87 (10) are enlisted "for the period of 12 years, if the recruit be 18 years of age or upwards, but if under 18 years, then the difference between his age and 18 is to be added to such 12 years, provided the Company require his services so long (11). If after the above period of service the soldier should not renew his contract to serve, he becomes entitled to his discharge. If a soldier has enlisted for unlimited service, and shall have conducted himself to the satisfaction of his comg. officer, he is entitled at the expiration of 12 years from the date of his enlistment, to a bounty; and at the expiration of 17 years to his discharge, or to re-enlistment on the usual terms. The discharge of Company's soldiers is usually authorized, if applied for, on payment of £80; the soldier defraying his passage to England."

By sec. lii. of the M. A. 4 Geo. IV. c. 81. Every soldier entitled to his discharge is sent home free of expense, and is entitled on his return to receive marching money from the place of his being landed to the parish or place in which he was originally enlisted, at the same rate as allowed to soldiers in H. M.'s service, and by sec. liii. he is made subject to this act, and the Arts. of War till his debarkation.

Every native soldier in the E. I. C.'s service is entitled to his discharge in time of peace, after three years' service, and the same is granted at the expiration of two months from the application being made, provided it does not cause the vacancies in his comp. to exceed 10, in which case he must continue to serve till that objection be removed; but in time of war, he has no claim to a discharge, but must remain, and do his duty, until the necessity of retaining him in the service shall cease. -Declaration M. C. Bengal, 8th August, 1796.

CHAPTER V.

SECTION 4.-MUSTERS.

The Penalty of signing false Certificates.

ART. 1.] (1) Every officer who shall be convicted before a gen. ct.mar. of having knowingly signed a false certificate relating to the absence of either officer, non-com. officer, or private soldier, shall be cashiered; and every officer who shall be convicted before a gen. ct.mar. of having signed certificates, returns, or forms of account in blank, previously to the insertion in them by the paymaster, or other officer or person concerned, of the accounts or circumstances for which his signature is to be a voucher, shall be liable to be cashiered.

1. Knowingly signing a false Certificate, &c.] The sec. xxxviii of the

(10) Ann. M. A., 1824, sec. xciii., p. 146. (11) Ann. M. A., 1824. p. 242. (H.)

M. A.

(1) Ann. Arts. of War, 1824, art. 2.

M. A. enacts" That if any person do make or give, or procure to be made or given, any false or untrue certificate, whereby to excuse any soldier for his absence from any muster, or any other service which he ought to attend or perform, upon pretence of such soldier being employed upon some other duty of the regt., or being sick, in prison (2), or on furlough; then every such person so making, giving, or procuring such certificate, shall for every such offence, forfeit the sum of 400 sicca rupees (3), and shall be forthwith (4) cashiered and displaced from his office, and shall be thereby utterly disabled to have or hold any mil. office or employment in the service of the Co. in the East-Indies, and no certificate shall excuse the absence of any soldier but for the reasons abovementioned, or one of them." The above sec. extends the penalty to accessaries before the fact.

"The above sec. (xxxviii) of the M. A. makes not the same distinction with the art. in question, between a false certificate, knowingly or otherwise given; acting, as it may be supposed, on the presumption, that the party certifying is bound to inform himself fully of all that he is in duty called upon to certify, and if he be negligent in informing himself, or take any thing on trust, he cannot find any lawful excuse in his ignorance or misplaced confidence, being both in opposition to a plain and manifest duty; or it would be making the breach of one part of duty, which is contrary to every principle of right, a sanction for another" (5). The offence is properly called a positive fraud or deceit (6).

The art. in question relates to the signing a false or untrue certificate as to the absence of a soldier "from any muster or any other ser vice, without expressing what is meant by the words " or any other service." A capt. &c. knowingly signing false reports of his division, as in case 1. The falsely returning men in the daily states of a comp, as in case 2, are both of them cases which may serve to shew what is intended by the words "or any other service." The term "service' means duty of any description. A muster is only taken once a month, and the muster-rolls are transmitted to the pay department (7), to assist that office in checking the pay abstracts or rolls which are subsequently made out to correspond, as to numbers and facts, with the muster-rolls. A false certificate, to excuse a soldier from any duty is justly punishable by the infliction of the highest penalty. It is obvious that if, for instance, a certain number of men in one comp. be

(2) Or confinement.

excused

(3) Recoverable in the Supreme Courts at Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay respectively. (See M. A., sec. xli., 4 Geo. IV. cap. 81.

(4) Though the 18th art., sec. xiv. authorizes the cashiering or dismissal of an officer without trial, still in a case like that in the art. in question, the more usual course is to try the party by a gen. ct.-mar. The words " convicted before à gen. ct.-mar." explain the mode of procedure intended.

(5) Samuel on M. A. and Arts. of War, p. 298. (6) Samuel on M. A. and Arts. of War, p. 296. (7) Military Auditor-General's Office.

excused from taking any duty, that such duty must become more severe on others, and consequently occasion discontent. That such is the intention of the legislature to prevent, may be inferred from the 6th and 7th arts. of sec. xii, prohibiting even the hiring of duty, or conniving at the same, under a discretionary penalty. We know that, in civil life, persons are averse to have imposed upon them the duty of another, and no men will evince more discontent than soldiers under such circumstances; it is therefore highly important to regulate the apportionment of duty according to principles of strict and impartial justice.

2. Signing Certificates, Returns, or Forms of Account, in blank.] This offence has been described as an implied or intended fraud or deceit (8). The signing a certificate, return, or form of account in blank, may affect the govt. in various ways. In the case of a certificate relating to the absence of soldiers, or of a return, shewing the number of men present, &c. the officer signing such in blank, enables another officer to make a false statement as to those particulars, under the sanction of his signature, and thus to deceive those who are entitled to call for such information; but the signing forms of account in blank, may enable an officer actually to defraud the govt., and though all public papers should be ascertained to be complete before they are signed, particular attention should be paid to see that there be not a single blank left unfilled up in forms of accounts. The signing a paper with a single blank unfilled up, might be a neglect only, but where it is blank in toto, can only proceed from wilful neglect, or placing a confidence in another, inconsistent with public duty. Where the intention of the party to deceive is made evident, by omitting dates, &c., to answer a particular purpose, as in case 3, it amounts to wilful neglect. The officer signing, vouches for the truth of that which he signs, and the govt. look to him as the person responsible for its correctness. The penalty is a liability to be cashiered, thus leaving a gen. ct.-mar. to award a less punishment, should the circumstances of the case warrant leniency.

3. Charges.] See forms, Nos. 39 and 40, Chap. I. That A. B. did, on, at, knowingly sign a false certificate, &c. relating to the absence of C. D.; or, did sign a certificate, return, or form of account, in blank, previously to the insertion therein, by E. F., of, &c. (state particulars). In this last case it does not signify whether the signing be knowingly or not; the signing a form in blank gives the means of fraud, &c.—the same being in breach of the Arts. of War. 4. Evidence.] Nos. 1 and 2, as at Chap. III, sec. ii, art. 1. 3. Prove the certificate to be false, or the form being signed in blank. 4. Prove the hand-writing of the officer signing. One witness to prove the hand-writing, and another witness to prove the certificate to be false.

(8) Samuel on M. A. and Arts. of War, p. 296.

1.

There

There should be two witnesses, see M. A. sec. xxxix, and art. 2 of this sec., requiring two.

5. Punishment.] 1st Branch, cashiered and displaced from his office, and utterly disabled to have or hold any mil. office or employment in the service of the Co. in the East-Indies, and penalty of 400 sicca rupees, to be recovered in the Supreme Court at Calcutta, &c.

2d Branch.-Liability to be cashiered.-(See cases 1, 2, and 3, and Punishments, at the end of Chap. XXIV.)

CONTENTS.

Signing false reports of his division, knowing them to be so, &c. case 1.-Cashiered.

Falsely returning a man present in the daily states, case 2.-Ca

shiered.

Signing a recommendation roll for promotion, without inserting dates, and sending it without adjt.'s signature, case 3.—Six months' suspension from rank and pay.

CASE 1.] G. O. H. G., 17th July 1811. At a gen. ct.-mar., Capt. the hon. F. F., of the Royal African corps, was arraigned upon the undermentioned charges:

4th. For having on the 7th May 1811, signed false reports of his division, knowing them to be so, in direct contradiction to the rules of good order and mil. discipline.

6th. "For having on the 21st May 1811, written an insulting and contemptuous letter to Capt. Odlum, his comg. officer, peristing in disobedience of his (Capt. Odlum's) orders, and defying his authority, in detaining private J. Boyton, of the detacht., for his servant."

FINDING-Guilty of all the (six) charges, and consider the 4th and 6th charges of so serious a nature, that they sentence him to be cashiered; and, therefore, deem it unnecessary to make any remarks upon the other charges (9). SENTENCE-To be cashiered.

Approved and confirmed by H. R. H. the P. R.

By order: (Signed)

H. CALVERT, Adj.gen.

CASE 2.] G. O. H. G., 10th July 1818. At a gen. ct.-mar. Lieut. T. H., of the 9th regt. of foot, was arraigned upon the undermentioned charges, viz. (10)

1st. "For disobedience of the orders of the 9th regt., in employing W. Finn, a bât man and servant, without the leave of his comg. officer, between the 1st and 18th July 1817, and for falsely returning the said W. Finn in the daily states of the comp. under his command, 'present on parade;' and further for wilful disobedience of the orders of his comg. officer, in again employing the said W. Finn as a bât man, between the 20th Oct. and the 10th Nov. 1817, and falsely rereturning

(9) The other four charges were for contempt and disobedience of Capt. Odlum's orders and neglect of duty.

(10) 3d, 4th, 5th and 6th charges for wilful neglect of duty and disobedience of ors.,&c.

turning him daily during that period, 'present on parade,' and also in employing private J. Jones, as bât man, without such leave, between the 14th and 29th Nov. 1817, and falsely returning him present on parade,' during that period.

2d. "For falsely returning private J. Hollis as bât man to the comp. under his command, between the 20th Oct. and 30th Nov. 1817, during which period he was not so employed, but ordered by Lieut. H. to mount the village guard, at Hermis, in the place of private W. Finn."

FINDING-Guilty. SENTENCE-To be cashiered.

Approved and confirmed by the P. R.-By command.

(Signed) H. CALVERT, Adj.gen.

CASE 3.] G. O. C. C., 25th Sept. 1815. Lieut.col. G., 1st bat.. 16th N. I., ordered into arrest on the following charges:

1st. "That the said Lieut.col. G., having command of the 1st bat. 16th regt. N. I., at Cawnpore, on or about the 21st March last, and in a roll, dated 21st March 1815, and transmitted to the Adj.gen.'s office, knowingly recommended for promotion to the rank of jemr., Havr. K,hoosial Sing, notwithstanding he had then been less than four years in the service, was one of the jun. havrs. in the corps, and had not merited such rapid advancement, even to that of havr., which he had prematurely obtained.

"That the said Lieut.col. G., having caused the recommendation roll to be prepared at his own qrs., by the drum maj. of the bat., without the knowledge of the adjt., in which roll the dates of enlisting and of promotion to the intermediate ranks were omitted, and to which no list of the havrs. senior to K,hoosial Sing, with the reasons of their being passed over, was annexed, did withhold the information required by the regs. of the service, with the manifest design of surreptitiously obtaining promotion for a favoured individual.

"Such conduct evincing shameful partiality to K,hoosial Sing, and great injustice to the havrs. of the corps in particular, being unbecoming the character of a comg. officer, prejudicial in its tendency to the interests of the Native Army, and in breach of the Arts. of War.

2d." That the said Lieut.col. G., in signing a recommendation roll for promotion, dated 21st March 1815, acted in disobedience to G. O., and greatly neglected his duty as a comg. officer of the corps, inasmuch as the said roll was extremely defective and unauthenticated by the adjt.'s signature.

"Such conduct being discreditable, unofficer-like, prejudicial to the service, and in breach of the Arts. of War."

FINDING-Guilty. SENTENCE--To be suspended from rank and pay for six calendar months.

Approved and confirmed:

(Signed) MOIRA.

REMARKS and OBSERVATIONS.-The Com. in chief has approved and confirmed the sentence of the gen. ct.-mar. upon Lieut.col. G. H. E. must regret that the ct. did not apprize the prisoner of the unwarrantable

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