British Troops at the Cape.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXI, Issue 6206, 29 February 1904, Page 4

British Troops at the Cape.

GRAVE MISMANAGEMENT AND NEEDLESS SUFFERING.

Smious reports have for some time reach«t) us (says the London "' Express ") with repaid to the i'eeliug among the British i roops in South Africa, and we have, after investigating a number of them, como to Iho couelufion that they are substantially ecuumte. Recently the "Times" published a jthivo titatement by a Transvaal correspon-il^r.-t. Hers is tho latest communication we lihvo received from Africa, from a rppi-woDttttive who ia fully conversant, after tru veiling thoroughly übontall the colonies, with tliu i-vtjtits he relates:—

" It, is prutty widely known that thf>re «-xi*ts umcb discontent among officers an;l uitni of ihfi nrtny of South Africa, but it is u»b iri-MMTivly known that it is assuming proportions of alarming extent, and if some itiiiit-th'i* not found to allay it, and that quickly, tlury will be something moreseriinis tor t.he War Office to face thun the failure of the army corps system. The pricy of luxuries and necessaries in South ilriua is partly responsible, and the men, who t:nn do nothing with their pay, and are away from every home comfort or restraint, are gradually getting into a state of insubordination.

" \Vhoover chose the site of the Middelbwg cauip ' Cape Colony ' for the South African Aldershot, and burdened the taxpayer with a needless expense (for the land purchased by the Imperial Government was bought at 100 per cent, over the ruling prices of the day), has much to answer for, but even he or they could not have anticipated a state of things such as exists at present.

A DREADFUL DKPOT.

" Officers find it hard to make "ends meet even with private income?, and they, with the men, condemn the isolation and discomforts of the dreadful depot of Middelburg. " Many officers who are not dependent on the service are leaving, and tho men are purchasing their discharges as fast as they can ; but a worse feature, and an unparalleled feature in soldiering, has broken out —the men are showing their discontent by absolate insubordination.

"It is not unknown that an officer has been attacked, sand-bagging cases are rife, and sinister rumours state that officers have to go about armed at night. "It has been mooted several times that the colonial allowance should be increased for officers (if it were doubled it would out level the increased expenditure of living here as against any other station in the Empire). It is to be hoped this will be granted; but the men also should have their pay augmented, the same as at other foreign stations (where living ia infinitely cheaper), to level up the cost of living and to in a measure soften the dreadful isolation and monotony of life on the lonely veldt, far away from everything except the ordinary routine of barrack or depot life.

A 8 ATE OF MUTINY.

" All work and no play makes Tommy as well ns Jack a dull boy, but worse siill is the phnso of the mutinous boy. It 13 high time ihe nuthotities faced the music, even if Middeiburg has to ba abandoned and more oi: the taxpayers' money wated. Yet this would be better far than a state of mutiny such a3 at present exists, a state which, if not checked or alleviated, will oppn un era of discontent and an unprecedented breaking away from all traditions of the service, iv that the discipline of the British Army is second to none.

" Oood men rot if allowed to, and the inaction of the life in the Middelburg camp, where the day i 3 spent between drill and the canteen, without another single interest to relieve the dull monotony — with dust storms blowing five or six days a week, making the place as uncomfortable as London in a fog (one regiment afler a field day took over an hour to find their liue^)—no relaxation, no comforts, and drill aud beer the only two distractions to get through the day with, it can easily be imagined how demoralised men might become.

" They are demoralising quickly, insubordination ia rife, and if strong and effective measures ure not taken to change the situation, brighten the life, increase the pay of the soldier in South Africa, and so euable him to have the comforts he has at Home or abroad, serious results will acorue, and the Leinater riots at Pretoria will be nothing to them."

WHr THEY HATE SOUTH Ai'EICA

The "Times" correspondent, who deals with the situation in the Transvaal, says:—

" The reasou why all troops hate South Africa is because they are in bell tents, single ply, which are extremely hot in summer and biitsrly cold in winter. There are five or eight men in a tout. They have their meals in their tents, and these are taken in ou plates oxposed to every dust storm, thick and yellow as a London fog. " When-one of the terriffic thunderstorms which are common break over them, perhaps in the night, and the rain pours in rivers down the hillside, the men lie soaked in their tents in a swamp, and presently a cold wind gets up which chills them to bono. The men do not mind roughing it in war time, but why should they have to do so now 1 The Government ha 9 had eighteen months in which to get out and erect hute, yet not in the military district are these huts ready.

" There are co means provided for the men by the Government for recreation; no cricket, no gynviasimn, no institutes or reading rooms, except one in Pretoria, and lastly, they have been separated from their wives for over two yeais, aud the Government refuses to let the wives come out and to provide accommodation for them. " One woman, the wife of a sergeant, has come out, and can just afford to live in a little shanty, but the Government refused her a passage in a troopship, and she had to pay her fare in the mail steamer. " There are constant cases of enteric and pneumonia."