DISBANDING No. 2 COMPANY HUTT VOLUNTEERS.

PUBLIC MEETING

[BY OT7R SPECIAL REPORTER.]

A meeting- was held according to advertisement on Wednesday evening last, at the Odd Fellows' Hall, Hutt, for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of respectfully addressing his Excellency the Governor, regarding the rejection of the services offered by the No. 2 Company of Volunteers.

The disbauding of the Company had evidently caused much excitement in the district, not so much probably from the real fact of the company being disbanded, but from the opinion entertained that some under-hand influence had brought about such a result.

Long before the hour appointed knots of people could be seen on vai'ious parts of the road in " conclave solemn," evidently discussingthe question, and from their gesticulations they seemed bent upon " seeing the matter through 1 * and finding out if possible the real cause of such a summary proceeding, as took place on Friday last, on parade. A bell provided for the occasion, toll'd forth its summoning peals on the night air, and soon were assembled enough of the inhabitants of the Hutt to comfortably fill the room which had been engaged.

Mr Williams was unanimously called to the chair, and proceeded to read the advertisement by which the meeting was convened, remarking that the cause of complaint was so well-known tohis brother settlersthatit needed no comment from him. He hoped some of the gentlemen present were prepared with resolutions on the subject, and that thoy would be temperate in their discussion. He had heard that the captain of the late No. 2 Company, had received a letter from Major Gorton, which might throw some light on the proceeding, and he would call upon that gentleman to read it. Lieut. Lynch then read the following official document : Militia and Volunteer Orderly Room, Wellington, August 23, 1864. Siu. — By direction of tho Minister for Colonial Defence, 1 have tho honor to inform you why tho services of those gentlemen who were sworn in to form No. 2 Company Hutfc Rifle Volunteers were not accepted, viz : That tho movement does not appear to tho Government to bo calculated to advance tho interests of the public in any way, or to increase the efficiency of tho local forces at the Hutt; on the contrary, if the services of these gentlemen are accepted the Lower Hutt Company of Militia will at once be weakened to such an extent as very materially to impair its usefulness. Under these circumstances his Excellency's advisers cannot recommend him to accept the | services of the gentlemen refened to for the purpose of being enrolled as a Volunteer Company. I must request you will bo gool enough to lay this bofore the meeting of which you acted as chairman. I have the honor to bo, Sir, Your most obedient servant, Edward Gorton, Miijor Commanding Wellington Militia District. Liotit. Lynch, llutt Battalion, Wellington Militia. He (Mr Lynch) said he had also received another letter (as an enclosure) which wont to show that the Major wished the Company to be informed that " he was sorry for having sworn in the Company until he had received final instructions from the Government." A Voice : — Oh ! he finds he's in the wrong box, does he? (cheers). The Chairman wished to know if anyone was acquainted with the contents of the letter read by Major Gorton on parade. Mr Clements said so far as he could hear, it merely went to shew that his Excellency had been advised not to accept the services of the Company, but it was read in such a hasty manner that really it was almost impossible to hear it. He (Mr C.) considered it was not treating the men fairly to one day swear them in as rnilitiainon, then again as volunteers, and at a moment's notice to re . swear them as militia. A Voice : We were not sworn in ; we wer bullied. Mr Clements then proposed the following resolution : — ■ That heretofore the General Government has urgently recommended tho formation of Volunteer Companies, and has confeireii on them privileges and perquisites, with a view lo encourage Volunteering. That tho members who offered to serve as a second Volunteer Company Lower Hutt, consider themselves entitled to*be enrolled and equally to receive ai share of the indulgences enjoyed by others. He said there wore many reasons why they had wished to form a second Company of Volunteers — some had one reason and som c another, but the principal one, ho thought was tho privilege of electing their own officers ' Some felt grieved at the manner in which' they had been treated, and flinched when they came on parade to do duty under officefsthey hadnottheslightestconfidencein.

As far as he (Mr Clements) was personally concerned, although he was over forty years of age and consequently exempt from tho militia, he wished to servo his country so long as his services might be required, but lie wished to do it with as little anno} r anee as possible. It was an old adage that " Britons never shall be slaves," but really the; proceedings of last Friday bordered very closely on that hated word. (Cheers). It might be asked how it was he did not speak to Major Gorton on parade ; he would answer that it was not because he feared Major Gorton, but because he feared himself; he thought his excitable temper might have led him to say too much. (Laughter). But he had calmed down since then and could now talk upon the matter. The forming of No. 2 Company had been in agitation for six months at least before it took tangible form. Several men had applied to enter tho ranks of No. 1 Company, but they could not, as that body was sufficiently strong ; therefore, there were many men in the district who were debarred the privileges belonging to a volunteer altogether, although the Government had expressed its willingness to encourage as much as possible the spirit of volunteering throughout the Island. (Hear, hear). They had published instructions, which they (No. 2 Company) had rigidly complied with, and yet when they applied to the Governor, through the proper channel, he had refused their services. They all knew how they were assisted in the formation of the Company by gentlemen in the districtby those whom it was strongly believed had some hand in the rejection. (Loud cheers). Mr Fitzherbert, jun. collected the names and in doing so had forestalled another party — one of themselves — in the undertaking, and on the Monday morning at 12 o'clock brought a list with thirty-eight names attached. Messrs. Jackson and Braithwaite, who had been assisting, then found two other names, and the matter was settled They waited on Mr Cleland, who did not wish to act, but advised them to address Major Gorton. Ho (Mr Clements) said what came back from that gentleman was well known to all — he (the Major) promised he would do all he could to forward tho Company, and suggested thoy should call a meeting for the election of oflicors, while it was pretty evident he was writing in quite a different strain, to head quarters. Three days afterwards, it would be remembered, the Major was amongst them, swore in the Company, who afterwards elected their officers, and congratulated the men upon their selection. By some extraordinary chance, none of the swells who had taken such trouble in the matter were present at the meeting, and, although their names were on the requisition to form another Company, none of them were sworn in. (Hear hear.) Now it was argued that the principal reason was the weakening of the Militia, but he had looked over the roll and found that only twenty-three had seceded from that body, the remainder were made up of men over age, and others had only just arrived at the ago required by law. After the formation of the company, they would remember that everything went on as smoothly as possible, the Company went twice to drill, and on the third drill day, Capt Lynch had his men out and was reading a letter concerning the late Colonel Nixon, when ho (Mr Clement) saw a horse's head in the distance and he exclaimed " Here comes tho Major." (Laughter.) Major Gorton, on arriving in front of the Company, after a very short parley, asKed Capt. Cleland if he had a Bible in his pocket (oh ! oh !) evidently wishing to be prepared. The Major then read the letter, shouted out as, he, could shout only •' March oil" No 1," " Strike up the band," and before the Company had time to think about the subject, eight out of their ranks had been sworn in, and they, the youngest members of the corps. He (Mr Clements) was sure there was not time for any one of the officers to cry out " stop men," if thoy had so wished, for what with the noise of the band they had actually not heard the swearing in, and when the eight had gone, the Company was under the number required by the Act. There was no doubt, he thought, but they had been caught as fairly in a trap as ever mouse was, and they had met there that night to try to get out of it. (Hear, hear.) One of the privates in the Company objected to this summary proceeding, and he wa3 threatened to be fined £20 by the Major, when another gentleman who was standing by (MrLudlam) remarked, he wondered it was not £50. He certainly thought they had been unjustly dealt with. (Hear, hear.) They were men who might be led but could not be driven ; they wero a class who would not be gagged, and he sincerely hoped the matter would bo gone through with as earnestly as it had been commenced. (Loud cheers.) He fMr Clement) concluded by observing, that in his opinion, he had said his share, and if all the next speakers said as much, there was a good chance of its being a long meeting. Mr Cameron had much pleasui'e in seconding the resolution, which was was put and carried unanimously.

A gentleman in the meeting wished to know the privileges enjoyed by Volunteers over Militiamen.

The Chairman said he would enumerate a few of them, they were : — freedom from serving on a jury, a suit of clothes, as uniform each year, freedom from serving in the Militia after four years service, election of their own officers, fixing their own times and places for drill, and another privilege which the Volunteers were at present trying for, viz., a grant of land after a certain number of years' service,

Mr J. Lansdaile thon moved and Mr White seconded the following resolution : —

Having now heard the reasons given by Major Gorton in the letter addressed to Lieut. Lynch, we f»till think that the question is open to grave suspicion of partiality, and that wo earnestly protost against any undue or private influence creeping into tho Militia and Volunteer fidi'vico in this District.

Mr Lansdale said ho stood before them that evening, to raise his voice against oppression. He was sixty-six years old and ho was proud to say, was still able, if necessary, to assist in protecting his country. He had always shown his hatred for despotism in any form, and would always try, so far as was in his power, to put a stop to it. He had travelled in Scotland and in England and had found none there, and he certainly thought those who emigrated to this country never expected to be made slaves of, to be at the beck and call of any one man, as tho poor fellows'in Russia wei'e at the present moment He (Mr L.) would like to know that if a man is forced by threats to take an oath, whother it is considered binding on his conscience. In all his experience ho had never seen or heard of men beiug forced, intimidated he might say, into taking an oath, as tho No. 2 Company had been by a certain officer on tho previous Friday. It was not consistent with reason or common sense that such a thing should be tolerated in a free country like the one in which they were at present located. In his opinion it was manifestly uufair that the youngest in the Company should have been sworn in first—boys, in fact, who could easily have been intimidated into anything ; a proof of which was they

at once took the oath. He (Mr Lansclale) hoped the strictest inquiry would be made, for although they might be only working men, they were not to bo set aside at the will and pleasure of a would-be aristocracy because they did not wear a cloth coat. (Cheers.) He had no doubt in his own mind who the parties were who had caused his Excellency to bo advised as he had been — they were men who had such petty jealousies of pride, that they could not sufler working men — no matter how adapted they were for the position, to act as officers over them. Those were the men who wished to dangle a sword, and who would, ho doubted not, if they met an enemy, tremble in their shoes. (Loud applause and laughter.) So long as a man was worthy of the confidence of tho public, so long would he, for one, bow to him and salute him respectfully, but so soon as he became unworthy of that confidence, it would not be consistent with freedom or independence to cringe to him. He (Mr L.) considered all true-hearted Volunteers a most loyal body of men, who should be free from petty jealousies — such men would fight for their hearths and homes and the Queen's supremacy to the last, and such men did not require such turkey-cock performances as had been exhibited to them on more than one occasion in the Hutt. (A Voice ; By " Robin Redbreasts.") He begged the meeting would memorialise the Governor at once, would go to head-quarters, and he was sure they would be treated well. He had every confidence in Sir George Grey, who had done him a service, and who was universally acknowledged as the friend of the working classes. Sir George had merited from him (Mr Lansdale) his humble prayers of gratitude, and although he was sixty-six years of age, whenever he was called upon by him he would be prepared to shoulder arms in defence of his country, but he would not submit to be domineered over by a few menial crawlers who were then trying to cheat the working class of their privileges. (Loud and long continued cheers). He supposed they must bear their lot until it could be redressed, but ho would remind those gentlemen that the finger of scorn and of God was pointed against the proud. Mr Lansdale concluded by again oxhortiug the meeting to send to head-quarters at onee — the Governor, he said, would teach those little ones under him their duty. The resolution was put and carried by acclamation. Mr A. White proposed and Mr N". Valentine seconded— That wo have full and entire confidence in the officers we elected, and that we believe them to be equal if not superior to those of any other company in tho District. Carried unanimously. Mr Odling moved and Mr Sanson seconded That we feel great reluctance in being forced back by threats to serve under officers whom wo consider unfit to instruct or lead us, and in whom we have no confidence whatever. Carried with much cheering. Mr Austin moved and Mr S. Tucker sconded — That the foregoing resolutions be embodied in a respectful petition to his Excellency the Governor, and that ho be humbly requested to sanction the formation of the second Volunteer Company in question. Carried. Mr Sanson said he had heard that Major Gorton had said that he possessed power to disband a volunteer company when it pleased him. Now if that were the case, he for one did not care for running the risk of serving three years and eleven months, and then be disbanded to commence service again as soon as the militia were called out.

Mr Austin said Major Gorton not only said so, but he also said he had the power in his pocket. Mr Tucker proposed and Mr J. Knight seconded—

That the Hutt Volunteers now assembled have no confidence in Major Gorton as a commanding officer after the singular manner in which he acted on the occasion of disbanding No. 2 Company.

Mr Clements wished to say a word or two more if the meeting would allow him. When it was found that the three gentlemen named in his previous remarks had not been made officers they immeniately communicated to certain gentlemen that No. 2 Company would fall to the ground. [" Name" from all parts of the room]. He did not wish to mention names but Lieut, Mills was one to whom this information had been given. Mr Braithwaite had said that he was certain to be elected captain, but had been told by him (Mr Clements) that he didn't think so. Mr Jackson, also, did not see why he should not be made a captain of, but both had been disappointed. These gentlemen had been heard to say that Mr Lynch was too old for a captain, and couldn't hoar well enough. He (Mr Clements) was sorry these gentlemen were not present this evening, particularly the one who had boasted of already being lieutennant aud would not think of accepting anything short of a captain's commission. (Laughter). Ho need not tell them he meant Mr Braithwaite, who at first had taken such interest in the Company, but when he found he could not get his own way sneaked from all their meetings. (Cheers.) Mr Bennett and Mr Austin said they had heard Mr Braithwaite say as early as the previous Wednesday that he was aware the Company would be disbanded on next drill day. This, the latter considered was an act of discourtesy on the part of Major Gorton, who in his opinion should have communicated first to Captain Lynch, the captain of the disbanded compan}'. The following gentlemen were then appointed as a committee to carry out the wishes of the meeting : — Messrs. Lynch, Williams, Valentine, Bennett, Clements, Tucker, and Austin.

A vote of thanks to the Chairman concluded the proceedings, which were conducted with the greatest good temper. [During the evening a paragraph which appeared in this journal on Tuesday last was read to the meeting, (it having been contradicted by the Major, ( and was substantiated by a host of speakers, who declared everything took place that was there stated.]