MILITARY AND NAVAL RANK.

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7997, 31 January 1887, Page 3

MILITARY AND NAVAL RANK.

TO THE EDITOR OF TUB NEW ZEALAND TIMES. Sib,—ltis not much moro than eighteen months ago that nautical men were somewhat startled on learning that appointments had been made to the New Zaaland Naval Artillery Volunteers to such ranks as Honorary Commodore, Vice- | Comraudore, and Captain Commandant, and, as such titles are not to be found in the Imperial Navy list, it was not surprising that nautical men were at. a loss to know where, or from what service the Defence Officer had taken them. Curious to say, to thetirst-namedrank wa3 gazetted an officer of no less rank than BearAdmiral, and to the second-named rank a naval officer was appointed whose relative rank is equal to that held by Sir George Whitmore when he retired from the Imperial service. Our nautical friends had hardly recovered from their surprise when it became the turn o£ the military to have a shock, viz., in the appointment of Sir G. Whitmore to be a Major-General of Militia ! Now inlhe Imperial Militia no puch rank exists, colonel being the highest grade, and that; rank is given most sparingly. As an excuse for this extraordinary appointment it has been stated that it was necessary "to have a general officer in command. If that be so, then it is equally necessary that the General should have a staff, but as we have a General without a Btaff, ergo the work the Commandant did as a Colonel will not be any better performed, because he is now a Militia Major; General. Another excuse advanced is that in the Australian Colonies they have general officers to,command the local forces. In South Australia I am aware (bat the Commandant holds the local rank of Brigadier-General, but in Victoria and Queensland theCommandantsareboth Majors in the Royal Artillery, having the local rank of Colonel while employed in Australia. In New South Wales the case is different. Major-General C.B, has for upward of twenty years commanded the local forces, and.was in chief command of the Soudan Con-

tingent. On the return o£ that Contingent to Sydney, the New South Wales : Government, to show their appreciation *of ' General... Richardson’s long and ya"luable service, promoted .him with the approval ol the Home Government :CObe a general officer. In regard to,his own appointment, Sir G. Whitmore should have been consistent and coined a new rank —one not to be found in the army list; and to have equalised matters he should have gazetted a resident Imperial officer, say, as Honorary BrigadierGeneral of Militia, and himself as Vice-Brigadier-General. Had he done so the auxiliary forces of the senior Sortioe could not have felt aggrieved; The navals have aa much right id t?e fconsjdere as the military, and tfhoQ.u not thrust on them titles that serve “"V them appear ridi<m lous : a ?i ;U»»».«. Artillery are under military t should mention en passant that the Boyai Naval Artillery Volunteers have attached to them naval lieutenants as instructors, and under the instructors they are last becoming a useful body of men, and on their last cruise afloat they performed all the - duties of seamen both alow and aloft. When, oh, when will the Befence Office see what is becoming mofe palpable day by day, the abaol'fio necessity ot placing the NdvalfJ under a sailor and separate froth the land forces 1 In 1880 the Government appointed a naval officer aa naval staff officer for the Colony, and «reat was the delight of the Navals on Teaming that they were to bo under his orders. Much was expected of them, as Captain Douglas’ thorough knowledge ot his profession, his experience in gunnery gained on board H.M.S. Excellent his intimate acquaintance with shore anil, and the fact of his having at one time been Lieutenant Instructor of_ the Liverpool Brigade of the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers, assured the rapid advancement cf the corps ; but, nnfortunately, just as the batteries were beginning to feel the advantage of a sailor’s firm grasp of the helm, the appointment was dune away with, much to the grief of our amateur sailors, and this splendid corps are now fast reverting to be but little belter than garrison arullery. War clouds are again rising, the Continental Powers are arming to the teeth, and it is not at all improbable that befofe the summer Europe will be in a blaze, and we (shall wo 1) be in a position to repel an attack 1 Til's is a question that ought to be looked in to at once, and answered. When, in 1880, negotiations fell through with Colonel Hewitt, 8.8., 0.M.G., it was found necessary that an officer should at once be appointed to command the forces, and Sir George Whitmore, who, in the past, had rendered good service to the Colony, was appointed as commandant. The appointment was understood to be for 12 mouths, and many thought that the Government intended communicating with the War Office to secure the services of an officer on the active list, with all the latest ideas in the art of war. The Colony is much indebted to bir u_. Whitmore for his military services, and also for services rendered in a civil capacity, but in the present age the advance of military science is so rapid that in the Imperial service an officer having been unemployed for five years is placed on the unemployed supernumerary list, and after five years on that list is retired. It is now some 20 years since Sir George Whitmore retired from the Imperial Army, and about 15 years since he held an active appointment in New Zealand, and it is intended with no disrespect to Sir George, if the Colony prefer havingas commandant anoffioerof engineersorartilleryfreshfrom the new school, to reorganise the whole force. Thao Sir G. Whitmore is only holding the appointment temporarily X would gather from the fact of the trouble taken to pass a Bill through Parliament in order that ho should bo able to resume his seat whenever he ' vacated the appointment, and it may be that the Government are negotiating, or are about to negotiate, for an officer from Home, and in appreciation of Sir George’s patriotism in setting aside private affairs to take command of the forces at a critical moment, the Government have promoted him. to the rank of Militia Major-General on that account. As regards the Militia and Volunteer forces, I see little or no improvement. The former have had, without examma : tion, a number of field officers appointed, but, as to captains and subalterns, Ido not believe there are more than a dozen on the active list. The formation of rifle corps into battalions is, . m my opinion, premature, and the appointment of so many Volunteer field officers a mistake, and there is an unpleasant feeling abroad that political influence had a great deal to do with these appointments to field rank. In the event of the force being called out for active service, consider the cost incurred for pay and forage allowance to these field officers, and shall we get an adequate return for it 1 And again, officers of experience in the Imperial service will bo required, with of course higher military rank, so as to bo able to command these civilian Militia and Volunteer officers, which 'will again increase the cost. We do not want to look upon our Volunteers as a show force; they are intended for purposes of defence; and until that “ canker, 1 ’ political influence, is stamped underfoot, the Volunteers will never be efficient ; and whatever may be said to the contrary, it still lurks round the force, and only a short time ago it raised its ugly head successfully in the case of the appointment of field officers to the Wellington Battalion. I trust the Defence Office will make a stand and net allow this Battalion to. make itself ridiculous by having colors. It is hardly necessary to state that colors are not sanctioned to rifle regiments. There is one thing I must admit the Colony has at last got—that the thin end -of the wedge of a standing army under the name ol the ” Permanent Militia,” which, unless watched very closely, may develop itself into a costly toy for the ratepayers.— I am, &0., ; R.J.L.J. Lambton-quay, January 29.