OUR SOLDIERS' BARRACKS.
(To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—The thanks of private soldiers are due to " Ubique " for his sympathetic letter on their wants in the Spectator of December 27th. Latterly there has been so much talk of im- proving the conditions of life in barracks, with the hope of attracting recruits, that the publishing of " Tommy's " point of view on these experiments is of distinct interest. In your note you suggest that to " Rowtonise " the barracks would have the happiest results. On paper it looks exactly what is wanted; but from all I have ever heard in barrack-room, canteen, or soldiers' home, " Tommy" looks with the utmost distrust on the proposal. Of necessity a large portion of his time is spent in cleaning his clothes, and pipeclaying and shining his equipment. All his belongings would, I take it, in the event of cubicles being introduced, still be kept at the head of his bed. Consequently instead of the dreariness of the `‘everlasting shining" being lightened by gossip with his bed- chum, or a few straight-flung remarks to the others in the room, " Tommy " will have to sit in solitary state between the partitions. The legalisation of mufti at all times when away from barracks is much desired. The men of the Household Cavalry have for some time been allowed this privilege. It enormously increases the popularity of these regiments, and in no way interferes with their efficiency as soldiers. The new plan of allowing all men who are clear to pass the gate to be absent till 6.30 the following morning, on the whole, works well. Oddly enough, though, it is the good characters who benefit least by the change. Formerly the fact of a man owing an extra parade did not interfere with his liberty at night. Often circumstances occur which prevent these parades being cleared off at once, and so nowadays a trifling fault often ends in a man being confined to barracks for two or three days at a stretch. The cause
of most of the genuine dislike of the Army is the general " chasing " that the private has to put up with from the non-commissioned officers. In spite of all that has been said about their being the backbone of the Army, it is the non- commissioned officers who are responsible for all the trouble. It is no good shutting our eyes to the fact that a very large number of men wear stripes who are in no way fitted for them. Men only just dismissed from the squad of recruits are fre- quently given the stripes, and try to justify their selection by chasing and worrying old trained soldiers, who in many cases have seen active service before the said non-commissioned officer had thought of enlisting.—I am, Sir, &.c., NAMESAKE.
[We cannot agree with our correspondent in regard to " Rowtonising " the barracks. Our own inquiries among private soldiers have shown many of them to be strongly in favour of the quiet and privacy which could thus be secured. —En. Spectator.]
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