VOLUNTEER AND SERVICE NOTES.

Press, Volume XLV, Issue 7152, 23 August 1888, Page 3

VOLUNTEER AND SERVICE NOTES.

[Bt "An Ex-Naval Officer" is the Weekly Press.] The Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers is a body consisting of members in England, of yachting and rowing clubs, and other gentlemen of aquatic tastes. The old Naval Volunteer force comprised sailors only. The gentleman who first proposed, the former is Mr Dowdall, who in 1870 laid before the Admiralty the constitution" of the force, which he wished to see formed. The Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers were constituted a legal armed force by an Act of Parliament in 1573, and three brigades were formed with their headquartes at London, Liverpool, and Bristol. The force was neglected by the authorities j at the Admiralty, it was thought very little of by service-people (who usually slight everything which has anything'to do with the name of Volunteer, until it compels respect)," and it was very near total extinction, wlien the Volunteer Review of 1881 brought it prominently into notice. This corps headed the "march past" on this occasion with a battalion of 700 men, and their turn out was such as to excite the envy of the regulars, and the interest of the public. Within a fewweeks every mercantile seaport of consequence throughout the island requested permission of the Admiralty to raise Naval Volunteer corps. The proposals were not acceptable to the authorities (such things never are welcome at first). The Naval Volunteers were told that they were patriotic, splendid fellows, but they could not receive capitation, their Lordships had not yet matured their plans. The Corps was nearly forgotten when in 1885 there was a war scare which stirred us all up and Sir Vesey Hamilton and Captain Sir R. Molyneaux, R. N., were sent round the coasts of England and Scotland to examine and report upon their possible usefulness The public were never allowed to know the result of this nspection. but it became known that the mercantile ports were found to be still willing to raise Naval Volunteer Corps. The existing R. N. A. V. were then promis-d a capitation grant, but two new branches only were formed, the Clyde Brigade and the North Yarmouth Battery. The present state of the corps enrolled by Act of Parliaiuent in 1873 is that the total number is only some 1600 or 1700 men, instead of as many thousand, as ought to be the case, and unquestionably would be so but for official neglect. The naval manoeuvres off Liverpool were proceeding on August 9th, and the Devastation aud Invincible were repulsed and captured by the defending force, so says one cablegram, another tells us that Admiral Tryon claims "that the tactics employed would have t resulted in the capture of the city," and the official report of the trial will probably agree with the Admiral, because the town being principally defended by the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers, official witness can never be borne to the capture by this much neglected corps, this corps about which their Lordships were doubtful for so many long years, of two British men-of-war under the command of an Admiral. The details will be interesting. In these sham fights the conditions of the game make any realistic i plan of operations impossible. We have ' not bad the plan of defence, and cannot form our opinion. At the manoeuvres of 1887 there was a Naval defence force appointed to take care of the approaches to Liverpool; there were a turret ship, six gunboats, and eight torpedo boats. On thiis occasion the main object is to test the value of the Volunteer forces. These l_ave friends in Lord Brassey and Mr Goschen (the only two influential people who, since 1870, have persistently advanced the claims of the force), and the defence of Liverpool will probably be left to the Naval Artillery Volunteers. If, with their small gunboats and torpedo boats tfaey have acted so as to fairly claim ; the capture of two large men-of-war, the value of small, and comparatively inexpensive, boats well manned and skilfully handled is apparent to the most sceptical; that they have left any room for question as to the result speaks volumes in their favour. These manoeuvres and sham fights leave invaluable lessons. Russia profits by the lesson taught by English naval tactics. Last year directly it became known that there were. to be naval manoeuvres, the Knsaian Admiralty appointed a Commission to collect information and furnish a report which was to deal exhaustively with the lessons learnt in regard to 'naval construction, the value of the recent innovations in artillery and torpedoes, and the changes in coast attack and defence occasioned by modern naval progress. It is therefore evident that at least one naval power means to profit by the experiments of last year. We may assume then that the Naval Artillery Volunteers of Liverpool have been mainly instrumental in defeating the purpose of the British Admiral, they have at all events rendered his success open to question. We have Naval Artillery Volunteers in New Zealand, and I believe our Lyttelton corps is provided with a cutter—their present use is to perform the same sort of duties as the Sydenham Rifles. Provide these men with the same weaponsand boats.give tbem the same facilities for doing their work as the Liverpool men have, let them have gunboats and proper instruction and when the Russian devastator comes he will find that he is not so invincible as he thinks. It is not|a question of men, but of modern warlike appliances. (I have said .this before, but repetition is necessary). Remembe r the words of Sir Vesey Hamilton to the Hong Kong people. Think of the recent fact of two cruisers cutting in through a protecting fleet and then say that New Zealand is protected by an Australian squadron. Official Admiralty reports are not to be relied on, the stuff - is as trashy as possible and does not satisfy the public Special correspondents however do their duty without bias, fear, favour, or affectation, and to these the public turn m We may look for an official report

bearing oat the claim ot 'Admiral Tryon, we shall hear the true version all the same. In the manoeuvres last year the Admiralty tried to mislead, but they were, not successful. The Admiralty report declared that "at Sheerness the defence under Admiral Hewitt pot the best of it." These are the facts disclosed by special correspondents, -who all gave the same version:—A fleet (supposed French) after temporarily escaping from Admiral Hewitt, anchored at Sheerness, and, upon Hewitt's arrival with a slightly inferior force, went up the river on a falling tide to Thames Haven. Before Hewitt could < pursue the tide was too low to allow him to follow. There upon the fleet at Thames Haven sink a number of British merchantmen in their rear so as to block their passage, and send wc*d to the Commanders-in-Chief at Sheer ness and Chatham, and to the authorities at London that, unless granted free egress from the river, and an unmolested passage to Prance, they will burn, ravage, and destroy everything within their reach. Now, had the attack (the French for the nonce) or the defence (Hewitt) the best o* the best of the position? It suited the Admiralty to say Hewett, but if in reality Admiral Fremantle had cony mahded a hostile squadron he could have carried out his threat,* he could have said, '•Let mc go in peace or I will destroy, fifty millions sterling worth of property.' The Admiralty could never have notified such a state of affairs officially. The remarks of Colonel Mahon, of Auckland, as reported by the Press, cannot fail to interest all New Zealanders, and must be particularly gratifying to the Ist Canterbury Battalion. Colonel Mahon did not make comparisons unfavourable to his own northern battalion with unmixed pleasure, he is something more than honest to say so much. He is not the first stranger who has spoken highly of our Ist Canterbury, and they doubtless deserve all credit. Fortunately the men of the First are not puffed up and spoiled by hearing these words of praise. They take them as words of encouragement, and persevere against all odds—old Sniders, want of valise equipments, loss of capitation and the rest—in their aim to become good soldiersThe most striking feature in the Colonel's observation is that men in Victoria were released from their employment on full pay, substitutes being provided at the e_U pense of the employers; this is patriotism indeed. Some time ago it was sugges(t_d in these columns that, as far as possible, employers should be invited to become honorary members of Volunteer corps i with the object of securing for Volunteers full facilities for absenting themselves i from business when required for military | duty. Victoria has set us all a splendid example, and there is no place in the British possessions (excepting Canada) where the public interest in the Civilian Army is so great as in Victoria. It is a very curious fact, but it is so. Canada has what may claim tobeconsideredastandingarmy. The Australian Colonies and New Zealand so far have only what in point of numbers cannot be considered as representing more than an advance guard of standing armies, or perhaps one standing army which, sooner or later, these colonies must establish if their security is to be assured. We have nothing in the shape of a defensive policy. The only thing which has ever stimulated action here is the spasmodic influence of an occasional war scare, and this, and this alone, has aroused public interest. Public interest is the only thing which will warm official coldness and neglect,, tbe want of this interest our volunteers feel and suffer from. Colonel Mahon praises our drill sheds and orderly rooms, and tells us that they are the best in the colonies. If our volunteers go to Victoria they will have the loan of Mar-tini-Henry rifles to compete with. Orderly rooms and drill sheds are of course necessaries, they are not so imperatively necessary as proper arms and equipments. How long shall we wait ? Alas I how long? ________________________