The Sun.
London, England, 1858-02-22 00:00:00

MORTALITY IN BARRACKS.

The following letter has been addressed to the
editor of the Times:
Sir, —A very patriotic work you have undertaken,
and much good will arise from your exposure of
"the frightful barrack abomination." But it is in
error that "you wonder military men, highly
placed, and in the highest rank, have not exerted
themselves to procure some small improvement in
the barracks and diet, &c., of the private soldier."
One military man at least did so, both In a low rank
and a high rank ; he never ceased to do so. The
late Sir Charles Napier strove long and earnestly
to obtain improved barracks for the soldier; he did
so in all parts of the world where he served.
That he did so in the lonian Islands may be
seen in his publications relative to those islands ;
and in hit corr -spondence thence, as shown in
" His Life and Opinions."
That he did so when he commanded the northern
district of England may b 3 seen also in the corres-
pondence given in the " Life ;" and those are but a
scanty selection from his public letters on the sub-
ject addressed to the Secretary of State, the Com-
mander-in-Chief, and the Board of Ordnance.
Continually and forcibly he urged the defects of the
barracks, the cruelty and injustice to the soldiers,
upon those functionarie3.. _ _

When in Scinde he again assailed the authorities
with r:monstrances ; and himself planned and built
the wing of a model barrack at Hyderabad, hoping
thus to lead the Government to an extension of
his improvements. In vain; Lord Dalhousie for-
bade the completion of his superb barracks, and
the materials collected for building the other wing
remained to rot on the ground.
When he became Commander-in-Cbief in India
he renewed his exertions to obtain good barracks,
and again built model barracks and laid down the
true principles on which tbey should be constructed
e Military Board
of India.
sToapgpaend ibny vLa ionr eh
owuas si
e I jar ns tdtthhwartcd and then

_... ..._.....
When he returned to England, and whilesuffering
under a mortal disease, even on the verge of death,
he once more attempted to remedy the evils, and
in his posthumous work, called ' Indian Misgo-
vernment," sought to arouse public attention to the
horrible system which you are now, Sir, denounc-
ing with so much force and feeling. God 'speed
"Indian Misgovernment."
cyioaTitiihroanhtohloyef
wa workwas
"then
o!
bialirsrack sacrificer soldiers' lives abomination"
will be understood from a few passagestaken from
,enstafoety;
ton a‘aifTYahlliealloious, diehonest econo
4 , I charge the Court of DirefcintoYr.e,the Manildit lalrya"Bionaerads
nolegClaiglceuntctea,ofthteheGsoovldernierms Bombay, with shameful
and with good war-
rant, because they disregarded
a high position and my representations whoa
great experience gave a title to
attention.
"the Colaba barrackand King's
s
have destroyed
,whole regiments. I walked through the
men s sleeping rooms there—upon planks
laid
in hater,
covering the floor.
" At the Coiaba barracks the soldiers die like rotten
sheep under the nose of the Council. _

" In the Bengal Presidency the barracks are extremely
bad ; but more pernicious still is the number of men
crammed into them ; losses by battle sink to nothing,
compared with those inflicted by improperly constructed
barracks and the jamming of soldiers—uo other word is
sufficiently expressive.

" mg experience and consultations with men of
science, medical men, and engineer officers have taught
mo that every barrack-room should in hot climates allow
at least one thousand cubic feet of atmospheric air for
each person sleeping in a room. This is the minimum ;
with less, insufferable heat and a putrid atmosphere pre-
vail—death is the result. The soldiers rise at night
feverish, or in profuse perspiration, to sleep out on the
ground amid damp exhalations. To do so when heated
by an over-crowded room is death. Some may ctoaPes
or merely lose health, but to escape is the exception—
the rule is death
"This inhuman drain upon life,
health, and theienblic
treasury constantly goes on.
"It kills more soldiers than the climate, more than
hard drinking, and one-half of the last springs from the
discomfort, the despair canted by bad barra?ks.:
at least, did his duty
s a
nTchtiefis ee
dp assa
work,g e s
and
will,a at the
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t heosae am,ez d
you,time s
convince
ir, Li y
youour
by the
W. NAPIER,
stuffhFateerboiinnegloms.oillditiaerrys. man, i
LieuteGenual,