VOLUNTEERS' EXPENSES.

Press, Volume II, Issue 50, 26 April 1862, Page 2

VOLUNTEERS' EXPENSES.

We beg to call the attention of our readers to an article on " Volunteers' Expenses," copied from the ' Saturday Eeview,' which appears in another portion of our columns. It may probably surprise some persons to hear that even in England, with its dense population and enormously wealthy upper classes, there are elements of weakness and decay in the volunteer movement, which threaten to sap" the grandest effort of modern patriotism." Such, however, is the case ; and it maybe worth our while to look at home and to ascertain correctly how far our movement shaves in the same inherent defects. A little consideration will convince any of our readers that all the remarks of the writer of the article in question apply with double

force to our efforts in a similar however, this great difference between the *' form a volunteer force in the mother count t0 her youngest offshoot—that in the forrn^^ 111 exists an unlimited possession both of the f a the raw material which together are requisitTfb accomplishment of the end in view— whl latter, neither the wealth of the community numerical proportion of the male population whole, will allow any margin such as suffices in & * land to save the movement, in the eyes of § * observers, from the appearance of failure. With this experience to guide us, and if We reall meant anything by our late meetings and speed/ when the danger of war with America seemed im * nent, what efforts do we propose to ourselves fo securing the success of the )bject we have take "' hand ? To us it appears that those who are willi » to serve as volunteers, the general public, and th Government, have all and each of them distinct part to perform. It is useless for men to be sworn in and attached to some particular company, look' upon such matters of form and the occasional puttinrr on of a uniform as all that can be expected of the ° Such volunteering as this is simply worse than useless. So also it is unreasonable that a number of young men should be allowed to put themselves to ■4he inconvenience of attending drill and learning their duties, the public looking on admiring-or laughing at, as the case may be—their zeal without remembering that they ought to help the movement by pecuniary aid. Nor is it more reasonable that a government, which is supposed to have the welfare of the whole province at heart, should leave the public and the volunteers to arrange matters between themselves, forgetting how much success may be dependent on a little timely and judicious aid. To these three classes, therefore, we make a formal appeal. To the volunteers we say, attend your drills regularly and learn your work, as you "would learn any trade or business, thoroughly. To the public we say, let every man contribute a few shillings or a few pounds, as his means will allow, so as to confine the volunteer's own expenditure to that of time alone. To the Government we apply for their aid by the advocation of a more liberal grant from the public puree—by the provision of drill grounds and armouries wherever a sufficient number of men are enrolled—and by that general and steady support which those in authority can always yield with certain effect. By such cooperation even with our limited population the volunteer movement is sure to succeed. We shall glide quietly into that system of self-reliance in case of attacks which must come sooner or later; and we shall all be gainers more or less by the establishment of that healthy tone which is always the result of dependence on our own efforts in preference to extraneous aid.

Since the above was written, the arrival of the mail from the north has placed in our hands a copy of a despatch from theSecretary of the Colonies, announcingthe fact that the danger of an immediate rupture with the Northern States of the American Union has passed away. It is worth while to notice that the only other remarks contained in the despatch is an implied hope that the colony has bestirred itself in the matter of self defence, and a suggestion that it will be prudent to keep steadily before our eyes the danger which hangs over our heads from contingencies similar to that which came upon us so unexpectedly-