AN EMPIRE'S GRATITUDE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 8, 9 January 1908, Page 4

AN EMPIRE'S GRATITUDE.

As the fiftieth anniversary of the Indian Mutiny occurred in 1907, and an j attempt was made at Home to com- ' memorate this most tragic but glorious ( event by appropriate celebrations, a good • deal of public attention has been directed i recently to the survivors of those bands of heroes who saved India for England J half a century ago. Englishmen have always been inclined to value themselves \ for their patriotism and their reverence , for the military traditions of their country, and some enthusiasm was roused by the proposal to entertain the Indian Mutiny veterans at a banquet, presided over by the heads of the Army and some of the highest dignitaries of th.c State. : The banquet was duly held, and the Empire then learned with mingled indignation and disgust that many of the guests whom England delighted to ■ honour had been summoned from workhouses to attend this splendid function, and had been sent back again to their paupers' refuge as soon as the feast was over. It says something for the genuine- I ness of public sentiment on such subjects j that a loud outcry was at once raised against the humiliation thus inflicted upon the Army and the country; and we are glad to see that practical steps are now at last being taken to free the honour of England and the Empire from so degrading a reproach. The appeal made by Lord Roberts to the nation for funds to provide for Crimean and Indian Mutiny veterans is not likely ,to go unheard or unanswered. The fact that His Majesty the King has headed the subscription list with a generous donation is certain to ensure the success of the movement; and we may trust, with some confidence, that in years to come it will not be necessary to search the workhouses and paupers' homes to find surviving heroes of England's battles to adorn the anniversaries of great historical events. The nation is sound at heart, and it is only the general belief that it is Government's duty to look after that ' sort of thing that has induced this callous j and selfish neglect of the men to whom ] the Empire, has so often owed its safety. But it is unfortunately characteristic of British Governments and politicians to ignore such duties as this. So far as popularity goes, our soldiers and our sailors hold a secure place in the affec- | tions of the people. But officially the I tendency has always been to " treat | them with very scant consideration. In the Navy it is notorious that the men ■ who form our "first line of defence," the ! sailors without whom our fleets would be ' useless, get barely enough to -eat. In j the Army our soldiers receive miserably I i poor pay, and they are constantly sub- j jected to restrictions and indignities that' j make the uniform they wear rather a j l-disgrac. than an honour. The pensions j that sailors and soldiers receive when j I they retire from the services are ludicrously inadequate to their needs, I I and the inevitable consequence has been I that many of our gallant defenders with ] blameless records are to be found to-day I where the Indian Mutiny survivors; ! received their invitation to the memorial j ! banquet—in the parish- workhouse. It is ', a disgrace and a dishonour to the nation; j that such things should be. We talk I incessantly about the need for armies i ! and navies to defend the Empire, but we ' I will do nothing to make the career of ' soldier or sailor worth taking up ori following. We rear mighty monuments to commemorate the achievements of j our admirals and generals; but we let j the men who did the work with their own hands hide their old age in work-1 houses and sink into paupers' graves. Yet, after all, we are not a nation of I hypocrites—"some love England and her honour yet"—and we may trust that I British public spirit, now that it has been j I roused to a sense of its failings, will j ■ ensure that for the future England shall be free from the reproach of dooming to j neglect and destitution the men who ! have spent the best years of their lives in upholding her prestige and defending her rights, and enlarging her wealth and power by land or 6ea.