THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1877.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIV, Issue 5016, 13 December 1877, Page 2

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1877.

T> the early times of our modern Volunteering it was the fashion of many ollicers of the regular army to sneer at tlm " shopkeeper soldiers." and laugh at the fuss which was made about them. Times changed ami so did opinions. The Volunteer Force was evolved from the consciousness of the British nation in consequence of the foolish threats of a body of French colonels who took up the phrase of Napoleon 111. about. " avenging Waterloo " and abrogating the Treaty of 1815. For a time they talked of invading perfidious Albion ; anil Imperial journals of the day re-echoed the .sentiments of the voluble red - trousered colonels, France was busy making gigantic additions to her army and navy. Other States were following in the same path. These material preparations, especially in France, coupled with the semithreats which had become popular, rous-d the foelii-.gs of the British people to take measures for "defence, not defiance and in 1859, the nation of shopkeepers became a nation of citizensoldiers. Within a few months no fewer than ISO,OOO men had organised themselves into Volunteer companies. In another year the first great gathering of Volunteers took place at Edinburgh, and 20,000 well-drilled and soldierly-looking men parsed in review before Her Majesty in the Queen's Park under the shadow of Arthur's Seat, and in sight of the historic Holyrood. After that came tlio annual gathering!! in various districts. Wimbledon Common became famous. The sneers ceased, the service was recognised ; and now, nearly twenty years having elapsed, the number of Volunteers in the United

Kingdom exceeds 100,000 of all ranks and services, consisting of Light Horse, Mounted Rifles, and Engineers, with 30,000 Artillery, and 120,000 riflemen.

It may be worth while remarking that in this, too, as in other public afiairs, Great Britain followed a colonial example, for in this province Dr. J. L. Campbell, while tilling the post of Superintendent, had before this started a Volunteer ißilie Corps. If any part of this Colony has a right to make its voice heard on the subject of Volunteering, it is the? northern part, and especially Auckland, whose Volunteers bore the burden and heat of the day. At a time when the natives were invading the settlements, and mustering in threatening force not many miles from the city, these men were engaged on the field against the enemy, and not a few sacrificed their lives. It is, therefox-e, peculiarly distasteful to Auckland and to other provincial districts in theNorthlsland,like Napier, Taranaki, and Wanganui, all of whom had done good service in the field, to find the whole Volunteer force in the Colony held up to ridicule in the branch of the legislature which is distinguished by the formal honorary title of Upper House. This was done lately by the Honourable Colonel Brett, himself an officer distinguished for his bravery, and experienced in active service. It is true that in various parts of New Zealand the Volunteer force requires, as asked by his motion, which the Council agreed with, reorganisation ; but we refuse to believe that the whole force is, as the gallant colonel put it, the "laughing stock and ridicule of men who would be proud to joinits ranks" were itbetterconstituted.He gave examples of the force in certain Southern districts, which may doubtless warrant something like censure in certain cases, but not that censure should be cast on all. He showed that in Otago, with 38 companies, and a numerical strength on the rolls of over 2000, only 800 mustered on the Prince of Wales' Birthday when a general call was made. At Christchurch, on one occasion, this anniversary of the Queen's Birthday, he had himself witnessed a muster of Volunteers of "one private, one trumpeter, and three officers as the parade strength of one company." This small proportion of full-private, no doubt, requires amendment. It is true that Colonel Brett, in another part of his speech, acknowledged that "those who had fought during the war deserved honour, credit, and the gratitude of the country for their noble conduct." If so, is it possible that the men who deserve all this (and there are hundreds of them alive now, and many of them still in the ranks of the force,) can be justly termed ridiculous laughing-stocks ? With the impetuosity of an old soldier scaling a breach, the gallant Colonel rushed headlong with his lirst idea, and forgot for the moment that such, valuable services had been performed at a dark and dillicult period of the Colony's history. Captain Baillie, of Marlborough, was more just. He had seen what the Northern Volunteers were. He had, he said, been present at the annual prize tiring during the last four or live years, " and lie had seen at the Thames as fine and as well drilled a body of men as he could wish to see in any country." He spoke also in terms of praise of the Wanganui Volunteers, especially of the cavalry arm : and even modest quiet Nelson, with its three hundred Volunteers and Naval Brigade, came in for its share of commendation. This is the opinion of a military man who hail distinguished himself in India, and should go far to correct the opinion of Colonel Brett in his wholesale and inconsiderate censure. Of the Northern Volunteers, Dr. Pollen, from a civilian's point of view, and also as having occupied the position of Defence Minister, spoke in terms of great praise when he said,

That there was not a finer or more efficient body of men to be found in New Zealand, or, probably, out of New Zealand, than the Thames Volunteers. They were not Volunteers in name only, because he had been in official positions at times when it was necessary to appeal to them for assistance, and on no occasion hud he ever appealed to them without receiving a prompt and ready re.-ponse. Over and over again the Thames Volunteers had furnished men for active service, and they had always occupied frontier positions. That was the true use of Volunteers, and iu that respect lie was glad to be able to bear testimony. Laving left, office, to the fact that the Volunteers iu the N'orth of this Island, as in uth?r parts, had ne\er failed in their duty. Me had alwiys, wh-*nevcr he could, given the greatest possible encouragement to the training of boys at school in drill, and, as far .is possible, in the use of arms He hail thus not entirely neglected the "raw material," upon which the hon. gentleman placed so much reliance.

Another oflieer who had seen active service amid the snows of a Canadian ■winter, and under India's fervent skies. (Captain Fraser, of (Jingo), referred to the unsatisfactory condition of the cadet corps, to which Or. Pollen had alluded. That he said was " disgraceful,"' and there, too, improvement is required, if the "raw material" is to be fairly attended to. All schools should have drill-instructors, and under the new Education Act we hope to see this provided for. 11l this connection it may be useful to copy from a Parliamentary return the tigures showing the strength of the Volunteer Force on the mils in the different provincial districts - Troops ami ComiMnies. J[e,u Wellington . . ... IC> ... 770 Auckland ... 2,lSi> Canterbury ... ... ... 12 ... 'ni I! > Ot:.L-o ..." a? ... 2,107 Hawkea Bay 2 ... 70 Taianaki ... ... ... 1 ... .jc, Nelson ... ... ... !t . . Marl borough ... ... ... i; ... 4:j() Wcstliiinl ... ... ... 4 ... 27; 1 Total 12:« ... Of these there are 11 troops of cavalry, 523 strong; 10 companies of artillery, numbering (it!;) ; 2 companies of engineers, of 121) men ; 5.") companies of riiles, comprising ">155: o .Naval iirigades of 408 men ; and 40 companies of cutlets, numbering 1!)S4. Auckland's quota of these is its follows : —5 troops of cavalry, 25G strong : 1 company of artillery, 85 men ; 1 of engineers, 80 men; 18 companies of rifles, 1250 ; 2 Naval Brigades, 20'! ; and 8 companies of cadets, with .">l2 011 the roll.

In all the circumstanccs of the fore;, uiul considering the examples of sluotenminw which Colonel llrett narra'cd, the Council arrived at a wise resolution in requesting the Government, during the recess, to devote their attention to a reorganisation of the Volunteer system so as to combine efficiency with economy. The present is an appropriate time for the Volunteers of Auckland to apply to Government for such assistance as may be requisite in providing a suitable rifle-range within easy distance, in case it should be found necessary, as the Road Trustees of Mount Eden an l Epsom declare it to be, to close up the present range. A suitable site might readily be found along the line of railway, say ill the neighbourhood of Mount Smart, to which Volunteers could bo convoyed for practice without charge. We recommend the Volunteer ofiicers to seek an interview with Ministers during their coming visit.