Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1913-01-17
PENALTIES FOR TOMMY ATKINS.
How British Soldier 10 Punished for offenses In
Time of War.

When a soldier proceeds on active service ne
has to mind his "p's" and "q's" for onenses which
in peace time would be lightly punished may In
the field render him liable to death, says LONDON
Tit-Bits In time of peace, IL Tommy Atkins be-
ing on sentry 60 sleeps or is drunk on his post
or Quits it without being properly relieved, he
Will probably get of with short dose OF imprls-
onment or perhaps of detention" only. On &C
tive service the penalty for these odenses IL
death.
It would not usually be enforced nowadays,
except for a repeated offense or where, owing 10
the prevalence of msbehavior among sentries IL
is necessary to make an example, out sun the
liability to death is there.
In peace the maximum penalty for desertion
is two years Imprisonment, with or without hard
labor but in practice = first offense will get
short term of Imprisonment On active service
the deserter takes the risk of death If recaptured
and If the ofense Is committed actually In race OIL
the enemy he will pvobably be shot
Similarly, acts of characterization which In the
ordinary way would be comparatively venial of
lenses become punishable by death on active
service In passing it may be mentioned that
even in peace an insu5ordinate soldier may be
sentenced to death IL convicted by general
courtmartial one or another OF the following
charges: Striking or using or offering any
violence to his superior officer, being in the exc
cution of his office; or disobeying. In such man.
ner as to show willful defiance OF authority,
any lawful command given personally by his SUI
perior officer in the execution of his office
whether the same is given orally or IN writing
or by signal or otherwise
In peace however, the maximum penalty mas
not been Unlisted for these ofenses for many
years.
Active service brings into being ofenses which
practically dc not exist In peace. One of the
most serious Of crimes peculiar to active service
is forcing safeguard" The commander of an
will offo q
own men to protect the persons and property OF
civilian inhabitants from violence by his own
side. To force such safeguard almost invari
ably means death.
Breaking into a house or any other place in
search Of plumber may also mean death, even
when there is no safeguard but as q rule les
ser penalty would be inflicted. 1t depends a
good deal on the commander. Some generals
wink at footing; others-Lord Roberts for one
are very severe on 1t.
During the Boer war more than one OF our
men was executed for the sake of Boer fowl
the readiness of an Irish Tommy" saved him
from the firing party or the gallows He was
caught with couple of fowls under his coat and
by less parsonage than "Bobs' himself. out
riding with his stan
Asked for an explanation he instantly replied
that he had caught the fowls running loose on
the vedt and that hearing the commander In
chief was on short rations. he was en- his way to
ask his lordship to accept them as present.
The fowls and the explanation we're accepted.
1t is possible for soldier to show cowardice
in time of peace. In such case he would prob,
ably be charged with an act or conduct ito the
prejudice of good order and military discipline"
sentenced to stiff dose OF Imprisonment and to
be discharged with ignominy.
On active service any act of cowardice Is pun
ishable by death, while soldier who. lin action
or previously to going into action. words cal
culated to create unnecessary alarm or despon-
dency," is liable to penal servitude
Who carries out sentence of death active
service? This is the duty of the provost-marshaI.
who. with large force is an officer of fairly
high rank He Is responsible for making all ar
rangements for the execution and, IL necessary,
he must himself act executiouer In the Boer
war Brovostmarshal was Major (now Col
onel) r. H. Poore. the famous Hampshire cricb
eter.
A Natura Mistake.