Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1870-12-14
Married Without Leave.
From the Toronto Leader.

The old saying about 6 marrying in
haste to repent at leisuren never roceiv-
ed more striking exemplifcatiou than
in the case of some unhappy females
who are now mourning their absent
lords in Quebec. It is known more
than two years ago, long before it was
resolved to withdraw all the troops
from Canada, very stringent orders were
issued from the War Office in respect to
soldiers marrying without leave. The
life of a man of arms is to a certain ex-
tent incompatible with those domestic
ties which matrimony renders sacred :;
and recognizing this fact it has been
the constant aim of the army authori-
ties to limit as far as possible among
the fighting men of the nation the en-
ervating luxury of marriage. The or
ders issued In pursuance of this pur-
pose have been published far and wide
bysthe Canadian press, and they told
I the women of this country as plainly as
words could be made to conveya mean
ing, that they would enter into sweet
dalliance and nuptial engagements with
men in uniform at their own proper
peril A certain percentage OF non
| COulu1lSSlOuCu OllCClO ullet l1Si1
marry with the hope of having their
wives placed on what is called :" the es-
tablishmentn- tn-that is, entitled to GER
tain privileges in the shape of rations
and so on. The men forming this per-
centage of the force of each regiment
| had to obtain the consent of their Off
GERS before asking leave of the parson;
and all the women were warned that, ii
they married a soldier who had not OBJ
tanned this official consent, they could
not under any circumstances hope to be
provided with passage when their
husbands left Canada.
Notwithstanding these orders, which
must have become known to everybody,
and which have been read to the troops
once month ever since they were IS
sued, number of women it appears,
contracted marriage with soldiers OF
the Goth regiment who were without
leave to marry, and these have been left
behind at Qnebec to a possible fate
which it is extremely unpleasant te
contemplate. A dispatch which WE
published yesterday mentioned rumol
that when the men who had thus beer
separated from their wives were march
ed on board snip TO sail Tor EnSlanC
they mutined and were reduced to sub
mission only after q stubborn fight
This rumor has not been confirmed
} and for the credit of a regiment tha
generally conducted itself gallantly an6
well while in Canada, we will gladly
believe it to be untrue. But there il
no doubt that sore and sad hearts bea
beneath the jackets that We're carried
away by the Orontes and that in the
city much feeling was excited at sep
aration of man aud wife which on tht
face of it seemed heartless and cruel IL
the extreme This sentiment founG
expression in one of the newspapers, t.
which Colonel Begot addressed a lette
on the eve II his departure explaining
why it was that the women were LET
behind. The rules of the military ser
vice are necessarily severe, and no off
Ger or man is justified in ignoring or
ders which issue from competent au
thority. Colonel Begot points out tina
these orders left him no other course tt
pursue than to refuse to recognize an,
marriage contracted without his au
thority and in excess of the proportion
prescribed at the war office.