In addition to these intimate matters the French corporal has to superintend the drill of recruits, teach them to arrange their kit and packs, and show them methods of cleaning arms and kit, and grooming horses. He is empowered to inflict minor punishments which he must report to the sergeant in charge of the troop. The corporal is responsible for the maintenance of order in the barrack room, for the proper serving of meals, and the compliance with the order for "lights out"; he takes turn as corporal of the week with his fellows, and in that capacity is deputy for and assistant to the sergeant of the week. Altogether, the corporal of the French Army has a very busy time, and in addition to this his position is not so secure as that of the British corporal; the latter's rank counts as a definite promotion, while the rank of the French corporal is only an appointment, and he may find himself "reduced" much more quickly than the British man in an equivalent position.
The conscript system, leading to a number of unwilling soldiers, is much more provocative of punishments than the voluntary system. In the latter, all men who enlist get the habit of making the best of their service; they have joined the army of their own free will, and have only themselves to blame if they do not like it. In a conscript army, however, there are many who hate the limitations imposed on them by service in time of peace, and enter only with a view to getting the business over and getting back to their former positions in life; it is a disagreeable necessity, the period of military service, and they are there to do as little as possible, without any regard to the welfare of the country, though a national emergency like the present finds every man willing to do his part. Not that such an attitude is the rule in time of peace, but, especially among the very lowest classes, it is not unusual. Since it is impossible to make sheep and goats of the men, but all must be treated alike, discipline is much more rigid and severe than in the British Army--which is the only voluntary European army from which comparisons can be drawn. The view is taken--necessarily taken--that men must be compelled to do their work and learn their lessons of drill and shooting; for those who give trouble in any way, there is the _salle de police_, or guard-room, the prison for worse offences, and, for hardened offenders, there is service in the dreaded disciplinary battalions of Algeria. This last form of punishment is resorted to only in the case of men who have "committed one or several faults, the gravity of which makes any other mode of repression inadequate."