SOLDIERS' STOPPAGES.
[To THE EDITOR OH THE "SPECTATOR."
SIR,—With regard to Mr. Brodrick's proposals for increasing
4 the pay of the soldier, and to your remarks regarding the "shilling a day and all found," it may be of interest to some of your readers to know what a soldier really does undergo in the way of stoppages. The following is, I believe, a fair average of the compulsory stoppages a soldier is liable for :—
Washing, is. 3d. per month. Barrack damages, 3d. per month. Haircutting, id. per month. Library subscription, 3d. per month. Necessaries "—i.e., new shirts, socks, towels, cleaning brushes, &C.—is. 4d. per month. Tailor's bill—i.e., repairs of uniform- ls, per month. Shoemaker's bill—i e., repairs of boots-6d. per month. Pipeclay, boot-blacking, soap, brass-paste, bootlaces, &c., 18. per month. Hospital stoppages, 7d., plus messing allowance, 3d.,-10d. a day.
Hospital stoppages are made when a man goes into hospital for any cause, the only exception to this being in the case of a man going into hospital on account of an accident. In this case, on his return to duty, a Court of Inquiry is held to determine whether the accident was the man's own fault or not. If it is decided that it was not his own fault, then half his stoppages—i.e., 3d.—may be remitted, but he still loses his messing allowance of 3d. In addition to above, nearly every man has to buy an extra pair of trousers (10s. 4d.) every twelve months, and a second-hand tunic on joining the battalion from the depot. In the above nothing has been said about the man's mess- ing, as the 3d. per diem be pays for that is not in the official sense a stoppage. There is, however, little doubt
that nearly every- soldier in the Army, were he questioned. would say he was " stopped " 3d. a day for his messing. This messing, be it understood, is for the absolute necessities of life such as tea, coffee, sugar, salt., and potatoes, the Government ration being simply 1 lb. of bread and t lb. of meat with the bone. The intention of the authorities was no doubt excellent when some few years ago they increased the pay of the soldier by giving him the extra 3d. for his messing, but the intention was entirely misunderstood, at all events by the rank-and-file. It now remains to be seen whether Mr. Brodrick will succeed in carrying out his intention, and really give the soldier his full "shilling a day and all found," or whether some .of the above stoppages will not creep in under another name. The private soldier is the best recruiting agent we have, and if Mr. Brodrick really does carry out his intention, then I am certain he will have made a long step towards obtaining the fifty thousand recruits which the Army, under the new system, will require every year.—I am,
[We certainly understood from Mr. Brodrick's speech that all these compulsory stoppages will be abolished, and that the soldier will get his clear shilling a day. Any compulsory expense is a, stoppage, under whatever alias it appears. It is to be hopedt that in the further debates in the House of Commons the whole question of stoppages and compulsory expenses will be threshed out, and a definite assurance given that in future the rule will be "all found and well found and a shilling a, day." To give the impression that this was to be the new rule and then to go back from it, even in a very slight degree, would destroy the whole value of the scheme for recruit- ing purposes. We must be able to say, and say truly, that the soldier will have a silver shilling every day in his pocket, and not merely on paper, if we are to tap a new class of recruits.-. -Eu. Spectator.]
Previous page
