Benefit or Friendly Societies. 291 



would be rejected, if, on becoming candidates, they were in unsound health, 

 which may account partly for the diminution of sickness in the younger 

 classes of age, in the foregoing statement, without inferring that sickness is of 

 less frequent occurrence in general at those ages." 



" Materials exist, however, which may be furnished with facility, for esti- 

 mating the sickness now actually prevailing among the labouring classes, to a 

 degree probably of very considerable accuracy. There is in the Navy Office 

 a Pay List received annually from each of the seven Dock-yards, containing 

 the age of every workman, artificer, or labourer, in those great establishments, 

 the amount of his wages or earnings in the year, and the number of days in 

 which he received no wages, by reason of sickness, the fact of such sickness 

 being always verified by the public medical officer. I have not been permit- 

 ted to avail myself of this document extra-officially, else I would now have 

 submitted the result to your Honourable Committee; but, on a cursory 

 view, and taking out the cases of the first 313 names that presented them- 

 selves, I observed that they had been subject to 1403 days' sickness, out of 

 the number of working days in a year, Avhich probably do not exceed 307 

 days. Which is the same as if .0146 parts of his whole time were lost by 

 each man, or .7592 parts of a week ; and this coincides surprisingly with the 

 sickness reported by the Highland Society, under 50, which, as above stated, 

 was .75G39 parts of a week." 



" The State of Sickness prevailing among the Army in garrison and quar- 

 ters in England, presents, however, a very different result from the returns 

 made to the Highland Society. An Abstract is preserved in the Adjutant 

 General's Office, of the musters made on the 25th of every month, of each 

 regiment or corps in England, showing, exclusive of officers and non-commis- 

 sioned officers, the number of rank and file actually in England composing 

 the corps, with the number of them who are sick on the day of muster, whe- 

 ther they are in general hospitals, regimental hospitals, or sick quarters. These 

 details are all carefully summed, in three divisions, for Cavalry, Infantry, and 

 Foot-Guards, so that the result for any number of years may be copied out 

 with the utmost facility. It is understood, that at present there are few, if 

 any, in the army, above the age of 45, and that their average age is decidedly 

 under 30. Moreover, it is well known, that they are picked and chosen young 

 men when entered, and that those who afterwards become diseased and un- 

 healthy, are discharged from time to time ; that they are regular in their 

 habits, free from exhausting labour, from the cares of families, and from most 

 causes which superinduce disease. Their occasional sickness cannot easily be 

 mi*ch exaggerated by imposture ; and abating the single consideration, that 

 some part of them are perhaps regiments returned from foreign service with 

 debilitated constitutions, it would, on the whole, seem that the army quar- 

 tei-ed in England ought to present sickness at a minimum among mankind. 



" I have been favoured with the results for each month, in the years 1823 

 and 1824, which I have combined ; and it appears, 



The Total Rank and File present, or Of whom there were constantly Sick at 

 accounted for in 24 Musters the time the Musters took place. 



Cavalry, - - - - 94,293 3,791 



Infantry, - . - . 126,513 6,297 



Foot Guards, - - 92,889 3,961 



Total, - - 313,695 14,049 



So that there were constantly sick of the Cavalry, - 4.0204 per cent. 



of the Infantry, - 4.9773 per cent, 

 of the Foot Guards, 4.2642 per cent. 

 And of the whole Army, 4.478553 per cent. 



T 2 



