The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-09-15
LONDON'S WAR OFFICE SCAN.
DIAL.
London I.eader.)

dondon Iseader.)
The inability OF the war office to
carry out the most simple. duties re
ceives- daily confirmation.
For years the accommodation provid-
ed for military prisoners has been
nothing short of disgraceful. and it has
now become a scandal.
AS far back as 1898 Lieutenant Col
onel N. Clare Garsia, inspector gen.
eral of military prisons. reported that
the accommodation was quite insult
nclent- Yet those in authority refuse
ed to move in the matter with the re-
suit. that the prisons are now SO fun
that II has become necessary TO resort
20 the Objectionable expedient of COM
hitting soldiers TO the ordinary GRIM
lnal prisons, and thus compelling men
who have only been committed for
breaches of discipline and other minor
military OffenseS, and who are to re-
turn 10 the colors, 70 rub shoulder TO
shoulder with criminals of the worst
class.
The closing of Buxton, military prison
IN November. S97, 50 seriously reduc-
ed the accommodation that at the close
OF 1898 only 4o2 cells remained available
IN England, while in the whole of the
United Kingdom the total accommoda-
ton was only 756-
Since then little or nothing has been
done, and the war Office is now so hard
pressed that they have to apply TO the
prison commissioners. with the result
that a large number of cells in the civil
prisons at Warwick and Maidstone
have been placed at their t.ssposal
At the present time there are military
prisons at Aldershot, Colchester, Cork,
Dublin, Gosport, Kendall, Stirling and
York.
The practice by which the authori-
ties brand men. who have committed
no criminal offense. by combining them
in the ordinary goals is a practice that
has been strongly condemned by the
commander in chief. Lord Roberts. and
all who have the interests of Tommy
Atkins ar heart
Like many other evils which this
country is passing through at the
present time, the large increase in the
number of military prisoners can be
traced 10 war in South Africa. A rem
resentative gathered thus much in a
chat with a war office official, Mr.. w
Strong, of the military prisons de-
Dartment, who said:
The present congested state of our
military prisons is due to the Boer
war 1t is necessary to be very strict
when troops are on active service, and
much heavier sentences are being pass
ed by court-martial than would be the
case in times of peace
1t is not generally known that when
a soldier on active service is sentenc-
ed by court-martial to a term of i'm
priSonment he has to serve out that
sentence in the United Kingdom. This
is one of the military regulations, and
although the war Office must have
known that active service ALWAYS
brings a large increase of military
prisoners. they utterly failed to provide
for this contingency.
THE inspector general had told them
that in times of peace the accommoda-
ton was insufficient They therefore
knew what must happen when we are
at war. But they never moved a
finger.
Another cause for the increase
says Mr. Strong. lis that in previous
years men have been RENTED their
sentences on being drafted to India, but
this year all troops have been wanted
in South Africa, and therefore these
men have had to serve out their sent
enceS."
Questioned as 10 the principal Of
lenses for which Tommy has been sent
from South Africa, Mn. Strong re-
Piled Principally for sleeping on
outpost duty and getting drunk. Most
ly small offenses, but as an object les
son to others it is absolutely necessary
that there should be heavy sentences.
'Looting2 No, very few have been
convicted of that offense. Lord Rob
erts has issued very strict orders on
the subject of footing, and the penal
ties for this OffenSe are heavy
A scheme for providing more mill
tary prisons is, we learn, under con-
sideration, but like most war office re-
forms. 1T will come too late.