I 
394 THE ARMY VETERINARY DEPARTMENT. 
entitled to seven shillings per diem : at the expiration of twenty- 
five years, he can claim eight shillings; and at thirty years, 
twelve shillings; or, by favour, fifteen shillings. 
As we shewed in a past paper on this subject, there is a vast 
deal ot difference between this scale and that by which the 
surgeons’ retirement is fixed ; and we do complain of the infe¬ 
riority of our own. 
A part of his allowances, however, which calls yet more for 
revision and augmentation, is the army veterinary surgeon’s 
widow's pension. Few regimental veterinarians have it in their 
power to lay by any thing out of their pay; consequently they 
must, at their death, be said to leave their widow s entirely at the 
mercy of government: and this mercy, we are almost ashamed to 
confess, even to the oldest veterinary officer in the service, does 
not extend beyond the claim of £30 per annum; a sum certainly 
inadequate to the maintenance of the widow he may have left 
behind him. Were this annuity one that (like his pay) became 
susceptible of increase with his rank and service, the veterinary 
surgeon could not complain : but, fixed as it is, insusceptible of 
the least augmentation, let his period of service be what it may, 
it turns out a poor pittance, and very inadequate reward to the 
widow for the twenty, thirty, or forty years’ servitude of her hus¬ 
band. In fact, there seems to be a manifest want of justice in 
the case: for, according to the existing regulations of the army, 
the widow of a veterinarian of two days’ service has the same 
claim as she whose husband has stood the brunt of thirty long 
years! There is, to say the least of it, extreme inconsistency 
here; and, to speak out in plainer terms, it forms altogether an 
instance of hardship and cruelty that has, we trust, no parallel 
in military administration. 
It may be asked, why the affair has not been represented to 
the proper authorities ? It has been : a manifesto (or memorial, 
as it is termed) has been presented; and another has been in 
agitation. But all this proves, and must prove, of no use, so 
long as we remain without a head—unrepresented and uncared 
for at the Horse Guards. 
The following regulations, bearing upon half-pay and retired 
allowances, have just made their appearance in the Army List 
for the present month: they will confirm what has been here¬ 
tofore stated. 
“ The rate of half-pay for a veterinary surgeon shall be regu¬ 
lated by his service on full pay, according to the following scale; 
viz. 
A-day 
s. d. 
If above 3 and under 10 years’ service . . .46 
If above 10 and under 20 years’service . . .56 
