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The first was that the "sweepings of our great cities," as he graphically expressed it, formed the most suitable and best material for our armies; the second, that a system of increasing bounties is the surest and most effectual stimulus to recruiting. In each of these statements there is, indeed, a certain limited amount of truth. The adventurous and the roving spirits who quit their country homes, and are often found idle and objectless in great cities, form, indeed, excellent material for soldiers; nay, even certain examples of the dangerous and criminal classes, make good soldiers: those, namely, who have been driven by circumstances, or by the spirit of adventure, into crime; but to speak of the real sweepings of great cities, such as our recruiting sergeants get too much of-the drunken sot, the low black-leg and welcher, the broken down marker of a second class hell, the habitué of the police cell-as the material out of which to make good soldiers, is to outrage at once common sense and experience. Such recruits are well described by LieutenantColonel Ashley Maude, C.B., as "caught at a public-house, bred up in vice, short of stature, often enfeebled in constitution, badly fed, cajoled into the service by the prospect of a bounty, and frequently deserting as soon as they have received it." And the evidence of every witness examined before the Royal Commission on Recruiting, is unanimous on this point. General Sir G. A. Wetherall, Adjutant-General, says, speaking of the agricultural recruit, as compared to the town recruit: "I decidedly prefer him (the agricultural recruit); he is a vastly superior man in conduct, stature, and everything else."-(Evidence Royal Commission on Recruiting, 1861, No. 174.) Colonel Russell, C.B., Inspecting Field-Officer, London District. referring to the number of medical rejections, says: "I think that shows very conclusively that it is an inferior class of the population from which we attempt to recruit our army." (2.09.) So Colonel Lord F. Paulet, C.B., speaking of the Guards, to the question "Which do you prefer recruits from, agricultural or from manufacturing districts ? answers: Agricultural; they are more obedient, better behaved, and better soldiers in every way." (993.) And he adds-"The orders of the sergeants in all three regiments are, that they are never to take strangers or tramps." And Mr. Godley, Assistant Under-Secretary of State for War, U. S. MAG. No. 437, APRIL, 1865. I I says: "I consider the present mode of recruiting for the army objectionable, both upon economical and moral grounds. I do not think you get a good class of recruits. I do not think you get so many recruits, or recruits as easily as you ought to do." (1788.) Whilst, on the other hand, not one single witness examined, expressed an opinion in favour of the class of recruits generally got in large towns. Nor was the evidence in favour of relying on increasing bounties, as a stimulant to recruiting, at all stronger. Nearly all witnesses spoke, indeed, of some bounty being necessary to induce men to enlist. A few witnesses, as Mr. Godley, Lieutenant Wyndowe, who had much experience as Adjutant of the London Recruiting District, Captain de Tessier, and Major-General Eyre, who commanded at Chatham, advocated its total abolition, and gave strong reasons in support of their views; but whilst the majority of the witnesses considered some bounty necessary, not one stated that increased bounties produced either an improved quality or a greater quantity of recruits except in peculiar cases. Major General Eyre stated the matter very clearly :-" My impression is, that the bounty, so far from being an advantage, is positively injurious. In the first place, the desertions that take place, there is no doubt whatever, are, in a great degree, caused by the bounty. The higher the bounty, the more the desertions, and the greater trafficking there is. In my opinion, the bounty does very little towards getting men. It may appear to people who do not understand the service, to get more men; but the men make such a traffic of it, and they desert so frequently, that you have men upon paper who do not exist in fact. Nine out of ten confess that the bounty is not the real thing that a man comes to the service for." (3703-6.) So Major-General Douglas said :-"I think that the bounty is at the bottom of much of the baneful crime which we see in our recruiting service," (612); and General Wetherall, AdjutantGeneral, although he is of opinion it could not be done away with (91), said "I do not think that any amount of bounty would get a superior man into the army," (36); and Colonel Yorke, R.E., who most strongly advocated bounty, and attributed great efficacy to an increase of it, limited his observations in the following way : "In a place like Manchester, where a great number of mechanics are obtained, and when other recruiting parties, perhaps of the artillery, are trying for farriers and jobbing smiths, and persons of that kind, whoever gives the best bounty is sure to get the best man." (1607.) Whilst Colonel Lord Frederick Paulet stated: "I think that by the present system of a large bounty, such as they are giving in the navy, you induce men to come who otherwise would not; but I am quite sure of one thing, that the whole of the bounty always goes in an improper manner." (1041—1040.) But Lieutenant Wyndowe, who, as Adjutant of the London Recruiting District since 1850, had immense practical experience, said, in answer to the question, "Do you think that, that extra bounty and the reduction of the standard would, as compared with any previous period, be sufficient to account for the greater facility of getting recruits ?" "From the experience of the Crimean War, I do not think the bounty had much to do with it." (1518) And Lieutenant-Colonel Roche said :- -"I am one of those who think that it (bounty) has really very little to do with recruiting." (1727.) Colonel Brown agreed :-"I do not think that any increase of it has a great deal of effect. A certain bounty is desirable; but I do not believe that the bounty itself is the cause of a large number of enlistments." (2211.) It is not difficult to understand why bounty, applied as it is now to stimulating recruiting from the outcasts of towns, soon loses its effect, and does not increase in efficacy as it is increased in amount. It is applied to a limited class, the idle and dissolute of our cities; a moderate bounty soon attracts all of these who are at all worth having an increased bounty, whilst the recruiting is carried on from the same class, so diminished, can get only the last dregs of the sweepings, as Lord Hartington designated them. Our readers will now not unnaturally ask, if, as it seems to be admitted, the idle classes of cities are not good materials for soldiers, and bounties not a desirable or very successful mode of recruiting, why is it that a large number of military men, whilst admitting their defects, yet manifestly lean greatly towards their adoption and continuance. The answer is not difficult; and it furnishes a clue to a good deal of the subject. The natural-we had almost said the instinctive-desire of a military commander is to have men as soldiers whom he can do with as he pleases and judges best for the good of the service, without regard to their individual feelings, wishes or prejudices, and having such soldiers, to keep them in the service until they are worn out and no longer serviceable. His beau-ideal would be a conscription, with a lengthened period of service, and, as in this country he cannot have this, then what suggests itself to his mind as the next best thing is, enlistment for general service, with enlistment either for an unlimited, or at least for a very long time; and it is felt that the only chance of getting men for unlimited enlistment, and general service, is by taking them from the waifs and strays-without home, association, or friends-that are caught in the towns by the lure of a bounty. But what the advocates of this system do not sufficiently recollect is, that it has no elements of reproduction. The outcast, without a home, whom you get to serve as a soldier for twenty years, in whatever battalion you may transfer him to, has no connection with the country to bring you more soldiers, and when, at length, he is pensioned, he has no home whither to go, where he might excite war. like enthusiasm in the minds of the young. It is very convenient, as Lord Hartington truly said, to be able, when one regiment, say the 23rd is going out to India, to be able to transfer the men whose term of service is about to expire, to another regiment, say the 79th, which remains at home; but we must recollect that this is to destroy all esprit de corps, all local associations. It is to suppose that the man who, through a lengthened service, has identified himself with the honour of the Welsh Fusileers, will, because you have transferred him, suddenly become an enthusiastic Cameronian Highlander; and we must reflect how far such a change is likely to diminish the chance of his re-enlisting. If, then, recruiting mainly by bounties from the idle classes of our towns be not desirable or satisfactory, the next thing is to find out the remedy, If we examine carefully, by the light of the evidence given before the Royal Commission, what it is that is wanted; the facts will themselves indicate the cure. Now, every single witness agreed that the class of recruit most desirable to get was the agri. cultural class, although most witnesses stated that they could hardly, if at all, be got. We have already quoted Sir George Wetherall's opinion, and that of Lord F. Paulet. Major-General Wesley said : We "We try as much as possible to get agricultural men. prefer men raised in agricultural districts to those from manufacturing towns." (757-8,) Indeed, the only complaint was the difficulty of obtaining them. But here, again, the evidence gives us a clue to the means by the adoption of which they can be got. Major-General Douglas, Inspector of Militia, although he stated that he did not think it possible, with the existing system, to raise the militia regiments to their full quota, said:" I must say I have seen many regiments of militia, particularly in counties, where I have been very much struck with the magnificent class of men in them." (631.) And when asked in reference to the recruiting-sergeants of the militia, "The places where they are likely to get recruits are generally in the large towns and not in the country, are they not?" he answered:-"I do not agree with you entirely. The very large proportion of agriculturists of which the militia is composed, shows me distinctly that the militia agency would be very useful in getting the agricultural class. The effective volunteering from the militia upon the 1st of July, 1858, consisted of 61,973 men, 25,399 of whom were agricultural labourers." (653.) And Captain de Tessier, who was an Adjutant of Militia, and a Subdivision officer for the purpose of recruiting, gave the following answers: "Do you find that there is a large proportion of young men who offer themselves as recruits, who desire to go to particular regiments ?" "Yes." |