The Star. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1882.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume III, Issue 331, 28 October 1882, Page 2

The Star. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1882.

The full meaning of the proposed Volunteer regulations cannot be very definitely ascertained from tbe summary which has been published, though, we believe th l e Defence Minister has not yet quite made up his mind as to the shape which the regulations shall finally take, and has caused a digest o.f the draft to be circulated in order th,at before revision he may learii something of the opinion of the volunteers; Arid it must be remembered that the opinion of the volunteers is worth a good deal, and if expressed clearly and intelligently must modify or even change the plans of the Defence Minister. Our little military system must rest on the freewill service of the people. The Militia Act belongs to a period of the colony's history that is now altogether done with, and we prophesy — dangerous as it is to prophesy on any subject — that never again will there be issued any proclamation under that Act. The Armed Constabulary will have to be maintained as an organisation for some .years, but we do not suppose that its' past strength will ever be recovered. The future force of the colony will, then, be a volunteer force ; and though the men of New Zealand are as patriotic and public spirited as those of any other country, and will make great sacrifices to keep up a defence force, the demands made upon them must be reasonable, or our military system will collapse. On the whole, we are disposed to think that the proposed regulations will be acceptable ; but there are two points on. which further information is necessary before a correct judgment can be formed. Clause 8 of the UnderSecretary's circular provides that every volunteer is .to envoi for twelve, months continuous service ; and rumour, says that a breach of the conditions is to be visited with a heavy punishment.' This regulation would be exceedingly harsh unless somewhat modified. How many men are there absolutely certain of a year's continuous 'residence in one town, or even district 'i If there is a provision Uiat a man leaving a district shall' be .'excised from "coin* pleting his term, or if, he> bp allowed it9 I sprve,i.h 101 0 remain, der of . his fcfjnein a corps near to the .placebo, which he removes, there will be no great objection' raised to'tW condition ; ! but if it 'is to absolutely bind a Watf'ty rpside in the distrifit' till" his terW'.of service is ended, "there' will r b'tf' Vety few volunteers. Then there appears

to be a hardship involved in that clause which provides for the nonpayment of capitation in instances where less than the minimum number of men have qualified, especially when it is considered that new men cannot be enrolled except in January ov July. Suppose a cprps • be constituted next January: In February it is found that there have been included a number of careless men, who will not attend drill.' It is not stated that there is power to dismiss them, but even if there be such a power, the corps cannot v recruit' to fill the vacancies until July, between which time and December it would be impossible for the recruits to put in sufficient drills to enable the coijps l to draW capitation. Thus thirty -nine men ready and willing to attend drill, would find it perfectly useless to do soj as. their work would not be recognised. We should like to see this regulation modified, so that in the event of it being hecessar.y to get rid of a man, a recruit might be taken in his place, the corps not to suffer so long as the recruit put in all the drills and inspection parades required of the corps during the ; term he was in the ranks. These appear to be the two leading features of the regulations, and if modified as we have suggested, we believe ..men would readily serve under them. All the regulations for securing the efficiency of men, non-commissioned officers and, officers must meet with entire approval, but to be successful the fines and penalties should be inflicted, not by officers of the corps, but by the officer commanding the district. We may add while on the subject, that Hawera and Normanby are to have garrison corps, the Waimato light horse will also be entitled to 63 rank and file, but Opunake and all the other corps in the district, except New Plymouth, are to be country corps, and are only entitled to a maximum of 50. We hear that the uniform for all the rifle corps is to be red, and that at the beginning of the year a Major will be appointed to command the Wanganui district.