities of life, or suffer 130111-A uviticn.
There were many other. paints of iniiitaey
moment disnissed on Monday besides this,
but none of such real importance. The
Commander in-Chief, at Tuesday's dinner of
the Mechanical Engineer's Institution, laid
great stress upon the scientific aspect of
soldiering, and pleaded eloquently for fight-
ing men whose strong arms should be
roude,red doubly effective by a well-educated
directing brain. We have no word to say
(vl:flat this ; but first wel,woula have tha
"rong arm. And that we:cannot well Lave,
•
boutia tiCO to "Toulmy Atkins," sisk-
IWlt'
roviatkalaaratione regulations-a—az.",