MILITARY OFFENCES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3164, 16 August 1917, Page 3

MILITARY OFFENCES

THE STOPPAGE OP PAY. At yesterday's meeting of the Advisory Board of the Patriotic Societies tho following letter from tho Defenco Minister was read:— "Re stoppage of pay for military offences, I have to state that, the military pay which soldiers have allotted to dependants is stopped when the soldier making tho allotment is undergoing certain punishment for military offences. Our soldiers on nctive service avo serving under tho Army Act. This Act defines tho punishment which can be inflicted for various military offences, and weliavo no power to vary this in any way. The usual nunishment in tho field for rrdinary offences takes the form of short periods of detention or field punishment. A soldier draws no pay while serving such sentence; this is the principal part of the punishmeut. If the suggestion of your society were adopted it would mean that the Government practically guarantees to pay the fines' inflicted uipon a military offender, and the punishments above defined would thus become ineffective. This would have the effect of compelling commanding officers, in ;he interest of discipline, to resort to other and less dcsirabln forms of punishment, which are provided as alternatives under the Army Act. As your society points out. in civil life the wife and dependants must necessarily suffer for the criminal acts of anyone noon whom they are dependant. I cannot see that the circumstance of a. soldier fighting for his country varies that princ.iplo. It is absolutely vital that discinline in a military force cn active service should be maintained, and the fact must not be overlooked that there is a certain class of men who would be less amenable to discipline if they knew that the State had practically absolved them from their responsibilities in reeard to thoso dependent upon them." The Advisnrv Board replied by inquiring if it would not be possible for instrnct'ons to be given to tho aufhorites abroad that in eases where a soldier has made, allotment to his wife or dependants only that .portion of the nnv handled by the soldier himself should be stopped ns a. penalty for military offences, and tho allotments to wives and mothers continued.