1886
Nursing for the soldier--Pacification of Burma considered
--Measures recommended--The Buddhist priesthood
--The Regimental Institute--The Army Temperance Association
Many interesting and important questions had to be dealt with during
this my first year as a member of the Viceroy's Council, and it was
pleasant to me to be able to bring before the Government of India a
scheme which my wife had had very much at heart for many years--for
supplying skilled nursing to the military hospitals in India. That
our sick soldiers (officers and men) should be entirely dependent for
nursing, even in times of the most dangerous illness, on the tender
mercies of 'the orderly on duty,' who, whether kind-hearted or the
reverse, was necessarily utterly untrained and ignorant of the
requirements of sickness, was a source of unhappiness to her, and had
been felt as a cruel want by many; but whenever she had discussed
the subject with those who might have helped her, she was told that
proposals for supplying this want had already been made, that the
Government could not, nor would they ever be able to, act on such
proposals, on account of the prohibitory expense, so she felt there
was no use in making any appeal until I might be in a position to
see that any suggestions made by her would be certain to receive the
careful consideration of Government. This time had now arrived, and
almost directly Lady Roberts returned to India in 1886 she drew up a
scheme for supplying lady nurses to the military hospitals throughout
India, and set to work to try and get the support of some of the
principal Medical officers. To her great joy, her recommendations
were accepted by Lord Dufferin and his Council, and her note upon the
subject was sent home to the Secretary of State, strongly backed up
by the Government of India. Lord Cross happily viewed the matter in
a favourable light, and consented, not only to a certain number of
nurses being sent out the following year as an experiment, but to the
whole of the cost of the movement being borne by the State, with the
exception of the provision of 'Homes in the Hills' for the nursing
sisters as health resorts, and to prevent the expense to Government
of their having to be sent home on sick-leave when worn out by their
trying work in the plains. The Secretary of State, however, declared
these Homes to be 'an important part' of the nursing scheme, 'and
indispensable to its practical working,' but considered that they
should be provided by private subscription, a condition my wife
undertook to carry out. She appealed to the Army in India to help her,
and with scarcely an exception every regiment and battery generously
responded--even the private soldiers subscribed largely in proportion
to their small means--so that by the beginning of the following year
my wife was able to set about purchasing and building suitable houses.
[Illustration: LADY ROBERTS OF KANDAHAR.
_From a photograph by Messrs. Johnson and Hoffmann._]
'Homes' were established at Murree, Kasauli and Quetta, in Bengal,
and at Wellington[1] in Madras, and by making a further appeal to the
officers of the army, and with the assistance of kind and liberal
friends in England and India, and the proceeds of various
entertainments, Lady Roberts was able to supply, in connexion with
the 'Homes' at Murree and Kasauli, wards for the reception of sick
officers, with a staff of nurses[2] in attendance, whose salaries,
passages, etc., are all paid out of 'Lady Roberts's Fund.' My wife was
induced to do this from having known many young officers succumb owing
to want of care and improper food at hotels or clubs on being sent to
the Hills after a hard fight for life in the plains, if they were not
fortunate enough to have personal friends to look after them. Although
it is anticipating events, I may as well say here that the nursing
experiment proved a complete success, and now every large military
hospital in India has its staff of nurses, and there are altogether 4
superintendents, 9 deputy superintendents, and 39 nursing sisters, in
India. There are many more wanted in the smaller stations, where there
is often great loss of life from lack of proper nursing, and surely,
as my wife pointed out in her first appeal, 'when one considers what
an expensive article the British soldier is, costing, as he does, £100
before landing in India, it seems certain that on the score of economy
alone, altogether setting aside the humane aspect of the question,
it is well worth the State's while to provide him with the skilled
nursing care' which has up to now saved so many lives.
That officers as well as men might benefit by the devotion of the
'nursing sister,' I was able to arrange in all the large hospitals
for some room, or rooms, used until then for other purposes, to be
appropriated for an officers' ward or wards, and these have proved
a great boon to the younger officers whose income does not admit of
their obtaining the expensive care of a nurse from one of the large
civil hospitals in the Presidency towns.
The next most interesting question, and also the most pressing, which
had to be considered by the Viceroy's Council during the summer of
1886, was the pacification of Upper Burma. People in England had
expressed surprise at this being so long delayed. It is extremely
easy, however, to sit at home and talk of what should be done, but
very difficult to say how to do it, and more difficult still to carry
it out. To establish law and order in a country nearly as large as
France, in which dacoity is looked upon as an honourable profession,
would be no light task even in Europe: but when the country to be
settled has a deadly climate for several months in the year, is
covered to a great extent with jungle, and is without a vestige of
a road, the task assumes gigantic proportions. In Upper Burma the
garrison was only sufficient to keep open communication along the line
of the Irrawaddy, and, to add to the embarrassment of the situation,
disaffection had spread to Lower Burma, and disturbances had broken
out in the almost unknown district between Upper Burma and Assam.
It was arranged to send strong reinforcements to Burma so soon as the
unhealthy season should be over and it would be safe for the troops
to go there, and Lieutenant-General Sir Herbert Macpherson (who had
succeeded me as Commander-in-Chief in Madras) was directed to proceed
thither.
In October my wife and I, with some of my staff, started from Simla on
a trip across the Hills, with the object of inspecting the stations of
Dhurmsala and Dalhousie before it was cool enough to begin my winter
tour in the plains. We crossed the Jalaurie Pass, between 11,000 and
12,000 feet high, and travelling through the beautiful Kulu valley and
over the Bubbu mountain, we finally arrived at Palampur, the centre
of the tea industry in the Kangra valley. Having been cut off from
telegraphic communication for some time, we went straight to the
telegraph-office for news, and found at the moment a message being
deciphered which brought me the terribly sad information that General
Macpherson had died of fever in Burma. In him the country had lost a
good soldier, and I a friend and comrade for whom I had a great
regard and admiration. We were discussing his untimely end, and I was
considering who should replace him, when a second message arrived.
This was from Lord Dufferin, telling me that he wished me to transfer
my Head-Quarters to Burma, and arrange to remain there until 'the neck
of the business was broken.'
I hurried to Calcutta, embarked in the first mail-steamer, and landed
at Rangoon on the 9th November.
Sir Charles Bernard (the Chief Commissioner) and General White had
done well under very difficult circumstances; but owing partly to
large districts being impassable from months of heavy rain, and partly
to the change in Commanders, unavoidable inaction had been forced upon
our troops, and the dacoits had in consequence made head against us.
Having been in constant correspondence with General White, I had been
kept informed of his plans, and, as his responsible Chief, I had
approved of them; I therefore had the somewhat complicated military
situation at my fingers' ends, and did not need to lose a single day
in arranging for a series of combined movements being carried on all
over the country.
It was hoped that the recently arrived reinforcements would be
sufficient for all requirements, but it soon became apparent that
the difficulties connected with the pacification of Burma had been
under-rated, and that, in addition to more troops, an efficient
civil administration would have to be provided, to take the place of
military authority so soon as anything like organized resistance had
been crushed; for to deal with ordinary robbers I conceived to be
work more suited to police than to soldiers. Upwards of thirty years'
experience had proved that the Burmese could not be relied upon for
this kind of service; I therefore recommended that a large body
of police should be raised in India without delay, and given a
semi-military organization, and in the meantime I asked for, and was
given, five additional regiments.
I felt very confident of success, for I had taken great care in the
selection of the brigade commanders and staff officers, and I knew
the troops could be depended upon in any emergency that was likely to
arise. Nevertheless, as the work they would have to perform was of
rather an unusual character, irksome as well as difficult, I thought
it advisable to issue some general instructions for the guidance
of the officers in command of the different columns.[3] These
instructions were carried out so intelligently, and the troops did
such good service, especially a very fine body of Mounted Infantry
raised and organized by Major Symons, of the South Wales Borderers,
that before I returned to India in February, 1887, I was able to
report that the country was gradually becoming quiet and the Burmese
reconciled to our rule. Most of the principal dacoit leaders had been
killed or captured, and villages which had been in their hands for
months were being reoccupied by their legitimate inhabitants; caravans
were coming into Mandalay almost daily from districts on the Chinese
borders; contracts for making roads were readily taken up, and there
was no difficulty in obtaining labour for the railway then being
constructed between Lower Burma and Mandalay, the first sod of which
was turned within a month of my arrival at that place.
In achieving these satisfactory results I was materially aided by the
hearty co-operation of Sir Charles Bernard and the civil officers
serving under him; while the entire absence of fanaticism amongst
the Burmese, and their cheerful, happy natures, facilitated our
intercourse with them. I received, besides, most valuable assistance
from the Buddhist _Poonghies_, or monks, with many of whom I made
friends. From the fact that education, secular and religious, is
imparted by these monks, and that every male, from the King to the
humblest peasant, was obliged to enter a monastery and wear the
saffron garb of a monk for a certain period, the priesthood had
enormous influence with the Burmese. There are no hereditary Chiefs or
Nobles in Burma, the _Poonghies_ being the advisers of the people and
the centre round which Native society revolves.
Our occupation of Upper Burma was necessarily a great blow to the
Buddhist priesthood, for many of the monasteries[4] were kept up
entirely by the King, Queen, and Ministers of State; and, as it was
most advisable to have the influence of the monks in our favour, I
recommended that a monthly stipend should be paid to the Archbishop
and two senior Bishops of Mandalay. They showed their gratitude by
doing all they could to help me, and when I was leaving the country
the old _Thathanabain_ (Archbishop) accompanied me as far as Rangoon.
We corresponded till his death, and I still hear occasionally from one
or other of my _Poonghie_ friends.
I remained only a short time in Calcutta on my return to India, and
then started off again for the North-West Frontier, in company with
General Chesney, who had previously expressed his general concurrence
in my defence proposals, but was anxious to see the several positions
and judge for himself, from an Engineer's point of view, of their
suitability to be treated as I suggested. It was a great source of
contentment to me to find that the sites chosen and the style of
entrenchments I had advocated commended themselves to my expert
companion.
Simla was more than usually gay during the summer of 1887, in
consequence of the numerous entertainments given in celebration of Her
Majesty's Jubilee. We had just added a ballroom to 'Snowdon,' and we
inaugurated its opening by a fancy ball on the 21st June, in honour of
the auspicious anniversary.
My name appeared in the Jubilee _Gazette_ as having been given the
Grand Cross of the Indian Empire, but what I valued still more was the
acceptance by the Government of India of my strong recommendation for
the establishment of a Club or Institute in every British regiment and
battery in India. In urging that this measure should be favourably
considered, I had said that the British Army in India could have no
better or more generally beneficial memorial of the Queen's Jubilee
than the abolition of that relic of barbarism, the canteen, and its
supersession by an Institute, in which the soldier would have under
the same roof a reading-room, recreation room, and a decently-managed
refreshment-room.
Lord Dufferin's Government met my views in the most liberal spirit,
and with the sanction of Lord Cross 'The Regimental Institute' became
a recognized establishment, a fact which my colleagues in Council
referred to as a second Jubilee honour for me!
At a time when nearly every soldier could read and write, and when
we hoped to attract to the army men of a better stamp and more
respectable antecedents than those of which it was composed in 'the
good old days,' it appeared to me a humiliating anachronism that the
degrading system of the canteen should still prevail, and that it was
impossible for any man to retain his self-respect if he were driven to
take his glass of beer under the rules by which regimental canteens
were governed. I believed, too, that the more the status of the rank
and file could be raised, and the greater the efforts made to provide
them with rational recreation and occupation in their leisure hours,
the less there would be of drunkenness, and consequently of crime, the
less immorality and the greater the number of efficient soldiers in
the army. Funds having been granted, a scheme was drawn up for the
erection of buildings and for the management of the Institutes.
Canteens were reduced in size, and such attractions as musical
instruments were removed to the recreation-rooms; the name 'liquor
bar' was substituted for that of 'canteen,' and, that there should be
no excuse for frequenting the 'liquor bar,' I authorized a moderate
and limited amount of beer to be served, if required, with the men's
suppers in the refreshment-room--an arrangement which has been
followed by the happiest results.
At first it was thought that these changes would cause a great falling
off in regimental funds, but experience has proved the reverse. With
good management, the profits from the coffee-shop and the soda-water
manufactory far exceed those to be derived from the canteen, and this
without permitting anyone outside the regiment to purchase from the
coffee-shop and without interfering at all with local tradesmen.
Another measure which I succeeded in carrying through the same year
was the amalgamation of the various sectarian societies that existed
in India for the prevention of drunkenness in the army into one
undenominational society, under the name of the Army Temperance
Association, which I hoped would admit of more united action and a
more advantageous use of funds, besides making it easier for the
Government to assist the movement. The different religious and 'total
abstinence' associations had no doubt done much towards the object
they had in view, but their work was necessarily spasmodic, and being
carried on independently of regimental authority, it was not always
looked upon with favour by officers.
There was of necessity at first a good deal of opposition on the part
of the promoters of the older societies, but those who were loudest in
denouncing my proposals soon came to understand that there was nothing
in the constitution of the Army Temperance Association which could in
any way interfere with total abstinence, and that the only difference
between their systems and mine consisted in mine being regimental in
its character, and including men for whom it was not necessary or
expedient to forego stimulants altogether, but who earnestly desired
to lead temperate lives, and to be strengthened in their resolve by
being allowed to share in the advantages of the new Institution.
To make the movement a complete success, it was above all things
important to secure the active co-operation of the ministers of the
various religions. To this end I addressed the heads of the different
churches, explaining my reasons and the results I hoped to attain
in establishing the amalgamated association, and I invited them to
testify their approval of the scheme by becoming patrons of it.
With two exceptions, the dignitaries to whom I appealed accepted
my invitation, and expressed sympathy with my aims and efforts,
an encouragement I had hardly dared to hope for, and a proof of
liberal-mindedness on the part of the prelates which was extremely
refreshing.
The Government of India were good enough to sanction the allotment of
a separate room in each soldiers' Institute for the exclusive use of
the Association, where alcohol in any shape was not admitted, and to
the grant of this room I attribute, in a great measure, the success of
the undertaking. The success was proved by the fact that, when I left
India, nearly one third of the 70,000 British soldiers in that country
were members or honorary members of the Army Temperance Association.
[Footnote 1: The homes at Quetta and Wellington were eventually taken
over by Government, and Lady Roberts' nurses, who worked in the
military hospitals at these stations, were replaced by Government
nurses when the increase to the Army Nursing Service admitted of this
being done.]
[Footnote 2: When the 'Homes in the Hills' are closed during the cold
months, these nurses attend sick officers in their own houses in the
plains, free of charge except travelling expenses.]
[Footnote 3: These instructions are given in the Appendix. (See
Appendix XI.)]
[Footnote 4: Monasteries in Burma are not merely dwelling-places for
the monks, but are the schools where all education is carried on.]
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