The actual pay—of which I give you the amounts—is in practice augmented by a mass of "indemnities," so-called, for residence, travelling, mustering, lodging, high price of food, office expenses, maintenance of dignity, first equipment, &c., varying with the nature of the employment, and the individuals employed.
Some officers draw their bare pay, whilst others make a large income, of which no official trace can anywhere be found.
Similarly, in the case of the men: the cost of provisions, firing, lighting, sleeping accommodation, medical treatment in or out of hospital, is reckoned in a lump sum, without distinction between different branches of the service.
This extraordinary confusion is cunningly contrived to prevent any control.
These are the items of pay:
| FRANCS. | |
| Colonel | 8564.21 |
| Lieutenant-colonel | 6934.74 |
| Major and Chef d'Escadron | 5797.90 |
| Captain | 3221.05 |
| First-lieutenant | 2842.11 |
| Second-lieutenant | 2652.63 |
| Sub-lieutenant | 2463.16 |
| Adjutant | 1022.00 |
| Sergeant-major | 511.00 |
| Sergeant | 401.50 |
| Farrier | 346.75 |
| Corporal | 200.75 |
| Trumpeter | 127.75 |
| Trooper | 109.50 |
(The N.C.O.s have 91.25 francs extra in the field.)
Note the exactitude of the above figures to a single centime, and yet there may be in addition hundreds or even thousands of francs handled in reality, either in money or in kind.
Always, &c.,
(Signed) URBAIN GOHIER.