PROVISION FOR INVALID SOLDIERS. (From the Times, Nov. 25, 1851.

Otago Witness, Issue 48, 17 April 1852, Page 3

PROVISION FOR INVALID SOLDIERS. (From the Times, Nov. 25, 1851.

Those of our readers who extend their river trips from the Blackwall terminus to the remoter attractions of Gravesend must frequently have observed the disembarkation of invalided soldiers on their return from foreign service. The spectacle is the obverse of that which is often viewed with admiration by visitors at Woolwich or Chatham. In one case a robust and efficient battalion, in the highest state of discipline and equipment, marches down to the river side, " preceded by the splendid hand" of the Artillery or Marines, and followed by the vociferous cheers of a delighted populace ; in the other a dozen or two sallow and emaciated creatures in faded shell jackets and tarnished accoutrements crawl away from the deck of an Indiaman or a troop-ship, and scramble painfully to the shore. The next day the public learns from our military intelligence that the new comers were duly inspected by the proper officer, that some were sent to the hospital and some to the barracks, that some were awarded a pension, and some received a certificate of honourable discharge. Here perhaps terminates the public interest in these proceedings, but with many of the unfortunate invalids their difficulties are only now just commenced. Taking a broad and liberal view of the subject, we may certainly say that our soldiers receive a better treatment than those of any other country. Their pay is higher, even estimated by the price of provisions and the national habits of Englishmen. Their clothing is better, notwithstanding the system of supplying it, so obnoxious to Mr. Cobden and his colleagues. Thanks to recent reforms, they are now emancipated from the heaviest liabilities of military discipline, and a glance at the Army Estimates will show that pensions arc distributed with no unsparing hand. 'Yet, for all this, the attention' of the public was yesterday called by one of our correspondents to a grievance on the part of the British soldier ; and the complaint, we think, admits to some extent of being fairly established.

A wounded soldier is pensioned, a veteran is provided for, but it may happen that a man is neither absolutely maimed nor actually of 21

years' service, and yet be in as great a need 6f assistance as those in whose cases the prescribed conditions have "been satisfied. The r duties of British troops resemble those of no others. Fq'r two-thirds at least of their time they are on a service equivalent in its perils and exposures to actual campaigning. The casualties of ordinary duty 4n the East and West Indies are little below those of a Chinese war, and though, our present occupation at the Cape "will hardly perhaps be dignified hereafter with the title of a " campaign," there can be no question that the hardships endured by the troops engaged exceed those usually encountered in more brilliant wars. It is for the commonest and most probable result of these hardships that too scant a provision, in our correspondent's judgment, is made by the country. Excepting in extraordinary cases, it may be taken as almost certain that the enduring powers of a soldier on service will be most severely tried before the expiration of the 21 years which are prescribed as the period of his duty. The work of the climate at Hong Kong and Peshawur outstrips the calculations of the authorities at the Horse Guards, and a soldier, though not positively disabled by wounds, is yet found incompetent for duty before 12 years of his 21 have been passed. In this case what is to become of him ? In technical language he is " discharged'' — that is to say, he is permitted t» go about his business with a good character and a few shillings in his pocket. In this plight he has first to work his way homewards from Plymouth or Chatham, and our correspondent's, letter depicts the state in which he is too often found. He is allowed 20 days' pay towards the expenses of his journey, and a dailystipend of Gel. for six months to come, by way of affording him time to establish himself afresh. But this gratuity is barely sufficient for his single needs, and if, as frequently happens, there are mouths beside his own to be filled, his only resource is in alms-seeking, as discreditable to his country as it is to himself.

The whole question evidently turns upon the propriety of measuring our obligations by some less arbitrary standard than that of time. Now, it is surely very conceivable that the claims of an iu valid from Hong Kong or Barbadoes should be greater, even in the tenth year of his service, than those of a more fortunate soldier who has been preserved by unusual luck or an extraordinary constitution in unimpared vigour to the end of his time. The latter may possibly be in good condition for maintaining himself by his own labour, whereas the former, by the very conditions of the case, must needvS bo incapacitated to a certain degree, and not improbably disabled altogether; )Ct while one is pensioned, the other is left to beg. Our correspondent may, perhaps, have somewhat overstated the helplessness of a discharged soldier as regards the pursuits of pacific life. It is quite true that he may have unlearnt the handicraft of his youth, and be no longer malleable to the purposes of artisanslup or trade, but he will possess other qualities which generally command a market. He either is or ought to be inured to habits of discipline, steadiness, obedience, and courage ; he is not unlikely to be quick in resources ; and if he has not learnt patience under suffering, his indocility must have been great indeed. Such characters as these are always in request. The rural and town police s the various departments of railway and warehouse service, with v hundred other reputable callings, will always furnish places for men with good characters, good abilities, and 10 years' experience of soldiering. All this, however, will avail little if the constitution be too far broken to admit of ordinary exertion, and this, in the case of discharging invalids, is a -contingency to be very frequently anticipated.

It appears only conformable to reason and justice, that if a man's means of supporting himself have been fairly exhausted in the service of his country, he should be compensated at the public charge for the sacrifice thus made in the public behalf, whatever may have been the period consumed in the operation. We cannot, indeed, see any substantial distinction to be drawn between disability inflicted by climate. Climate, in fact, is the deadliest enemy "which our soldiers have to encounter, and to overlook the agency of this formidable foe is lo leave the army without compensation or support under the worst liabilities of its service. There can surely be no practical difficulty in claims of this nature. "We have no wish to enlarge a pension list which, already weighs heavily on our overburdened tax-payers, but a very .small outlay, as jt .appears to us, would suffice to relieve the State of this imputation on the justice of its dealings. In common reason we are bound to see that the terms of the engagement between the nation and its defenders are equitably framed as .well as faithfully kept, and that the very likeliest of all a soldier's perils is not excluded from -the reckoning of his claims. . >-_