1 JULY 1882, Page 3

The Commander-in-Chief has issued a very stringent order upon the

mess expenses of officers in the Army, published in the Times of Wednesday. The monthly bills must be paid on, the 7th of every month, under penalty of arrest or suspension from duty, and in aggravated cases, of removal from the Army. No leave longer than seven days can be granted to an officer 'whose mess account is not clear. Commanding officers are 'directed to discountenance extravagant living in every way, to prohibit extra subscriptions; to protect officers who, from motives -of economy, decline to subscribe to entertainments ; to distri- bute the cost of any entertainments agreed to by apportioning, it in shares equal to so many days' pay, so that subalterns may be comparatively lightly taxed ; and to restrict the moss purchases of plate, &a, to necessaries. Any commanding -officer who neglects this order is liable to be removed, while the existence of mess debts in his regiment will prevent his further employment or promotion. The order is evidently to be obeyed, and will be welcomed all over England by fathers ,of families, as a new justification for yielding to their sons' desire to enter the Army.