§ MR. CAINEasked the Judge Advocate General, The number of punishments for drunkenness, or offences arising out of drunkenness, in the British Army during the year 1882, and what proportion of these were in Egypt?
§ THE JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL (Mr. OSBORNE MORGAN)Sir, the total number of men belonging to the British Army tried for drunkenness by general or district courts martial in all parts of the world in 1882 was 1,120, of whom 145 wore tried in Egypt. Punishments for drunkenness inflicted by regimental courts martial or commanding officers do not necessarily come before me, and for them I must refer my hon. Friend (Mr. Caine) to the list to be found in the general annual Return of the British Army which will be published in, due course. I cannot even approximately state the number of punishments awarded for "offences arising out of drunkenness," as no separate record is kept of such cases; but, no doubt, crimes directly or indirectly trace- 932 able to drunkenness, form, as in the case of civilians, a large proportion of the offences committed by soldiers. Perhaps I may take this opportunity of answering a question as to crime in Egypt, put to me the other night in the debate on the Army Estimates by my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Kincardineshire (Sir George Balfour). The total number of courts martial held in Egypt upon European soldiers of all arms, received at my Office up to this day, is as follows:—General courts martial, 10; summary courts martial, 5; district courts martial, 364. The latter total may, at first sight, seem large; but it must be remembered that that Return covers more than seven months, and that at one time we had a very large number of troops serving in the country. Many of these offences, too, though no doubt serious in the military point of view, were not of themselves of a very grave nature. On the other hand, trials for drunkenness have been unusually frequent, especially when the troops have not been actively employed. In fact, I find that the more the men have to do, and the less they have to drink, the better they, as a general rule, behave.