[TO TRH EDITOR OF THE "SPHOTATORM am totally at a
loss to understand the letter of your correspondent, " Paymaster," which appears in the Spectator of March 22nd. He says that it irks him to read in a. journal like the Spectator such misleading statements as were con- tained in the letter of your correspondent " Z.," which appeared in your issue of March 15th. What! Does it irk him to read what is true; if not, what does he mean ? Prior to enlistment a soldier is told that be will be lodged, clothed, fed, and have 7s. a week pcicket money (vide Lord Stanley's speech at Bolton, March 23rd, 1901), and the contention of " Z." is that he should receive ls. a day free from deductions or qualifications of any kind. In the case of the recruit these deductions or stoppages, call them what you will, absorb four- fifths of the man's pay, and the new scheme does not propose to remedy this. Hence the recruit on joining will, as hereto- fore, receive ls. a day, from which he will have to defray messing, washing, and every other expense, including that of supplementing the ration by the purchase of extra food. A recruit when in hospital loses 7d., and an efficient soldier 10d., per diem in all ordinary cases of illness, but there are special cases in which the pay is continued in full. The drawback of the scheme propounded by Mr. Brodrick on the 4th inst. is the prospective nature of the terms.—I am,
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