The Portland daily press., 1892-01-18
PUNISHMENT on SOLDIERS.
How the Rank and Fiiel.ef the British
Army Are Corrected.
Three Varieties of Tribunal-Penalties for
Nstnor OGenses-Reginental General
and District Courts Martial
Military Prisons.
IcoPYR1GHr. 1892. I

|
T;l-e every other mortal. Tommy At
kins has his failings, and, as a natural
consequence, he has now and then to
answer to the powers that be for some
infringement Of rules. When a soldier
is brought before his superior officer
the captain of his company, or the COM
manding officer, according to the gray
| itv of the offense-it nearly always
happens that some punishment is meted
ont to him; and as military punishment
is a feature of the service which is not
paraded before the general public, a
few facts there anent may be of inter
est. There are three distinct varieties
of military tribunal, wiz: the company
officer, the commanding officer and a
| court martial Courtss martial are o.
| three, degrees OF Importance, and the
maximum sentence which court mar
| tial may impose varies according as the
court is regimental. district or general
T one. h.
To begin with, what is known as
s.rninor'' offense, i. e., those which the
captain of company has power to dis.
pose of summarily, we will suppose
that No. 1,716 Private Thomas Atkins,
has been guilty of remaining out of
barracks for ten minutes after ''last
post" ten p. M, the previous evening,
without being possessed of a pass en-
abling him to do so. Some time during
the following day the orderly sergeant
of his company brings him up-"wheels
him up,'' as it is called-before his cap
tain, states his offense and produces his
''defaulter Sheets" or record OF his past
nlisdemeanors. Should the sheets be
clear or nearly SO, considering the
length of the mans service, the captain
will probably admonish him; but should
the unlucky wight have been in any
scrape lately, or should he be an old
offender, lie will be sentenced to be
confined to barracks for any number of
days up to seven, that being the limit
of power to punish of a company officer.
Let us suppose that our friend has
been sentenced to three days confne-
ment to the barracks. One might i'm
agine this to be no great punishment.
Before jumping to conclusions, how
ever, let us see what &C. B." actually
means. Besides being forbidden to
leave barracks, the culprit must turn
out in full marching order, i. e., with
pack, helmet and full equipment on,
at least four times day. and oftener in
many corps. and each time he under
goes an hours ''defaulters drill which
consists of monotonous march up and
down the barrack square under the eye
of non-commissioned officer, usually
the sergeant of the regimental police.
OF course, this drill has to be per-
formed over and above the usual days
drill of the regiment; nor is this ALL for
the victim has to keep his ear open
when off drill toA answer when the
bugle soundsfor ''defaulters," as it does
with extreme frequency, the unhappy
,transgressors against military law being
always held eligible for whatever
fatigue duty may be going.
''The unkindest cut of all" however,
to the average private IS the stern de-
cree that defaulters may not go into
the canteen during their days of dur
ance; SO that after the days drill, ETC.,
have been got through, there is no
solacing beer allowed.
Then indeed doth Tommy vow never
to offend again; but. sad to say, on the
completion of his time and the regain
ing of his freedom, he is apt to indulge
in a small spree which lands him in
aurance vile once more.
To come to the next grade of military
punishment, let us suppose that Thomas
has just got drop too much, and finds
himself high and dry in the guard
room, from which he is marched next
morning, under an armed escort, into
the dread presence of the "chief" him
self.
Should this be his first, second, o.
even third appearance on such charge,
he will receive no further penalty than
a fresh-and longer-term of days sc.
B." Should he, however, have been up
three times previously for indulging, he
will be sentenced to a fine in addition
to being confined to barracks. Fines
range from two shillings and six pence
(sixty-two cents) to ten shillings two
dollars and half according to tho
length of time which has elapsed since
his last appearance, and they are kept
off his pay, a system which has been
found most effectual in lessening drunk
enness in the servicea5
For graver offense, such as imperti-
nenee to superior, or refusing or neg
lecting to obey an order, a soldier is usu-
ally sentenced by his commanding Off
Ger to undergo number-from twenty
four up to one hundred and
sixty-eight-of hours Imprisonment
with hard labor. A man so
sentenced is conveyed to the regimental
cells, where he exchanges his uniform
for gray suit Of unbecoming cut, and
undergoes an operation at the hands of
the prison barber, which is disfigure-
ment for weeks after he is liberated,
viz: his hair is cropped as close as it
can be all over his head.
This is done even if the mans SEN
tence was twenty-four hours in cells,
and is looked upon as the worst part of
the punishment. While in cells a man
has to pick oal1uln, which is tarry
abomination ruinous to the fingers, and
to perform a certain number of hours
of ''shot drill" This is a monotonous