Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/549

* MILITARY LAW. 495 MILITABY POLICE. imposes several puuishmeuts one or more may be approved. The principal offenses connnittetl by soldiers are doertiou, fraudulent enlistment, disobedi- onee to superiors, quitting or sleeping on post, drunkenness, absence without leave, selling or losing by neglect clothing or equipment, and mis- cellaneous offenses to the prejudice of good or- der and military discipline. A person in the military service is not freed from his civil obligations. He is still a citizen and amenable to the civil authority for violation of local laws. He is liable to be taxed for his real estate or household g(X)ds. He may vote at the place where he has a legal residence. French JIilitarv Law is administered by means of regular trial and sentence before a military tribunal, or by infliction by any su- perior of inferior punishments for mere faults. The punishments inflicted upon officers for faults against discipline are: Simple arrests, rigorous arrests, reprimand from the colonel, and prison. Faults of officers too grave for disciplinaiy pun- ishment are referred to courts of inquest. Coun- cils of war, answering to our general court- martial, take cognizance of the graver violations of military law, which can only be punished by alllictive or infamous punishments. The .judg- ments of councils of war may be revised by councils of revision. If the latter annul the judgment referred to them, proceedings and de- cision are sent to a second council of war hav- ing jurisdiction in cases of judgments annulled by councils of revision. There is also a court of appeal in cases of trial and sentence for the crime of capitulation. This court is styled 'The Court of Ca.ssation.' Punishments in the Ger- man, .ustrian. and Russian armies are similar to those in the French service. Knglisu JIilitary Law so nearly resembles the American as to require in this article but brief description. It is embodied in the Army Act of 1881, and is kept in operation from year to year by the passing of the Army Annual Act. It consists of a written and unwritten part. ( 1) The written part consists of the Army Act, rules of procedure. King's Regulations, general orders, army circulars and orders, royal warrants, and orders in council, (2) The unwritten part con- sists of the laws or customs of war. The sov- ereign has power to make articles of war, but the articles of war and the Mutiny Act have been consolidated in the Army Annual Act, and it is doubtful if the necessity for articles of war will ever arise again. The military code of England describes in detail the serious offenses against military law and prescribes the maximum pun- ishment that can be awarded for them. Consult: For the United States, Winthrop, Militarii Laic and Precedents (Boston, 1896); Manual for Courtfi-Martial, prepared by direc- tion of the Secretary of War for the use of the army of the United States (ed. 1001). For England. Simmons, Courts-Martial ; Clodc, Mili- iary and Martial Law (London, 1872) ; and Pratt, Military Laic (London, 1892). See Courts, Military; Martial Law. MILITARY MUSIC. See Band, Militaky. MILITARY ORDER OF FOREIGN WARS. See FoRKicN Wars, Military Okoer of. MILITARY POLICE. A distinct corps of Jnilitary [lolicc. with functions similar to the provost guard in the United States Army (see Army OKOA.MZ.vriON ), is a part of many Eu- ropean armies. In the Hrilish .^rmy it con- sists of mounted and dismounted branches, with headquarters at Aldershot (q.v.). Their duties are similar to the civil police, but are con- fined to the soldiers of the district in which they are stationed. In time of peace thej' are scattered in detachments of varying strength throughout tlie .standing camps and large garri- sons of England and Ireland. On active service they carry out the orders of the provost-marshal (q.v.), and maintain good order and military discipline in the command to which they are at- tached. On the march they are in the rear of the column, to arrest stragglers, deserters, etc, (See M.-VRCHINO.) They are recruited from the regular army, and are confined exclusively to noncommissioned officers and men of several years' service and unblemished record. Every member of the force is a noncommissioned officer, and acts with the full authority of such. Their uniform is similar to that of the field artillery. In France these duties are performed by the gendarmes (q.v.). The military police of Ger- many come into active employment during war time, when each army corps mobilizes two de- tachments, one to accompany the corps itself, and one for the line of communications. Police forces organized on a semi-military basis exist throughout the British Empire. The Royal Irish Constabulary was the model upon which the Canadian Northwest JMoiinted Police was or- ganized, a force which is altogether military in organization and eiiuipnient, and which has on various occasions .served as a. military corps. Their principal duties are to jiatrol the frontier, maintain the laws, and control the Indians, in which latter duties they have been conspicuous- ly successful. Similar bodies were organized throughout Australia, for duty in the gold-min- ing camps primarily, and afterwards to control the natives and protect isolated ranches or sta- tions. In organization there is generally a colo- nel, lieutenant-colonel, or major at the head, who is in turn responsible to the ^linister of the Interior. Rank and title are the same as in the regular army. In South .frica the Cape Mounted Police, a force consisting in 1901 of 68 officers, 1922 men, and 1.572 horses, are avail- able for militaiy duties whenever required, and are included in the military defenses of the col- ony. The British Central Africa Protectorate employs a military police, consisting of about 250 Sikhs from the Indian Army and 1070 trained native troops. They are under British officers, and are charged with the duties of maintaining order and suppressing the slave traflic The area under their jurisdiction covers 42.217 square miles, and is divided into twelve districts. They also police the eastern portion of the British South Africa Chartered Company's territory, north of the Zambezi, for which they receive pay- ment. The Uganda Rifles constitute the armed constabulary of the Uganda Protectorate, and consist of native levies, numbering aliout 4000 men, mider British officers. The Natal -Mounted Police numbers about 660 officers and men. and constitutes the nucleus of the military forces of the colony. The Rhodesian military police forces now include all the small bodies of men formerly engaged in the division of what is now termed Rhodesia, the corps as a whole being under the