The report was read, and the amendments to the clauses in debate, which
then ran thus:--
That the officers and soldiers to be quartered and billeted as
aforesaid, shall be received, and furnished with diet and small beer by
the owners of the inns, livery stables, alehouses, victualling-houses,
etc. paying and allowing for the same the several rates mentioned.
Provided, that in case the innholder on whom any non-commission officers
or soldiers shall be quartered, by virtue of this act, (except on a
march,) shall be desirous to furnish such officers or soldiers with
candles, vinegar, and salt, and with either small beer or cider, not
ex-ceeding three quarts for each man _a-day gratis_, and to allow them
the use of fire, and the necessary utensils for dressing and eating
their meat, and shall give notice of such his desire to the commanding
officers, and shall furnish and allow them the same accordingly; then,
and in such case, the non-commission officers and soldiers so quartered
shall provide their own victuals; and the officer to whom it belongs to
receive, or that does actually receive the pay and subsistence of such
non-commission officers and soldiers, shall pay the several sums,
payable out of the subsistence-money for diet and small beer, to the
non-commission officers and soldiers aforesaid, and not to the innholder
or other person on whom such non-commission officers or soldiers are
quartered.
The question being put whether this clause should stand thus,
Mr. CAREW spoke to this effect:--Sir, though it may, perhaps, be
allowed, that the circumstances of our present situation oblige us to
support a more numerous army than in former years, surely no argument
can be drawn from them that can show the necessity of a profuse
allowance to our soldiers, or of gratifying their desires by the
oppression of the innholders.
If, sir, the designs of our enemies are so malicious, and their power so
formidable, as to demand augmentations of our troops, and additions to
our natural securities, they ought, surely, to impress upon us the
necessity of frugal measures, that no useless burdens may be imposed
upon the people.
To furnish two quarts of beer, sir, every day for nothing, is,
undoubtedly, an imposition sufficiently grievous; and I can, therefore,
discover no reason for which an allowance of three should be
established; a proposal injurious to the victualler, because it exacts
more than he can afford to allow, and of no benefit to the soldier,
because it offers him more than he can want.
Sir William YONGE spoke next, to this purpose:--Sir, if it is an
instance of misconduct to spend upon any affair more time than the
importance of it deserves, I am afraid that the clause, to which our
attention is now recalled, may expose us to censure, and that we may be
charged with neglecting weighty controversies, and national questions,
to debate upon trifles; of wasting our spirits upon subjects unworthy of
contention; of defeating the expectations of the publick, and diverting
our enemies rather than opposing them.
But, sir, as nothing has a more immediate tendency to the security of
the nation than a proper establishment of our forces, and the regulation
of their quarters is one of the most necessary and difficult parts of
the establishment; it is requisite that we think no question of this
kind too trivial for our consideration, since very dangerous
disturbances have often been produced by petty disputes.
The quantity, sir, of small beer to be allowed by the victualler to
those soldiers who shall provide their own victuals, was disputed
yesterday, and, as I thought, agreed upon; but since this question is
revived, I must take the opportunity to declare, that we ought not to
assign less than three quarts a-day to each man; for it is to be
remembered by those who estimate the demands by their own, how much
their way of life is different from that of a common soldier, and how
little he can be charged with wantonness and superfluity, for drinking
more small liquor than themselves.
There are few members of this house, who do not, more than once a-day,
drink tea, coffee, chocolate, or some other cooling and diluting
infusion; delicacies which the soldier cannot purchase; to which he is
entirely a stranger, and of which the place must be supplied by some
other cheap and wholesome liquors.
If, sir, those gentlemen whose close attention to the interest of the
innholder has, perhaps, abstracted them, in some degree, from any regard
to the necessities of a soldier, will consent to allow him five pints
a-day, I shall contend no longer; for though I cannot agree that it is a
sufficient provision, yet, as other gentlemen, equally able to judge in
this subject with myself, are of a different opinion, I shall show my
regard for their sentiments by desisting from opposition.
Lord BALTIMORE spoke in substance as follows:--Sir, I am not able to
discover any necessity of compromising this debate, by taking the mean
between the two different opinions, or for denying to the soldiers what
every labourer or serving-man would murmur to be refused for a single
day.
I believe, sir, every gentleman, who examines the expense of his family,
will find that each of his servants consumes daily at least three quarts
of small beer, and surely it is not to be required that a soldier should
live in a perpetual state of war with his constitution, and a constant
inability to comply with the calls of nature.
General HANDASYD spoke to the following purpose:--Sir, the inclination
shown by several gentlemen for a penurious and scanty provision for the
soldiers, must, in my opinion, proceed from an inattentive consideration
of their pay, and will, therefore, be removed, by laying before them an
account of his condition, and comparing his daily pay with his daily
expenses.
The whole pay of a foot soldier, sir, is sixpence a-day, of which he is
to pay fourpence to his landlord for his diet, or, what is very nearly
the same, to carry fourpence daily to the market, for which how small a
supply of provisions he can bring to his quarters, especially in time of
scarcity, I need not mention.
There remain then only twopence, sir, to be disbursed for things not
immediately necessary for the preservation of life, but which no man can
want without being despicable to others and burdensome to himself.
Twopence a-day is all that a soldier has to lay out upon cleanliness and
decency, and with which he is likewise to keep his arms in order, and to
supply himself with some part of his clothing. If, sir, after these
deductions, he can, from twopence a-day, procure himself the means of
enjoying a few happy moments in the year with his companions over a cup
of ale, is not his economy much more to be envied than his luxury? Or
can it be charged upon him that he enjoys more than his share of the
felicities of life? Is he to be burdened with new expenses lest he
should hoard up the publick money, stop the circulation of coin, and
turn broker or usurer with twopence a-day?
I have been so long acquainted, sir, with the soldier's character, that
I will adventure to secure him from the charge of avarice, and to
promise that whatever he shall possess not necessary to life, he will
enjoy to the advantage of his landlord.
Then the advocate CAMPBELL spoke in substance as follows:--Sir, I am far
from intending to oppose this proposal of five pints, though, upon a
rigorous examination, it might appear more than the mere wants of nature
require; for I cannot but declare that this question has too long
engaged the attention of the house, and that the representatives of a
mighty nation beset with enemies, and encumbered with difficulties, seem
to forget their importance and their dignity, by wrangling from day to
day upon a pint of small beer.
I conceive the bill, which we are now considering, sir, not as a
perpetual and standing law, to be interwoven with our constitution, or
added to the principles of our government, but as a temporary
establishment for the present year; an expedient to be laid aside when
our affairs cease to require it; an experimental essay of a new
practice, which may be changed or continued according to its success.
To allow, sir, five pints of small beer a-day to our soldiers, for a
single year, can produce no formidable inconveniency, and may, though it
should not be entirely approved, be of less disadvantage to the publick,
than the waste of another day.
[An alteration was made to five pints, instead of three quarts; and the
bill, thus amended, was ordered to be engrossed, and a few days
afterwards, being read a third time, was passed, and ordered to the
lords, where it occasioned no debate.]