The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-09-19
FOREIGN VETERANS
MEMBERS OF LEGION

empire and for her great dependencies
in Cochip-China and Tonking.
While service IN the legion is ardu-
Gus. 1T offers enough advantages to
attract all sorts of level-headed men.
notwithstanding nil that has been
published against 1t. mainly In the
German newspapers and in articles
translated into foreign papers from
the German press
Thus. five years service In the legion
gives a foreigner the right to French
citizenship without any other formal
ity. At the end of five years the
legionary can enlist anew in the CO.
lonial Infantry of France as a French
man. receiving bounty and increased
pay. Fifteen years of service in the
French army entities soldier to q
! pension.
a number of the soldiers OF the
legion havc previously served ten years
In tho Foreign Legion of Holland In
the Dutch East Indies receiving a
pension in addition to their bonus on
enlisting. If the leEionary then puts
In his fifteen years In the French army.
he finds himself, even as a private, at
the age of forty-three with n pension
for life of near 1000 francs a year.
If he is a noncommissioned officer or
an officer the pension is proportionateIy
larger
Promotion in the ranks of the legion
Is rapid, owing to the corps being al
most constantly on active service. The
food and maintenance are excellent,
while the men receive kind treatment
on the part of their officers. Contrary
to what has been alleged, the punish
ments are restricted, rs in the United
States Army, to arrest and imprison-
ment; and 1t may be added that the
discipline is excellent. and punish
TO
forced idleness.
The stories of the terribly hard dis
cipline and severe punishments which
it has been falsely claimed are i'm
vogue in the legion. apply only to what
are known as tho disciplinary or penal
regiments. which are an entirely diff
ferent corps composed exclusively or
ex-convicts or of soldiers OF the regu-
lar army who have been guilty OF such
gross INSTRUMENTATION to render
them fit only for penal servitude.
OF course. with criminals such as
these. drastic punishments have to be
employed III order to keep the mem
most OF them desperate characters
under control. But whereas the uni
form of these penal regiments is a
badge OF infamy, that of the Foreign
Legion of France is ono OF honor, and
It's flags have been decorated with the
milton of the magniticent character OF
it's services.
The Foreign Legion numbers 5000
to 5000 men. of whom about 40 per
cent are Germans, including men from
Alsace- Lorraine.
may add that both in Bavaria and
Wurtemberg. notably at Munich, there
are several organizations OF veterans
of the French Foreign Legion. who. af-
ter having as young men done their
term of service in the German army.
enlisted in the Foreign Legion. They.
each of them draw pensions from the
French government, near all wear
French war medals. and in number
of instances even the CrcGs OF the
Legion of Honor and the Medaille
Militaire, and look back with pride
and satisfaction to the time when they
served under the French Tricolor.
The officers of tho Foreign Legion
are nearly all Frenchmen of birth and
breeding, many OF them bearers OF his
toric names. W no have sought comris
sions in the legion by reason OF the
exceptional advantage which is thus
offered for rapid promotion. and for
distinction by active service against
the enemy.
So much has been written against
the legion, that II Is only fair that the
real truth about the matter should be
known.
The Duchesse de Trevise, whose
q. llo,- aotf