ABSTRACT
The solution of the much vexed question concerning the propriety of sanctioning marriage in the Army is approaching. The events of the last few months have demonstrated that the subject can no longer be trifled with. Either the Soldier must be placed under severe restrictions, and marriage prohibited under penalties, or the system must be extensively sanctioned, and provision made for the wife and the widow. We think that the point will be determined in favor of marriage. It is always better to legalise acts which men perpetrate under the influence of an irresistible law of nature than to keep up restrictions which it is hardly possible to respect. There should be no such thing as connivance—rigid prohibition, or liberal sanction, must be the invariable rule in the Army if discipline is to be maintained.
