Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1913-10-24
PAY IS TOO SMALL.
impossible for an English Army
Officer to Live on Salary.
He hust Have Private lncoms--lt
Costs So Much TO Hold . Connie
sion rhat Vacancies Show i
~ Alarming Increase. ~

THE problem Of the death Of ON
GERS is still far from solution. What 10
the cause of the trouble? Can We
put the army on q proper footing In
this respect? will endeavor to show
that the evil is not necessary and Is
therefore durable" says a regimantal
officer in the London Mail. -
In every blsiness concern the ex-
penditures and the receipts should
show a balance In favor of the latter,
otherwise bankruptcy follows. But
the army. were 1t rot assisted from
private sources. would have become
financially impossible long ago. The
commissioned ranks are supported by
voluntary contributions. Unfortu-
nately, the method by which these
are subscribed has the effect of rem
dering them not more. but less eff
cient.
The problem should be understood
to concern primarily, II not exclu-
sively, the lowest commissioned rank.
It is the financial situation Of an Of
ticer during the first ten years Of his
aervice which renders the army an
absolute bar to many young men who
would otherwise make soldering their
profession. As matters stand, they
have to obtain the right to sit on an
office stool in the city or elsewhere.
AN officer is paid through a recog-
nj q
he is credited with sum OF s7 los
for the following month. The actual
amount for 80 days pay would be 81
It's I'd, but, deducing income tax, the
first figure Is fairly correct. From
the initial payment we must deduct
S0s, being the price charged by the
treasury for the piece Of paper call
ed a commission, leaving s6 for the
expense OF joining. At the end Of
that and all subsequent months he
will receive mess bill, which in
the more expensive regiments is not
much under G10. This covers the
cost of food, drinks, tobacco and sub
scriptions to the funds Of the mess.
In most regiments even a moderate
drinker will find that G10 will not
pay the bill; neither does the bill in
,clude the pay of soldier servant,
laundry and other necessary expenses.
Should we put these as low as 93,
the expenditure, without counting
tailors and other bills. travelling. ETC..
therefore exceeds the receipts by
about. G5 los.
The regulations bristle with sump-
tuary laws, which if they are OBJ
served in the letter are treated with
contempt in the spirit. For this there
are two causes. In the first place, the
ineptitude of mess authority for the
work of the house or. lodging keeper.
The meals provided might be mex
pensive, considering that fuel. kitch.
en- utensils and offices are provided
by the government, but in fact they
are supplied at rarely less than e. So
week, and more often at e2 Is or
92 IS, without counting wines. to-
bacco. or even afternoon tea.
The second contributory cause of
the high rate of living is the provision
OF meals which would do honor to a
good London restaurant. They are
provided to suit the taste Of senior
officers who are epicures, Moreover.
the waste in most messes is very
great; the mess president. who is the
responsible person, has his millinery
duties to perform, which take up the
best part of his time, and the mess
sergeant is not likely to be con-
demned for want Of thrift No one
would dream of accusing the mess
staif of inefficiency because GER
tain amount of waste was suspected.
l know this will raise protest, but
] affirm from personal experience that
this lie generally the case. There Is
no caterer, conversant with his trade
who could not provide wholesome
and palatable fare for half the price
for which It is at present furnished to
the members Of most messes, taking
into consideration the particular cir.
cumstances and the constant men,
bers to be provided for. Messing In
the navy costs two shillings a day.
It should be remembered that an
officer Is an obligatory member Of the
mess, so he cannot evade the cost Of
his daily food.
Another item Of expense is mess
subscriptions According to the let
ter of the law. these should not ex-
coed ten shillings q month under or
binary circumstances and Is shillings
In exceptional cases. Actually this
represents only fraction of-the con.
trtbutions. There are band and other
funds to be kept up, to which the
young subaltern ia not asked, but Is
told to subscribe. The mess. consider.
ed as club, is as costly az the col
lective membership Of two or three of
the best London institutions of that
description. yet there IL no rent to
pay for mess quarters and cost ia
free.
We say we want gentlemen to Of
acer the army; what we get 10 the
brainless son otsthe wealthy parvenu.
This is not an aristocracy. but a mill
tary plutocracy. ,......
1T has been said that the officer.
like the other members Of professions,
should be prepared to live at his own
expense during the first years of his
career. This is good as theory, but
"a