REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON MILITARY PUNISHMENTS.

In our account of Parliamentary proceedings last week, we men- tioned that the Commissioners on Military Punishments appointed by Sir Robert Peel, had reported against the abolition of flogging. This was to have been expected from the composition of the Commission; three of whose members—Sir E. Barnes, Sir James Kempt, and Sic T. Reynell—are Generals in the Army; another, Lord Wharncliffe, was formerly in the Army ; while the remaining three—Mr. Cutler Fergusson, Lord Sandon, and Sir E. Hyde East—have never beets supposed to have the slightest leaning towards the substitution of other modes of correction for that of flogging. The evidence given before the Commission has been published; and we extract some portions of ir, that the reasons which have induced the Commissioners to report in favour of continuing a practice so generally condemned by the public voice, may be duly appreciated.

The principal witness was the Duke of Wellington ; and our readers will be a good deal amused by the "off-hand" views of his Grace on the subject. He entered the army in 1787, and soon became Major of the Thirty-third Regiment, then in India—.

"I sea otherwise employed on general service ; but from the time I became Major of the Thirty-third Regiment, I never took my hand off that regiment. I commanded them even while I was on the staff and in the field, sometimes near them, and sometimes at a greater distance ; but I was in the actual com- mand of that regiment up to the moment at which I left India."

He was asked if corporal punishments were then more frequent in the Army than at present : and replied— "I cannot exactly say how the thing stands at present, for since I resigned the command of the Army' in the year 1828, when I was appointed to be First Lord of the Treasury, and by desire of my colleagues resigned the command of the Army, 1 have not interfered in any regimental concern whatever. I was at that time, and am still, Colonel of the Grenadier Guards; but I never inter- fere in the detail of the Grenadier Guards. I did not iuterfere in the detail of the Grenadier Guards, particularly in respect of this matter of punishment, because I know that I differ in opinion upon that subject from the commanding officer of that regiment, Colonel Woodford ; and, therefore, knowing that the opinion of the public is that these corporal punishments ought to be discontinued, and knowing, besides, that it was the desire of the Government that they should be discontinued as much as possible. I have considered it my duty to refrain from even giving an opinion upon the subject. I have allowed him to do that which he thought proper for maintaining the discipline of the regiment ; and from the year 1828 downwards, I cannot say that I have an official knowledge of any thing. I have the knowledge which everybody has who lives in society; but I have no official knowledge upon the subject. I am inclined to believe that there is less corporal punishment ; but then, on the other hand, Jam in- clined to belii ye that there is a great deal more crime. I have called upon Colonel Woodfurd repeatedly—more in the way of conversation than officially —but I have called upon him repeatedly to give me a statement of the defaulters list in the three years that the Grenadier Guards were commanded by Colonel Townshend, when I was diet appointed their Colonel, as compared with the three years during which they were under his command ; and I have never been able to procure that return ; I conclude that that return would show that he was wrong in his system. Very likely, this Commission may have gut that re.. turn, or may have got some information that I have not got upon that subject ; but Pine. no information from 1828 upon any military point of that descrip- tion. Up to the year ItI•28, in the last years previous to that year, I should say that corporal punishment in general had been discont. , ,; to a great degree in the Army, in compai ism, with what it was formerly. A great variety of other punishments had been invented, and I certainly thought that that system had not been very successful."

He endeavoured as much as possible to diminish corporal punish-

euts— " From the time I entered th.: Army, it has been the desire of every com- manding officer that ever I have seen, who knew what his duty was, to diminish corporal punishment as much as possible. There is one very remarkable cir- cumstance, which I beg the Board will never lose sight of,—that ia, that tins punishment is always inflicted in public ; that, supposing the commanding officer himself had no feeling in respeei to the punishment which is inflicted on the individual, be must know there are many present who do feel it in a very extraordinary degree—officers and soldiers both, who are excessively annoyed at this punishment. But it is inflicted because it is a matter of necessity. It is done in public, and there is a security that it not go to any excess."

The Duke did not say what he considered excess. Probably any thing short of flogging to death would not be considered an excessive punishment.

Solitary confinement did not answer in India, when Major Wellesley commanded the Thirty-third— 'I have seen solitary confinement inflicted in the garrison of Fort Wiiiiatn, in Bengal—solitary confinement, w ith what they tail ' cougee,' that is, the soldier is

fed upon eongee, congee being the water in which th,e rive is boiled. I must say

that that punishment never had any effect upon the nun] at hug,. The punished soldier was reduced a little in his strength by it ; and in all proba- bility he was saved from a fever by being upon this regimen, amid kept ii con- finement and out of the sun fur a few days :tiler the irregularity it hiell had occasioned the confinement ; but I never knew that it produced ally r fli.et open the men at large, at least to make them more sober. They always !Jot drunk whenever they had an opportunity of doing so."

Drunkenness is the chief vice of the British soldier, but even a sober Briton seems to be a very difficult person to manage-

-" He has a great number of habits that must be broken through. He joins hits regiment excessively undisciplined, with habits of different kinds that cer- tainly must be broken through ; and he must be brought to a certain degree of training before you can say that Inc is a person that you can depend upon, so that he will not wish( have. r a- * British soldiers are taken entirely from the lowest orders of society. - Other armies are composed of men of all classes ; they are drawn by conscription, and men of all classes are liable thereto, and arc serving in the ranks in the French army, the Prus- bilill army, the Austrian army, and the Russian army—in the, Russian army rather less than the others."

The severity and constancy of the duty, especially abroad, the Duke considers as the cause of the general repugnance to enter the Army; and he thinks that a large bounty would not induce a superior description of persons to enter it : they would take the bounty, and " walk off upon the first opportunity." The abolition of corporal punishments would have no effect in bringing men of better character Into the Army ; and, says his Grace- " I do not see how you can have an army at all unless you presei ve it in a state of discipline, nor how you can have a state of discipline unless you have some punishment. I confess that that is the worst of what I see going for- ward. There is no punishment which makes an impression upon anybody except corporal punishment. You send a man into solitary confinement; nobody sees him in solitary confinement, and nobody knows what he is suffer- ing while he is in solitary confinement, and therefore this punishment is no example to the thousand men who are there upon the parade at the same time. The man may suffer so much in solitary confinement as that he will not be guilty of the offence again; but that is not the principle of punishment—that is not the intention oepunishment. The real meaning of punishment, if it means any thing, is example—it is to prevent others, by the example of what they see the criminal suffer, from committing the same or a similar offence." If you have solitary confinement, you must have sentries- " The sentry does not do his duty—he gets into conversation with the man in the cell—the solitary part of the confinement is lost. As a military punish- ment, I do not think it could be carried into execution. And, moreover, you would soon require something to prevent what Ishmael call the knocking -down system—the knocking-down the sentry or the non-comntissioned officer who is taking the man to the place of solitary confinement. All this must be pro- vided for ; there must still be something behind as a resource. * • I am aware that late'y, in the gaols of this country in general, a system of solitary confinemeat has been adopted and silence enforced. I do not know how far this has answered, or what is the resource to be adopted, if the man does not submit to the regulations of the prison. I understand that they deprint him of food, and that in sonic instances that hay been found to answer. That may answer ; but I understand that in America, for instance, at Sing. Siog, and at some other places, the resource is corporal punishment. In some instances stopping the food might answer, in others it certainly would not. The consevences of having such a vast body of men in a state of punishment, must not be lost sight of. There are at this moment, in one battalion of the Coldstream Guards, Jam told, not less than 100 men out of 600 under punishment, which number would be absent." The punishment of flogging is sufficiently summary in time of actual service- " There was a very summary proceeding, which is now discontinued, which is called a drum-head court-martial ; but the man is brought to a court-martial as soon as possible. A court-martial is ordered ; the forms take a certain time, but the man is sure of being tried, and, if convicted, of being punished. But, besides this punishment by e.ourt-martial, there is in all armies the Provost. I do not mean to say that the Provost could be used for the purpose of enforcing an order of that description, but the Provost is always liable to be used to pre- vent any irregularity ; for instance, if there is a system of plunder going on, -11 the Provost is ordered to prevent it, and he punishes those taken in the fact upeite." the spot."

The Duke was reminded that corporal punishment is abolished in the French army ; but, he said- " The French soldier is quite a different person from the soldier in the British army ; lie is enlisted by conscription. There are men of all classes in the French army ; the goad keep the bad to a cettain degree in order ; besides that, the whole system of the French army is a good deal more loose than ours ever can be. Their numbers are infinitely greater ; they can bear a looseness and want of iliscipliue much better than we can on that account ; they can sub- sist much more easily for that reason ; and, besides that, I ant rather inclined to believe, that notwithstanding that there is no regulated system of corporal punishment, there is a good deal of severe punishment in the French army, and they put people to death to a much greater degree than we do : and I fancy that among the soldiers themselves they strike a great deal. • • The officers of the French army live with the men a great deal more than ours do ; they are of the same class of persons to a greater degree than mils are. At different times I have had French guards of honour attending me ; and I have sometimes .fintnil the officer playing at billiards with the men of the guard, and jiiiniliarities of that sort going on, that were never heard of in the British service, and could not be allowed."

He considered that the discipline of the army under his command in the Peninsula was very superior to that of the French troops, and the Prussian also-

" We could live in a country which the Prussians were obliged to quit, and have done it. When I marched up to Paris with the Prussian army upon an right, they were obliged to quit the country in whip!' they were living. Both armies were living by requisition; and we went and lived in the same country., because my army was in a state of discipline, and order, and regularity, and obedience, and the Prussian was not. That is a positive fact upon record, which everybody knows. Then there is another circumstance, which I must mention upon that subject. The two armies when they joined, had, the Prus- sian army 130,000 men, the Allied army under my command only 90,000 men. When they- both reached Paris, they had lost about the same number in ope- rations upon the frontier, and left about the same number behind, each having left a corps in Asia vation upon the frontier of France and the Netherlands. When they canny to Paris, each of them had 60,000 men ; we having a deficiency from our original number of only 30,000 men, the Prussian army having a deficiency of 0,1.600. * I have never had immediate experience of the effect of the diseipline of the two al inies in so strikieg an instance as in this case of the Prussians, where we posithely took the ground which they had been obliged to leave. and could not live in any longer ; and lived in that from that time forward, :old the people returned to their houses and supplied ins with every thing we wanted, at the same time that the Prussians had been abso- lutely- starving upon that ground." There never was such an army as that which he commanded towards the close of the last war- " 1 always thought that I could have gone anywhere and done any thing with that army. It was impossible to have a niachine more highly mounted and in better order, and ;n a better state of discipline, than that army was. When I quitted that army upon the Garonne, I do not think it was possible to see any thing in a higher state of discipline; and I believe there was a total discontinuance of all punishment." He was asked if flogging for a disgraceful crime did not degrade a. soldier in the eyes of his comrades ?— " The crime degrades him, certainly ; but I must say that you must receive that opinion with a certain dogree of qualification ; there is a margin evea

there- One of those persons that I mentioned just now, whom I had pro-

moted to be a non-commissioned officer, acd afterwards to be an officer—and if he is alive now he is afield-officer—this man was a sergeant, and he expended the company's money and deserted. Now, all that have been engaged in regi- niental service know that this is pretty nearly as great a crime as a man can be guilty of. That man was brought back; Iliad him to the halberds, but I did not punish him ; lie was a good man otherwise, and I pardoned him ; and I afterwards made him a non-commissioned officer, and afterwards I recom- mended him to be made an officer, and he was with the army in the Peninsula as a field -officer. This man was led to commit the offence by women. There are things of that kind that a Malt may be led into, and yet he may be a very good man ; and a commanding officer must exercise a judgment and a certaia discretion in doing a thing of the kind." The Duke is very much opposed to abolishing flogging at home and permitting it abroad ; as it would tend to render service abroad more disliked than it is at present; for, notwithstanding all the talk about the honour and glory of being employed abroad, the Duke admits that it is very distasteful to the troops. He does not think that distributing commissions to the non-commissioned officers would be of much ser- vices in enabling a General to do without flogging; though it seems to have been his own practice- " I believe that in the Peninsula I gave every commission I had to give away either to gentlemen volunteers with the army, or to non-commissioned officers. I gave commissions to a great number of non-commissioned officers; and those that were not given away to non-commissioned officers were given away te volunteers serving with the army at the time. I gave none in this country all. * • A great number (of the men so promoted) have retired. In truth, they dO not snake good officers : it does not answer. They are brought into society to the manners of which they are not accustomed ; the cannot bear being at all heated with wine or liquor. I have known them when 1. was serving in the ranks of the army, and I think, in general, they are quer. relsome ; they are addicted to quarrel a little in their cups ; and they are not persons who can be borne in the society of the officers of the army; they are men of different manners altogether."

In the French army, a considerable number of commissions are re- served for non-commissioned officers and privates : but there are many gentlemen by birth and education brought into the army by conscrip- tion, and it is from this class that the officers are generally m point of fact selected. This system, however, has its disadvantages...

This regulation of the French army, which grants to soldiers and non-com- missioned officers commissions, has not prevented the man of education, and man- ners, and information, from rising. I believe that that sort of person has been the man selected in general ; for they select for those commissions, but they select from the ranks ; and they generally take the man of family, of education, and manners, in preference to a mere non-commissioned officer, and that is one of the great difficulties of the French army at the present moment, that there as, as 1 understand, throughout the French army, a very strong non-com- missioned officers' party, which creates great uneasiness to the Government, and has a considerable influence in the regiments as against the power and in- fluence of the officers."

With regard to the modes of punishment adopted in the Prussian army, the Duke says, "we have not got to the bottom of it." They degradu man who misbehaves, from the first to the second class- " In reviewing the Prussian army, you will see, out of a regiment of 2000 or 3000 men, one or two men in this situation. Now it is absolutely impossible that there should not be more than one or two who deserve to be in the second class; but I have gone d :on the ranks with the King of Prussia, and it is easily perceireil who are the individuals. They wear feathers of a certain colour, and all the others wear white feathers ; and I saw that one man, or perhaps two, in a regiment might might be so marked. I must say that I have known enough of the Prussian army to be quite certain that there were many more men who deserved to be in the second class than those two ; there- fore I think there must be more in it than we are informed of. But I am quite certain that it would not answer for our service. When the men first enter into our army, they would be put into the second class at once."

In the Native Indian Army, flogging was abolished by Lord William Bentinck, in order to do away with the objection of the superior castes in Bengal from entering the army ; and the Duke of Wellington thinks that no mischief is likely to arise from the continuance of it to the European Army, because, he says, the Later live much apart from the natives, and generally in barracks ; though he admits that a discon- tented person—called by the soldiers " an attorney "—might do some temporary mischief.

So much for the Duke. We shall now ask attention to the evidence of Colonel Woodford, the actual commander of the Duke's own regi- ment of Grenadier Guards. It will be seen that the Colonel has thought on the subject rather more like a mor dist and philosopher, than the Great Captain, who thinks that no "punishment makes any impres- sion upon any body, except corporal punishment."

Sir John Woodford is asked what effect corporal punishment has upon the character of the soldiers ; and replies, " Not a good effect on their character," and then his examination proceeds as follows- " You mean to say that tie men seemed rather hardened than reformed? "— " Yes; and perhaps sullen and resentful, less disposed to become submissive and good soldiers." " A less good effect than the present mode of confinement in prison and bard labour ?" — " in my opinion it had, solitary confinement taken into the aecoure, %%Ilich I consider the best kind of punishment." " Then as to the person; witnessing the punishment, do you conceive that the punishment had more or less effect in deterling them from the commission of clinic, rather than the present mode of imprisonment or solitary confine- ment ? I du riot think it was effectual in deterring other men from the same offences any more than imprisonment is. Of course all severe punish- ment must in some degree have that effect." " But conipared with the present mode of punishment ?"—" I think it bad not a better effect generally in the long run, in regard to the more serious crimes, for which only I suppose corporal punishment was deemed necessary. It need to be too common ; and I think corporal punishment sometimes has a tendency to excite an insubordinate and vindictive spirit, which leads men to commit some violence on a future occasion when intoxicated." "Do you conceive that the reading the sentence of a Court-martial, by which a soldier Is sentenced to confinement, and has been marched from the parade to that confinement, is as powerful in the way of example as the actual sight of a punishment at the halberds ? "—" At the moment, I should think the sight of the punishment at the halberds must certainly produce a greater sensation among spectators ; but it may be strongly mingled with a feeling in firrour of the punished comrade; and the latter sentiment in behalf of the offender would not be excited in the same degree by seeing him consigned to a just and neces- sary, but not a violent punishment, supposing always the offence purely mili- tary."

Corporal punishment was not more effective in preventing serious crimes, than imprisonment and solitary confinement are now ; and Colonel Woodford is opposed to the infliction of corporal punishment for several offences for which it is now awarded-

" I do not see the absolute necessity of inflicting it on every occasion of a blow being offered to a non-commissioned officer by a private in a moment of intoxication, under a sudden impulse, and when perhaps he is frantic from the effect of drinking ardent spirits, and becomes penitent as soon as he is sober. Such a misfortune sometimes may occur to a high-spirited, good duty soldier. Nor does this view test on consideration for the individual offending, although there may sometimes happen to be indiscretion on the part of the superior ; but

I consider that the reciprocal relations between superiors and those under their

command are influenced by the nature of the system of discipline maintained, and are generally better preserved when the offences of the latter against their superiors are sure to be visited with punishment, but with punishment of the kind best calculated to carry to the minds of the offender and his comrades the conviction of its propriety and justice, and such as will not be likely to leave

a desire of vengeance to be gratified by him, or them, at some future opportu-

nity. Violent punishments in their turn suggest violent offences. I may add another remark, which is, that when corporal punishment was in general use, instances of entire pardon were exceedingly frequent. That chance was pro- bably sometimes taken into the soldier's account ; and it is known that the certainty of punishment is more effectual in repressing crime than severity." He mentions several circumstances which prove how easily imprison- ment might be substituted for flogging, even when the troops are abroad—.

" The first instances I find in our books of commutation of corporal punish- ment are in 1807, when part of the regiment was in Sicily. A close kind of military confinement, when the soldier was off duty, was substituted, com- bined with punishment drill. Subsequently, I find solitary confinement, first as a commutation of sentence, instead of corporal punishment, and then as the common sentence of Courts-martial at Cadiz, in 1811 and 1812; and at Alcala, near Seville, a sentence of 250 lashes wait; commuted to solitary confinement, in September 1812. The battalion on that service received particular praise, in the Division Orders, from the Lieutenant-General commanding, for orderly conduct. I also find corporal punishment commuted for solitary confinement is part of the regiment at Villela, in Portugal, in the month of March 1813; and in several instances at Oporto, in June of the same year, men were sentenced to solitary confinement. Commutation of corporal punishment for solitary con- finement accurs again at St. Jean de Luz, in December 1813. At Steenbergew and Antwerp, in the beginning of 1814, solitary confinement was awarded, and also substituted for corporal punishment in sonic cases. The first instance of such a sentence in the First Regiment of Guards at home, occurred at Knights- bridge Barracks on the 28th of December 1814. It appears, therefore, that corporal punishment first fell into partial disuse on foreign service, but not at the moment when the troops were engaged in very active operations."

These are important facts ; and the following remarks are also de- serving of attention, for the enlightened and humane spirit which breathes through them- " It is not so much by slight irregularities when men are off duty that discipline is injured ; that which is most material is, that a proper distinction should be made between what may in some degree be pardoned, although it must be kept down by repressive restraints, comprehended miller the minor punishments, and that which is discreditable in a high degree to the soldier in Ins military character. Indiscriminate rigour would confound these essential distinctions in the soldier's mind. After all, it is not mere punishment that maintains good order, but the unwearied application of a system of vigilant, unceasing, painstaking observa- tion and care. In support of this opinion, I refer to the orders of Sir John Moore, in honour of whom it was publicly recorded as a peculiar subject of eulogy, that he had passed his life among the troops.' I refer also to the orders of his Grace the Duke of Wellington, and likewise to his Grace's recent address to the Ninety-third Highlanders, in which the reciprocal duties of officers and their men are especially adverted to, and kindly inculcated. Good treat- ment that does not degenerate into a degree of weak indulgence, scrupulous jus- tice towards individuals, and a strict but not harsh administration of it with respect to military offences, are the only means of establishing discipline on sure and permanent foundation."

We subjoin a few extracts from the evidence, of Major Fan- court, in regard to the practicability of substituting solitary confine- ment, or other punishment for flogging.

" At present you do not think there are any means of enforcing solitary con- finement properly as a punishment in the barracks in England ?"—" At pre.- sent certainly' not; we must wait till the requisite buildings are erected. Solitary cells might in the mean time be provided in the barrack-yards; where, gene- rally speaking, I think this mode of punishment might be adopted with advantage." " With respect to solitary confinement in civil prisons, as at present practised, what is your idea?"—" I think it exceedingly injurious." " Injurious in what way ?"—" I think it injurious, because the military de- linquent is confined among persons guilty of almost every variety of crime, to the manifest detriment of Ins general character ; added to which, I think it expedient that a soldier should be visited only by military punishment." " You are of opinion that the system of substituting solitary confinement for flogging can be only after sonic delay, and after the erection uf sonic military prisons ?"—" I thiuk that those pr.suns might be built without any great " Have you looked into that?"—" It might be presumptuous in me to say en much ; but I may remark, judging from the usual progress of public build- ings, the construction of such prisons would not occupy any great length of

time." • •

" With respect to service in the field, do you conceive it would be possible to keep up a state uf discipline in case the principal punishment should be solitary confinement ?"—" On that point I ought to speak e.ith very great deference; never having been called into active service, in the field, in the usual sense of au engagement. As to the conduct of troops on the line of march 1 can speak more confidently • and I apprehend that men may be kept in order, while on active service, walnut the power of military floggim;s. In the French army, if a ma& be guilty of any particular offence while on the line of march, he is handcuffed and ordered to the rear. At the end of the dav's march, he is put into confine- ment; and, as soon as an v offers, 'he is regularly brought to trial before a Court-martial, and sentenced to such further punishment as the nature of his offence may be found to require." " Suppose the case of our army in Spain, in a foreign country, where it cats have no establishment for the purpose, and a man commit an offence grave enough to be tried by a Court-martial, but not grave enough to be punished by death, how would you propose to substitute, in such a case as that, solitary con- finement for flogging?"—" —" I should think solitary confinement might be car- ried on even in camp." How could that be done?"—" He might, at least, be kept entirely apart from the other soldiers. I have already adverted to solitary confinement, under similar circumstances, in the French army. If it is found applicable there, I see 1■13 obstacle to our adopting it. As was just observed, the man might be kept apart. I would not have him tried till the most fitting opportunity; but I would debar him all intercourse with his comrades during the day, and have him confined at night, till a fitting opportunity for a formal trial should arrive.'• " Then the man must be kept under a guard in those circumstances ?"—s " Certainly." " Then other individuals are withdrawn from the service, as well as the man, for the purpose of guarding him ?"—" I do not really see that this objec- tion applies to any extent. There are, of course, always guards employed in the regular duties of the camp ; and, except in cases of very rare occurrence, it does appear to me that the guard so employed would require very little, if any*

additional assistance." • • • • • " Suppose a man to be confined in a tent, which is the only solitary confine- ment that could be applied in such a case, it would be necessary to have a sentry to that particular tent?"—" Is the case referred to that of a large force, with standing military guards?"

"The question refers to an army moving on from day to day, and without any sort of fortresses or prisons in that country ; a roan having committed a military offence_, how would you propose to deal with that man ?"—s, I am of opinion, that the most summary and effectual mode of treatment on the line of march' would be to order the offender immediately to the rear, where he should be handcuffed, and kept apart from the rest of the regiment during the day,

and confined at the conclusion of the day's march." * • • •

" Are you aware that by far the greater part of the punishments inflicted is the British army arises from offences committed by soldiers in a state of drunkenness?"—" Yes; insubordination, insolence, and so forth, in nine cases out of ten, arise from drunkenness. On this point I should wish to mention a very salutary regulation of the French army.- us, non-commissioned officers and others are not sufficiently cautous about speaking to a Inas while under the influence of liquor. Now, in France, no one is allowed to speak a word to a man who is drunk. and whatever he himself may say is passed over."