The Express.
London, England, 1865-09-21 00:00:00

very much the French soldiers are kept front crime
by the latter means. Not that I believe much iu
industrial exhibitions and such like. We in the
English army have taken to these very much of
late, and in time they will no doubt de good. But
the Wench soldier din always find something to do,
and can always earn a little money for himself,
either in the barrack-yard or in the town where be
is quartered. In the first place, the whole of the
olothing—rumen, trousers, leggings, gaiters, shoes,
shirts, forage caps, overalls (in the cavalry), and
every other article of dress—is made altogether in
the barracks, under master tailors, master shoe-
makers, and ad forth. The saddlery in mounted
oorps the same, and of course all the farriers' Work,
as with us, is done in the regiment. But not only
this. If a soldier has any special trade, or has
been brought up to any handiwork—say watch-
making, for instanoe—he is not only allowed, but
aottuilly encouraged to practise it in his barrack-
room, and generally manages to do job work of some
wart for shopkeepers or others in the town. Pro-
: vided a soldier continues well-behaved, he is always

allowed to go out in the town he is quartered in
(when he is off duty) and work as a journeyman
carpenter, 111118011, bricklayer, cooper, baker,
butcher, or whatever trade be may have been
brought up to. There is only one proviso made, and
that is be must pay foe any injury done to bin
uniform in the course of his working, which is hut
fair. If his secular pursuits interfere with his
military duty—if the former make him late for, or
slack in, performing the latter, his leave to work out
is stopped at once by his superiors. The officers
assure as that so far from finding this system tell
against the discipline of the corps, it is always the
best-behaved men that are the beet workmen and
most in request. I have heard of many soldiers
who were allowed to work as printers on provincial
papers, and one cavalry officer told me
that he bad a man in his squadron who often
did the sub-editing of a weekly print. All
this not only keeps the men content, but also gives
them a real interest in being well behaved. The
soldiers who go in foe this kind of employment are
not generally those who seek fur promotion. Once
a man becomes a non-commissioned officer be has
plenty to occupy him within the confines of the
barracks, and would not be allowed to seek employ-
ment elsewhere. But it is not every man who is fit
for a corporal's stripes either in our own or the
French army, and it is just those men who do not
get promoted that are most apt to become discon-
tented with their enforced idleness. The farmers
in the neighbourhood of a French garrison are often
allowed to get labourers from the ranks, more par-
ticularly in harvest time. Then the French troops
have a very great advantage, which ought to, and
I hope will, be introduced in our service. his
this ; unless some extraordinary call for troops
takes place, a regiment is left at least three
years in the same garrison or quarters. Would
that it were thus with us ! I have a relative who
came back from India with his corps four years ago,
or a little more. The regiment had been fifteen
years abroad, and had served wherever the hardest
knocks were given in the East, including the whole
of the great mutiny. It came home, landed at
Portsmouth, was kept there nix months, during
which it had two changes of barracks. From
Portsmouth it was sent to Aldershott, where it was
kept a year in huts—l presume to get rid of any
extra heat which might have stuck to the men after
their Indian career—and then went to the north of
England, where it was broken up—two companies
in one town, three in another, one in a third, and so
forth. After six months of this work it was sent
to Dublin, where for four months it was left in
comparative quiet, with only one change of bar-
racks. Then off to the provinces, where it
was again broken up, and now, after six
months at the Curragh, it will embark for
foreign service before the year is over. Imagine
what pleasure for any one connected with
the corps, but more particularly for the mar-
ried officers and the married men ! Faucy
a married officer who wants to avail himself of the
local schools where he may be quartered for his
children being knocked about in this way ; and
for no earthly reason. No wonder that so many
officers declare they cannot stand the expense of
home service. Our cavalry regiments are not moved
about nearly so much, for the reason, I imagine,
that most of the officers are better off in money
matters than their comrades in the infantry. In
the French army it is very different. Rregimenta are
moved from quarters into camp for a season of drill
and manceuvres, but they always return to the
place from whence they have come for the winter,
and needless changes of quarters are never
made, nor under any circumstances do they
take place oftener than once in three or four
years. With our system the men never could
find any profitable employment in any town they
were quartered at, for it would not be worth the
while of any shopkeeper or tradesman to employ
them for the very short time they remained at the
place.
Now, this having every man in a regiment handy
at a trade. or calliug must be of great advantage on
service. Many of us were witnesses of this in the
Crimea. I remember having had the mainspring
of my watch as well mended in the French camp
before Sebastopol as if it had been done by a first-
rate London or Paris tradesman. But, although
useful in its way, this is not a trade which would be
much called into operation in the field. What I
was moat pleased with when at Chalons was to see
the huts and other buildings -erected by soldiers
without any help whatever from outside. The
planks were prepared, sawn, and planed ; the
stones, when used, shaped and got ready; the