The New Zealand Herald. MONDAY, JANUARY 17, 1870.

New Zealand Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1873, 17 January 1870, Page 4

The New Zealand Herald.

MONDAY, JANUARY 17, 1870.

SPKOTK.UUit AGENDO. " (five every nmn thine ear, but few thy voice; Take each man's censure.'but reserve thy judgmsns. This above all, —To thine own self be true And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou can3'fc not then bo false to any man."

The Volunteer movement does not seem to be a very popular affair amongst us. And yet Auckland is just one of those places where it ought to be popular, if a sense of the necessity for a Volunteer force was duly felt among us. There can be few countries where such a citizen army is more required than it is in New Zealand, and there is no part of the colony where it is more required than the Province of Auckland. We have certainly no outside enemies to dread. Our Volunteers are not to act as in England, simply as a defence force against foreign aggressors who may desire to invade the colony, but to act as an army of reserve against a domestic enemy, an active and vigilant and merciless foe, who has enacted deeds of massacre among us of no ordinary kind, and who has sympathisers in many parts of this Island. The nature of the country, and its being so scantily populate J, also greatly aid our enemy, so that at the best we have to fight him at long odds. Itappears, therefore, to be absolutely necessary that we should have a force used to arms and regularly disciplined. The Imperial troops will undoubtedly be removed at an early date. When they have left our shores the only semblance of connection left between us and the Imperial Government will be the Governor nominated by that Government, but paid by ourselves. "Under our present system, his Excellency is the mouth- i piece of the Ministry of the day, and ' acts only through his responsible ministers. He carries out, indeed, what they decide upon, and there eau ba little doubt but that, so iar from j having any considerable influence among natives is concerned, the Governor will have very little indeed for the future, when it is seen that he has only the shadow of power and not the substance, that lie has no longer the command of a body of Her Majesty's troops in the colony.

All these considerations arc reasons why we should endeavour to have a large and efficient Volunteer force; anrA others may be added—as, for instance, tho very great expense of keeping even a very small standing army in this colony; the name may be Constabulary, Native Contingent, or Colonial Forces; but no matter what may be the name, keeping any considerable number of men on pay, means the expenditure of a good round sum of money, which we cau ill afford. But for some years to come it ia quite clear that, left to our own resources, wo must have a permanent force of some character. It should be our business to devise some plan by which wo can secure the existence among us of a considerable number of men well skilled in rifle firing, and having a knowledge of the elements of drill, aucl of the necessity for discipline. There are only two methods as yet practised among us to effect this object, viz., by means of militia or volunteers. There is a strong aversion to the former, and the latter therefore is to be specially considered.

Some of the same causes are at work to reduce the number of volunteers in England, which are in existence in New Zealand. But with us, the volunteer movement has never bjen a fashionable one, if we may use the term. Neither the higher classes among us, nor the Government, have done much to make volunteering popular. Nor do the practical arrangements in connection with the Volunteers do much to excite an interest in its favor. There is very little that is attractive about

the Volunteers —little of the " pouip ( " and circumstance," which have ar undoubted effect in attracting - * emits. The dress is anything £ u t smart and soldierly-like, and e u know how much this circuuv dlance of dress tells with respect to armed forces. Then, again, t]iey ft not to be animated by £, 1C CQUU _ tenance of thci'v fellow-citizens, who seldom mdc^ drl see them. While the at naye a great variety of <\ress, yet we know of none so badl% dressed for effect, and for smart, and soldier-like appearance as our. own Volunteer liifles. Then, again, t'/ie home volunteers constantly march - out in public with their band at their head, in all the pomp and circumstance of war's array. This brings them, as a body, prominently before the public, excites an interest in volunteering, and no doubt adds to the efficiency, the self respect and pride of the men. They feel that the eyes of their neighj bours, of their relatives, friends, ' sweethearts, and wives, are upon them, j and they strive to merit commendai tion. In addition, there are not only ! reviews on various scales, but also i public parades on Saturday afternoons, ' and on various evenings, when the public assemble to witness the evolu- ! tions. All these things have a ! very favourable effect; they put i spirit into the movement, and I excite emulation in the men, and a i general interest in Volunteers and • volunteering. We need only mention I another great feature of the Volunteer I movement at home, and that is the j prize-firing, at which considerable ' numbers of people assemble.

Our volunteers apparently refrain from showing their strength and discipline by public marchings, by parades and skirmishings, and so forth at times and places when the public could attend to witness their evolutions warlike movements. They are supposed to meet occasionally for drill, but it is a play upon words to say that they do so. The attendance is most meagre, both officers and privates failing to put in an appearance. Sometimes there are indeed quite as many officers as there are privates at the parade, and of course there is no effective drill carried on, and neither officers nor men are efficient. Some great public occasion causes a large number to appear, and then the deficiency of drill is apparent. "With, respect to instruction, in mus ketry, there is the same want of efficiency. The range is some five or six miles from town, and it is really not a bad day's work to walk there and back, and have anything like a fair practice. Of coarse this has a very dis heartening effect on those who do wish to become effective shots. They cannot spare the time necessary to practise, and the end is, that the shooting of our Volunteers would, we fear, prove very inferior indeed, if the whole body were taken to tlie range and there exercised in firing. There are some prizes offered to be shot for, but the standard of merit, except in a very few, chieflv officers, who have been able to obtain time for practise is undoubtedly low, and there in very little competition,, at least worth the name, for such prizes as are offered, and Volunteers who have not attended a parade for months may present au appearance on the firing day, and carrj r off the prizes from others.

ISow these things should not be

The Government ought to provide ground fit for target practice near town. There is one at Mount Eden which could be made suitable at a very small expense. The allowance or capitation grant should be increased, and so should the number of drills and parades which enable a volunteer to demand a capitation g?rant. No one should be permitted to fire for any prize who has not attended a certain number of drills during the preceding year, and this number should not be fixed tooflow. The officers should be men who will learn their duty, take an interest in it, and attend to it regularly. Those who cannot do these things should resign their commission. An effort should be made to make the volunteer service much more popular. And the way is pointed out by the practices of the Volunteer regiments at home, to which we have referred. The Thames Volunteers appear to excel their brethren in arms in Auckland. AVhat the reason of this may be wo do not know, but such appeal's iu bo the. fact. We shall be <.;lutl if our Auckland Volunteers will increase largely in numbers and in clEeioncy. and wili occasionally let the public know that there is such a body among u.>, in sonic or all of the ways to which we have referred above when speaking of the English Volunteers.