The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-17

cent of this immense sum is pure waste. | American readers will no doubt jump at | once to the conclusion that the grafters are having the time of the'r lives in Eng | land, but this Is not so. It would be | too much perhaps to say that there is | no graft. but the truth is that there is | very little. and what does exist Is of the most petty kind. The waste in Eng land is due entirely to the lack of prepa- ra ton for war and America would be faced with exactly the same problem if she were called on at moments notice to iinproyise an army of something like 100000 men. with machinery designed for a force of less than a tenth of that num- Der.
 America would also be faced with ex- actiy the same public sentment-that the soldier must not be stinted. The British army is the best fed, best clothed and best fitted army in Europe. Its allies, the French. envy 1t. and it's German enemies sheer at i.. and there is no doubt that In the desire to stint the army in nothing the British ration has gone to the other extreme and is giving 1t lot of good and material that it cannot dispose of
 Germany with her years of preparation her machinery for the management of a great army and her smaller regard for the comfort of tho individual soldier is making war at probably half the cost per man that England Is compelled to pay. Red tape, too. Ia responsible for much of the waste, A certain amount of red tape, which is merely another word for \ system. Is necessary in running every big business whether it be an army or a | dry goods store But when the business 1 gets so big that 1t means the feeding and clothing and equipment of 5000, 000 men, red tape tends to become stereo- I typed and ir the hands of subordinates of varying ability and comfon sense, 1t | often defeats the object for which 1t was created
 1 This is especially the case in the mat ter of feeding the army. The Kings reg Hlations. by which the army is governed, ! say that every soldier shall have so much food q day The army service corps supplies him with one pound of | meat and ere and a quarter pounds of
 bread. This is handed over In bulk to l the Sattalion quarterma ster who is also allowed 15 cents ner day lcr man for the lest of lis food. At the present price of neat and bread the amount allowed for feeding 9 soldier Is. therefore. about 40 cents day, taking the meat and bread at the lowest wholesale ratas When they
 have tn be purchased locally as Is some- | times the case the cost Is even more. l Net even a healthy Tommy does not all 1 ways want to eat whole pound of meat and ever pound of bread every day, l when In addition to that the regulations say that the quarterma ster must supply 1 him with an ounce of cheese two ounces
 of bacon end Jam. sugar. tea and all sorts Of other trimmings" If he doesn't I ao lfatx .Ter ct he octo ff,r l tine regulations say that the fnll quantity 1 'n-st pc issued every dav md no pro- l vision is made for returning the surplus | to store The result Is that tons of good meat are gwen away to the roci of the ncighborh od or even buried II the camps l in England, and hundredwci.yhts of bread are carried of by the neighborins farm
 CTS and sottagers for pig and chicken l feed.
 1 The same excessive desire to do the scldIer well" Is shown in the rates al- l lowed for blletng, when this method of housing Is adopted. The householder | who takes In a soldier has his choice
 of either providing him with shelter and
 nothing else or of boarding him al we'll If he provides mere shelter the pay ment Is very small. but if he provides food as we'll the payment Is just under $6 a week per man. There are good
 many people even in the United States | higher than in this country. who would
 be glad to board an unlimited number of | soldiers at $6 a week. The actual cost in this country of course, varies with season ,and locality, but 1t is estimated
 to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $4 week.
 In the field the cost of feeding the soldier is a little less than in camp, as
 everything there Is supplied to him di- rect by the army service corps. and is bought in immense quantities. but 1t can not be less than from 30 to 35 cents a day. No exact figures are available of the amount spent for food by the Ger man government on It's soldiers. but an army quartermaster who has visited Germany in peace time and taken an intelligent interest In his own business, tells me that he would be glad to under take the feeding of any quantity of Ger
 man troops at 20 cents per day per head.
 The same lack of organization and waste prevails in the clothing depart ment. A few days ago one of the Ger man commanders in Flanders ordered his men to cease burying their dead in their uniforms. They were directed to strip the corpses and send the uniforms to headquarters. Dead men don't need clothes. The living do" was the ex- plapation. In England this year I have
 
 off uniforms. Now even worn khaki Is worth over S20 ton for working up again into shoddy, and thousands of tons of 1t are regularly burnt or otherwise destroyed when the soldier has done with 1t. Old saddles and harness are like wise thrown or given away although
 there Is a shortage in the country of good leather and the price Is steadily rising Tn the matter of soldiers pay, too. there Is room for immense economy. There Is no need to put the English soldier on the same basis as the Kaser's men who argued that the 26 cents a day which
 Tommy" receives after everything has been provided for him, is not too much but where there Is room for reform Is in the pay given to certain specialist classes in the army. Motor truck drivers for instance. are paid $1.5O a day, which is more than they receive in civil em- ployment where they have to keep them selves Motorcyclists receive all sorts of pay, according to the branch of the army to which they are attached. Some of them receive only. the ordinary 26 cents while others get 75 cents and still oth- CTS $150. Grooms at the remount dcpots who in civil life are glad to earn 6 a week are now receiving in pay and al- lowances nearly $15 a week Soldier clerks in the record offices receive $10 and SIP a week in addition to all their
 keep, although they have been enlisted
 as ordinary privates and are only as- signed to this easy and desirable work
 because they happen to be of superior
 education. or perhaps in some ases of