222 
THE SANITARY CARE OF THE SOLDIER. 
much witli foreign armies—but there is one army that I like to compare 
ourselves with, which is composed of men of our own race, that is the 
United States American Army, which is largely composed of Irishmen 
and Englishmen. There the ration of the soldier is a very fine one. 
It is put down at 1J lbs. of meat daily (against our 12 ounces he has 
got 20), and also 18 ounces of bread against our 16; he also has 1 lb. 
of potatoes, which our men do not get at all. We are trying to keep 
the soldier on a ration that he cannot do his work on. We give him 
his 1 lb. of bread, and his § lb. of meat and stop him 3^d. or 4|d. a day 
for the grocery ration, but it does not keep the man going, and the way 
to prove it is that in those corps that are better paid, like the Army 
Medical Service, the .Royal Engineers, and the Army Service Corps, 
the men lay out much on food. Do you think it goes in drink ? Not 
at all. A man drinks because he wants food. The measure of his 
shortness of food is the measure of his amount of drunkenness. And 
I find that in those corps the men are using their extra means 
largely to buy extra food. I maintain that if extra food were given 
it would largely diminish drunkenness. In a foreign garrison that I 
served in the drunkenness in certain corps was terrible; there was 
bad food, and, as a result, much drunkenness. Feed a man well and 
give him change of food and he will not drink so much; it would be a 
thoroughly good investment to feed the soldier well. A man wants at 
least his 1 lb. of meat a day. I have asked dozens and dozens of 
soldiers if the J lb. meat ration is sufficient, and I find they are all laying 
out extra money ; those other well-paid corps are all laying out more 
money to keep themselves strong and fit. What for ? To keep them¬ 
selves strong for England’s sake. Look at those young recruits who 
are going out to India to fight typhoid ; they want to be well fed most 
awfully. The whole subject of the fitness of the reserve soldier for 
hard work on leaving the army depends on whether he had been well 
fed in the army. If he is poorly fed he is not fit for the terrible 
struggle for work in civil life. I think no work can be heavier than 
that of a driver of artillery, and if you want to get good work out of 
him you must put good food into him ; in every class that is wanted. 
I am distinctly of opinion that he would be a soberer and a better 
man if he had more food. The German war ration is very striking; 
it is put down in Parkes’ book as 26 oz. of bread, 53 oz. of potatoes, 
17 oz. of meat, and he also gets a ration of beer. This great fighting 
machine, the German soldier, fights because into his body you put 
plenty of food. And in every case it is the same thing. The English 
navvy is thoroughly well fed, and no man works like he does. And in 
the same way with the soldier, every penny that we give him in the 
way of food will diminish his sickness and his drunkenness, and it will 
be a capital investment. I say the measure of his drunkenness is the 
measure of his want of food. And also another thing is his tobacco; 
the soldier is perpetually smoking. I think his drinking and smoking 
are his attempts to satisfy his demands for food. When I have a man 
brought before me suffering from drink I say to him, “ How much do 
you lay out for extra rations ?”■ He says, “ Not much.” I say, “ You 
must eat plenty of food and take less beer.” Less beer and more food 
is quite the true principle to go upon. 
