The Sun. — 1845-07-02 (London, England)

REDUCTION OF THE PERIOD OF SERVICE IN  THE ARMY.  Captain LAYARD, according to notice, moved—" That an humble address be presented to her Majesty, praying that she will be pleased to direct inquiry to be made how tar the reduction of the period of service in the army, from the present unlimited term to ten years, would tend to procure a better class of recruits, diminish desertion, and thus add to the efficiency of the service." He would ask, not only the indulgence of the House, but its kind attention, while he detailed to the House the immense amount of crime, and particularly that of desertion, which existed at this period, and which would be prevented by the institution of this inquiry. He wiahod to bring it forward, as much as possible for the benefit of the army to which this country owed so much. He weuld now read, from the same document, a list of the number of desertions that had taken place from the British army in Greet Britain, in the last three years ; they were as follows :—ln the year 1842 the desertions amounted to '2,154; in 1843, to 1,432; and, in 1844, to 1,592; making a total of 5,208, of which 2,086 had been retaken, or rejoined. In Ireland the desertions had been as follows : —ln the year 1842 the desertions amounted to 631 ; in 1843, to 426 ; in 1844, to 518, making a total of desertions in Ireland of 1,594 in three years, of whom 1,159 were either retaken or rejoined; or, making a grand total of Great Britain and Ireland, of 7,537, from which, however, were to be deducted 4,638, as those who had been retaken or had rejoined. But still that left 2,899 men who were still not forthcoming ; and if he had no other argument to mh.eyawrmasy. support his case, this alone would be sufficient to warrant him in bringing forward this motion. The same return showed that 28,190 men had been imprisoned in the same period ; .but of course many of those were persons who had been imymeatr!lheinart prisoned several times ; and he had heard of one instance where a man who had been but sicx.omrpsteavinetn of were under. the impression had spent the greater part of that . time in prison...— and few, indeed, listed from that(La u gy ho tuenr g. ) eTnh greatevrh o e n causeter ed a love for the service, but. from distress, or from that they entered for. life; having had a quarrel with their families. The Honourable and Gallant Member then read an extract from a work on the army, which gave many instr.nces of the grievances soldiers laboured under, and the artifices resorted to by parents to prevent their sons enlisting. The Hon. Member fbeya rtihneg ahsesri s tsaonn ewe oouf I dh ocradrrayu ghhi st etrh rbeoaut nodf le, enlistment then quoted a case from the United Service Gazette, where in im, in twoaoemf is taeanette of intoxication, and chopped off the thumb of his right hand. The ratio of suicide in the army was at the rate of 1 in 20, and could the House wonder at the despair which would prompt the men to such acts, when it considered the number of years for which they were retained in the army? hy, he did not believe that any general in that House—no, nor any Secretary of State, would undertake the duties of his post, it he thought he would be compelled to remain there for ever !—(Loud laughter.) How much, then, should they pity. the man who, destined to toil and hardships, was elated by no hopes of its termination or relief ? From these large numbers it might well be supposed that there would be a great deficiency, but it was well known that though the strength of each regiment was nominally 1,01:0 men, the real number authorised to be borne on the books was 1,100; and in the army at home the recruiting-sergeants were authorised to enlist thirty men more than the complement of the corps. Most men whose term of service had nearly expired, might be retained in the depots, whilst the young men might be sent on foreign service. By the rules of the service, it wasestablished that there should be pensions according to the length of service. To those who had served the longest time there was to be a pension of 7s. a week, but there was equalisation of pension according to the rate of service fol.