RESOLUTION. (Hansard, 6 August 1878)

§ MAJOR NOLAN,

in rising to move— That, in the opinion of this House, the present allowance of 6d. per diem for each wife and 2d. for each child of the Reserve men should be increased in those cases in which the calling out of the Reserve men has left their families with inadequate means of support; said, he would acknowledge that the question had lost much of its interest for the House and the country, the Reserves having now been disembodied. But we had now placed ourselves in com- 1379 petition with the other great military Powers of Europe, and we must do as other military Powers did—we must look to our Reserves—we must see to their sufficiency in point of numbers, to their efficiency when called upon, and that they should be available when needed. He did not say that our Reserves must be better in hand, because they had done well—they had answered the call made upon them with rapidity, which was the first requisite in regard to such a Force. But, under our system of voluntary enlistment, it would be impossible to increase their number unless the men were fairly treated. The allowance made to the families of the Reserve men when the Force was called out was 6d. a-day for the wife and 2d. for each child—an amount which was totally insufficient. The wife and family of the soldier in India received as much money as was now given to the Reserve men's wives and families at home, and they obtained rations and quarters in addition. When a Reserve man joined the colours was not the time when he could save money for his wife and children. He then came in contact with his comrades; he had expenses to meet in connection with his clothing and other matters; and, as a rule, he could not be expected to send much money home to his family. The former Secretary of State for War had stated that the Reserve man would be able to save money from his pay, when called out on service, which would be sufficient, in addition to the regular allowance, for the support of his family. But he (Major Nolan) maintained that the utmost he could save from his pay was 3d. a-day—which, added to the 6d., made 9d. a-day—to which was to be added the 2d. for each child, a sum that was totally inadequate for the maintenance of the families of the men. As for the men, they all corroborated him in that view. Soldiers who married with leave were always sufficiently supported, and that ought to be the case with the men of the Reserves, who might be said to be in a precisely similar position. He would call attention to the subject next Session, and hoped, in the meanwhile, that it would receive the attention of the Government.