ABOUT SOLDIERS WIVES.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 3030, 24 January 1899, Page 3

ABOUT SOLDIERS WIVES.

, ? T 4 be.w.ife bftm American soldier— when- he happens to be uiaraed— l<aa a, comparatively .happ.y ; time.ofi i it. it .is different . else- 1 ' whew aud, .the condition is. at . its . worat, 'in England. ■'.■';':','■/,! ; ,' '' ;. ' •'. * .; ;■'..■■■ . Nojuno ,nee3 !' to";he' told; that the scarlet. ' jacket of *ilie -Brititjh sbldier is the greatest Jncedl'ive to; matrimoiiy ; known to the cJvit 'lised world of %oinen;'ihdee'di there is conBiderablejtrumbling, not to say indignation, ,„ onthis score in Bpine.quartcr^.; :-.-'.. - It iß,prctty gencralJy. known that the sol-" '. dicr lias »»useeptible heart beating behind • - hi 3 tnnic, buti_who stops toinquire how the . ., adniirabieAtkina, with his shilling a day, is • 'enabled tolreep t a wife.'and^children '?''"■ •Colonel dldeai^tho 1 Chairman 'of the Bnslish Soldiers? and Sailors' iPamiliesAsKocia tipn, in,an.'intorjyiew said :—r : ; ■■■■;/■ ••:•- "You are. quij^p right i a sayjng that English feoliiiers are '[a marrying community, but don't ask me -how they manage to'^keep their wives. There) .are thousands of ; ; men. and women trying to live on the Bpldier's allowance of. a shilling a day. ■andft don't suppose lam far wrong in Baying that at l<-aHt i; i third :of lhem,are,-half storved.T-. ,;The-l. women endeavour to augment;:.. the family income by doing a little washing, und 1 that sort of thing ; but, at its best, it is "only very casual .-.employment. ■..-.:-.?>■>■*•:.■..;,■■.>-■ .•:;: -_ '■; ■.■ " Now, the aim" of, our Society is to afford "■ temporary relief to 'the families of soldiers and sailors, and I can assure you they stand in ; need of a great deal of relief; .Our chief - considerations are hot to pauperise and not to encourage matrimony. „ l t i& madness for a private soldier who has nothing but liis pay coming- into marry. „"..'.,.' ; ■ ''. " But first 'let me explain what marriage in the English army means. .Only six per cent. bf;th'e'men in each regiment are per mitted to marry, and then only if they possess the requisite qualifications! For example ttiey must have served for a period of hot less than seven years, and they must have at least £5 in the savings bank. ••They have, in fact, to be trustworthy men who have earned, two good conduct badges. The wives have their quarters in tne barracks and go abroad arid return with their husbands at the Government's expense. '• Contrary to an impression- that exists outside the Service, however, if .the remaining 94 ; per cent.- 'marry, as many of ;thein do, without the consent of the authorities, they commit no military crime. " They caunot be punished, but no accommodation is provided in barracks for their wives, who enjoy none of the' privileges that are allotted to the wiyeß of the others. ; To speak plainly, they have to struggle on upon the soldier's pittance' and whatever 'else they can make. You can imagine what a sorry plight these women, .are in when I tell you that it is quite common for a soldier's wife to have from five to eight children. " But this isn't by any means all with which they have to contend. When a regiment moves, say, from Portsmouth to Edinburgh, or to India, every one of these women is left behind, while their more fortunate sisters accompany their husbands. " They are left with no provision whatever from the Government, and I ne«d not remark that very few of them have the money to follow their husbands. What wb do, therefore, in addition to assistiirg those in sickness and making temporary giants, is . to send them after their husbands where we | can. " Does the gallant Tommy, then, desert his spouse? " " I am afraid that some soldiers when going on foreign service desert their wives until they return. That is to say, they leave them to take their chance. A soldier who is married but not by regimental allowance can, by the Army regulation, be subjected to a ■ stoppage of threepence a day — a nice large sum isn't it — for the support of his wife and family while he is away, but he cau only be put under this stoppage on the application of the wife herself or by voluntarily submitting to it." • " It seems as if Mr. Atkins ought to be better paid.How do you fare in trying to dissuade a soldier whose manly heart is bursting with love from embarking on the treacherous sea of matrimony? " •• We try to dissuade the girl — not the man," Colonel Gildea replied, smiling." The majority of girls haven't the gbost of an idea what a soldier'B life is like. They are fascinated with the red coat and don't give a thought to the future. " Affaire are very different in the English Navy," the colonel added. "No man is supposed to marry in the Royal Navy. Strangely enough, the authorities don't recognise the wife of a sailor when the sailor is living, but if he dies on duty or is killed Bhe i is awarded a pension. Now with respect to | a soldier the wife only get 0 a pension if he j Buccumbs in war. Should he die in barracks through Bickness or by accident she is left to shift for herself. " Sailors' wiveß are in a much better position when they are separated from their husbands than the wives of soldiers, inasmuch ' as on a ship being commissioned for foreign Bervise there is an unwritten law among Bailors that every man shall make an allot- j ment of something like half his pay in favour of his wife or any relatives dependent upon him; and although the Admiralty don't recognise these people, they undertake to ■ make the stoppage and to hand over the ! Bums to the payees as boon as they become due. A Bailor who neglected to conform to this praiseworthy principle would have a bad time of it with his mates."