In the Foreign Legion. By Erwin Rosen. (Duckworth and Co.
7s. 6d. net.)—After a varied career in which, as he frankly con- fesses, he did not make the best of his opportunities, our author was driven to enlist in the Foreign Legion, the military force which France employs to do hard fighting for which she will not ar cannot use her conscripts. And this is the account of his experiences. Of one thing he speaks with high praise. The teaching is excellent ; it makes a man efficient, if there is any material for efficiency in him. Of everything else the description is nothing less than amazing. Surely it would be worth while, not to speak of other considerations, for France, if she thinks fit to have the force, to take more account of it, in plain words, to treat it better. The smallness of the pay is almost incredible. Five centimes a day ! something less than a halfpenny ! And when a man has served for three years—the period of engagement is five—he is raised to ten, or something less than a penny. If, therefore, a man spends nothing, and incurs no fines—it is difficult to say which is the more unlikely—he leaves the service with the magnificent remuneration for five years of toil and fighting of five pounds! What would the miles Luculli have said to that ? It is interesting to inquire how this body is made up. Fifty-seven per cent. come from Germany, Alsace contributing forty-five as against twelve from the rest of the Empire; the other proportions are Swiss eight, Belgians seven, Frenchmen five, Spaniards five, Italians five, Austrians four, Dutch four, and various countries, England possibly among them, five.
Previous page
