MILITARY ACCOMMODATION. (Hansard, 25 February 1847)

§ MR. HUME

having moved for a number of returns relative to barracks and the accommodation of the military, remarked that his object in moving for the above returns was to submit to the House a complete review of the barrack system. He thought the time had come when a great reduction ought to be made in the number of barracks; and when the Government ought to avail themselves of the use of steam in the conveyance of troops to the districts in which their presence might be necessary, from barracks placed in central situations. The great degree of abolition of corporal punishments which had taken place latterly, led him to hope for a better class of men in the army; and he was anxious, therefore, by better accommodation, to render the condition of soldiers to be desired rather than shunned. He had served himself in India, and he remembered that in the native corps it was considered the greatest possible punishment to be discharged; and when a vacancy occurred, there were always fifty or sixty applicants, from which a selection had to be made; and he did not see why the condition of a soldier should not be equally desirable in this country. He believed the state of barracks generally would be found to be very objectionable both as to drainage, ventilation, and cleanliness; and the married and unmarried were crowded together with a want of all respect for that decency which ought to be observed. The inquiry he moved for would bring the matter before the Government, and, he trusted, occasion a great improvement in the present system. They had just passed a Bill which required the artisan to be supplied with water and the means of cleanliness; and it was a great mistake to deny equal privileges to their own troops. In Plymouth barracks, the only supply of water was in the court yard; and although the situation of the waterworks was such that it might be laid into every room, every drop had to be carried from the court yard; and the number of men being seventeen in each room, it was impossible that the air could be kept in a state which would not cause disease and discomfort. Another point of complaint was with respect to the canteens, one of which Government allowed in each barracks. This was most objectionable as regarded the morals of the men and their discipline. In other parts of the world, coffee-rooms were kept for the soldiers to resort to, and the profits were devoted to 506 the support of reading rooms and other amusements. The profits of the canteen went to the Treasury; and he considered it a meanness in Government to receive such a paltry sum from such a source. He wished for an inquiry, for the purpose of instituting one uniform system; and he was happy to find there was no want of inclination on the part of the officers and the War Office to concur in such a reform; and the House, he was sure, would not begrudge the expense which might be occasioned by carrying out improvements which would tend to the health, comfort, and better accommodation of the soldier. In the end, he was certain the system he recommended would lead to great economy; and it was with that view he now moved for these returns.