ABSTRACT
Although, the Services themselves stand in no need of the charitable consideration of the public, there is yet a class which is nearly connected with the Army in which there exists a great deal of poverty and distress. We refer to the widows and children of soldiers who have died in the Service. It is well known that the position of a woman whose husband is a soldier married without leave is peculiarly distressing. She has all the responsibilities of the married state without having a husband’s support. It is so necessary to check men marrying without leave that the authorities have to refrain from showing even sympathy to these unfortunate women; and although, under certain circumstances, a portion of a man’s pay may be withheld for his wife’s support, the assistance she derives from the contribution is too slight to repay her for the false position in which she stands of being a married woman practically without a husband. The position of a woman on the married strength of a regiment is not unenviable. She has a fixed position, and she enjoys certain important privileges, but she can be no idler, and as a washerwoman has to work hard for her living.
