Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1913.djvu/88

 LXXXll

THE statesman's YEAR-BOOK, 1913

Recruiting.— The numbers of recruits rejected, attested, and finally approved, at Home in the 2 years ended Sept. 30, 1911 and 1912, were :—

~

1911 65,724

1912

Served with Notice Papers

57,681

Casualties before Attestation : — Rejected by Recruiters or Recruiting Officers for Physical

reasons

Rejected by Medical Officers for Physical reasons

Failure to appear for Attestation

Rejected by Recruiters or Recruiting Officers for other than

Physical reasons, and other casualties. . . ..

16,733 11,138

2,589

2,834

9,678 9,592 2,204

3,184

Total casualties before Attestation ....

33,294

24,658

Attested

Casualties after Attestation : — Rejected by Medical Officers for Physical reasons. . Rejected by Approving Officers for Physical reasons.

Deserted

Rejected by Approving Officers for other than Physical reasons, and other casualties

32,430

33,023

1,174 276 108

1,385

927 380 133

1,225

Total casualties after Attestation ....

2,943

2,665

Finally Approved.

29,487

30,358

Deserted after final approval before joining unit .... Other casualties before joining unit

16

27

17

28

Total

43

45

Joined unit

29,444

30,313

Army, Nationalities, Religion and Education. — Of the 234,901 non-commissioned officers and men on Oct. 1, 1912, 183,891 were born in England, 3,076 in Wales, 18,258 in Scotland, 21,421 in Ireland, 7,838 in India or the Colonies, 302 were British subjects born in foreign countries, 1 was a foreigner, and the nationalities of 114 were not reported.

Of the same men at the same date, 165,668 belonged to the Church of England, 16,918 were Presbyterians, 10,166 were Wesleyans, 3.970 were Baptists or Congregationalists, 1,586 other Protestants, 34,266 Roman Catholics, 232 Jews, and 2,095 Mahometans, Hindoos, &c.

Of 29,019 recruits examined during the year ended Sept. 30, 1912, 5*48 per cent, were men of good education, 23-69 per cent, of fair education, 30-07 of moderate education, 29-70 of inferior education, 11 06 were illiterate, i.e., could not read a Standard II Reader, nor write from dictation from a Standard II Reader, nor work very easy problems with small numbers on the simple rules of Arithmetic.

Horses, ^-c. — On Oct. 1,1912, the horses, mules, (fee, on the British establishment at Home numbered 22,859 ; in Egypt, 1,201 (including 101 camels); in S. Africa, 5,369 ; Gib- raltar and Malta, 331 ; Ceylon, Singapore, China, and Mauritius, 458 (including 10 bullocks in China); Bermuda, 37; total in the Colonies, &c., 7,396; general total, 30,255 ; establishment, 32,123.

Navy.

Expenditure. — The expenditure (net) on the navy for the year 1913-14 is estimated at 46,309,300L, as against 45,075,400?. for 1912-13. For 1913-14 the number of officers, seamen, &c., provided for is 146,000; for 1912-13 the number was 137,500. The total number of Royal Fleet Reserve is 25,788. For a period of years a certain number of young warrant officers will in future be selected for commissions.

The following particulars are taken from the Statement of the First Lord of the Admiralty, explanatory of the Estimates for 1913-14.

Shipbuilding.— 'iHew construction for the year 1913-14 will cost 13,276,400/. as against 14,595,527/., for 1912-13. Of this amount 11,224,000/. will be spent on the continuation