Page:Viscount Hardinge and the Advance of the British Dominions into the Punjab.djvu/45

Rh periods. Soldiers of fourteen years' service received in future only a gratuity in proportion to their length of service. This substitution of gratuity instead of pension for short service put a stop to the practice of 'malingering,' which the previous system had encouraged by giving a pension to every man discharged on the ground of disability.

In a discussion with Sir Herbert Taylor, Sir H. Hardinge's own words are these: — 'I state twenty-one years to be a fair term of service; efficiency is true economy, and is the great principle by which the army should be regulated.' I quote these passages to show that the decrease of the charge for pensions was not the chief object of the warrant, but that efficiency, justice to the old soldier, and the substitution of the principle of pensions for long service instead of for disability, formed the basis on which it was to be worked. Lord Hill, Lord Beresford, Sir George Murray, and many others of great military experience concurred, as well as the Duke of Wellington, who said: — 'I contend that disability on account of disease is not merit — it may more properly be termed demerit.' These were the main features of the warrant of 1829, and they met with general approval. Modifications have been subsequently introduced, but the principles applied to long service by Sir H. Hardinge still remain in force.

The short service of seven years has since been established; but all non-commissioned officers, as well as rank and file, can re-engage, if approved