A severe struggle appears to be going on in France
between the advocates of five years' service, with exemptions for those- who pay their own expenses, and those who defend three years' service without exemptions. M. Gambetta is spokesman for the latter, and relies, first, on the idea of equality ; and secondly,. on the absolute necessity of securing men of education for non- commissioned officers. He thinks the men who were formerly exempt will serve as corporals. His opponents reject this theory as fanciful, and say that without five years' service, or even longer, experienced non-commissioned officers will be simply unattainable. No Frenchman will remain in the ranks, even as non-commissioned officer, a day after he can obtain his release. The remedy would seem to be to make service as cor- poral or serjeant a paying profession ; but the expense would, it is asserted, be unendurable, and, considering the difference be- tween soldiers' pay in France and the wages of men like non- commissioned officers, that is very nearly true. The conflict is regarded in France as one involving the whole future of the Army, but social considerations undoubtedly exasperate it_ The cultivated classes cannot endure the notion of their sons- wasting so large a share of active life in soldiers' barracks.
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