EMPLOYMENT OF EX-SOLDIERS.
[To TRY EDITOR Or THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—As chairman of the National Association for 'Employ- ment of Reserve and Discharged. Soldiers, I beg you to allow me to make a very earnest appeal to employers of labour and the general public.on behalf of the very large numbers of ex-. soldiers who are now seeking employment. The matter is all the more urgent at a time when the difficulties of finding work during the winter months are aggravated by the large influx of men returning home on discharge from the colours during the trooping season. It seems only just that a soldier should be given preferential civilian employment after having served his country during some of the best years of his life (often in bad climates and dreary stations), while his relations and friends have remained comfortably at home making their way in business. It is also politic. At present the British public adheres to the voluntary system of recruiting, but unless sufficient numbers of respectable men are attracted to the Army by assured good prospects after serving their time, compulsory service will. be inevitable. Nothing militates against the popularity of the Army, and checks the flow of fit material into its ranks, more than apathy and neglect on the part of the State and employers of labour towards the men on their discharge from the colours. An ex soldier well provided for and contented after leaving the Army forms a centre of recruiting in his own district. The' non-commissioned officers and men registered by this Society are only those of not less than " good " character who have just left the Service, and if a man misconducts himself his' name is immediately removed from our books. They are extremely smart, respectable men, fit for various functions of trust and activity. No fees whatever are charged either to employer or employed. In response to an application to the secretary, 119 Victoria Street, S.W., by letter, telephone (367 Westminster), telegram ("Employons London "), or to one of our branches, one or two picked men with characters up to date will be sent for final selection, thus saving the employer time in interviewing many 'candidates and taking up numberless references. The public are reminded that soldiers are trained to a high standard of obedience, punc- tuality, and respect, and that Army " characters " are of greater value than civilian, inasmuch as they refer not only to conduct during certain hours of the day, but for the whole twenty-four of each day of the year, when the soldier is under the constant surveillance of his officers and non-com- missioned officers. My object in writing is not so much to ask for money as for employment, for we are to a certain extent assisted by a Government grant (though obviously the larger the funds at our disposal the more we can advertise and extend our work). While expressing our grateful thanks to many sympathetic employers throughout the kingdom* for their very practical interest in the past, I earnestly beg all who can to save these deserving men on their return to civil life from drifting into the great army of the casual worker or the worklesi.—I am, Sir, &c., FRED GREEN-WILKINSON, Lieub.-General,'
Chairman.
National Association for Employment of Reserve and Discharged Soldiers, 119 Victoria Street, S.W.
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