THE ARMED CONSTABULARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 931, 2 October 1869, Page 1

THE ARMED CONSTABULARY.

The voluminous explanations offered by the General Government in reference to their Defence policy present many points for comment ; but their explanations on the subject of the Armed Constabulary in particular cannot fail to arrest attention. They appear in fact to have been betrayed into a premature admission of their intentions with regard' to that foree — intentions which look very much like a deliberate and preconcerted breach of faith. They propose that the Armed Constabulary should be remodelled on the Irish system j thab it should be composed of picked men, obtained by promises of high pay and permanent employment. They dwell with much force on the absurdity of supposing that really good men can be obtained for a service which offers no inducement — a .service which * has no past and no future ' — in which the rate of pay is low and the tenure of office insecure. < It is the aim of the Government, they declare, to induce good and efficient men to join the Constabulary, by raising the character of that force, by increasing the pay of the men, , and by giving permanence to the employment. If, said Mr McLean, the forces are to be changed from time to time, and the men feel that they have no security or tenure of office, they will of course lose all interest in their employment. Assertions of this kind have been made over and over again by nearly every ; member of the Government. They j have been made, we presume, not only j for the purpose of explaining the views of the Government, but also for the j purpose of inducing men of the desired class to join the Constabulary. At any rate, such assertions amount to nothing less than an engagement on the part of the Government — one which they are morally bound i to fulfil with the men who, on> tne' faith of them, may be induced to v join the reorganised Constabulary. But vhile.^he Government has been holding out these prospects of high pay and permanent employment, it has at the same time admitted —on cross-examination, we might say— that the prospects are extremely doubtful. The special force to be raised in England by the Commissioners at an expenditure not exceeding £70,000, is designed to supersede the Constabulary. That is to say, when the Commissioners have succeeded in obtaining the special force, the Constabulary will be either disbanded or reduced.

The statements to this effect made by the Government are too distinct to be mistaken. The necessity of showing how tho £150,000— which they had fixed as the limit of their Defence expenditure — was to includo tho provision made for tho special forco referred to, involved the necessity of explaining their intentions with regard to tho Constabulary. It is obviously out of tho question to suppose that such a sura na XI 50,000 would meet tho expense entailed by a highly-paid and pormanont Constabulary in addition to a spccialforco afc thoratoof £70,000 aycar. The expense of the 18th Regiment is of course outside the £150,000, which is intonded to cover tho expenditure on tho colonial forces only. The special regiment to be brought out from England is to form part of theso forces ; and its oxpenso is to bo charged against tho appropriation ou thab hoad. Any doubt that may ariso on tho point will bo removed at onco by a referonco to Hansard. When, for instance, tho Dofence resolutions wero before tho Council on the 23rd of August, Major Richardson asked whether, in the event of the proposal to recruit in England being carried out, wo should have to pay £70,000 in addition, to the money ior the Constabulary. To this question Mr Gxsbobnb replied by aaying that « the £70,000 was propowd to be fooluded in the amount for

Defence' purposes for the year; this year ib was £150,000, and next year, if the same sum were appropriated, the £70,000 would be included in it.' Mr M'Lean also remarked that 'the intention of the Government in reference to the cost of this force is, that it should oome within the Defence estimates, and be defrayed out of the year's appropriations.' Mr Dillon Bell spoke still more distinctly. His explanations were called forth by some remarks from Mr Hall, and were thus expressed : — ' As j I gather what the honourable member for Heathcote says, he puts it thaV I said this force was to be raised in addition to whatever force was to be raised for the service of this year — that it was to be altogether outside the Constabulary force whioh we propose to raise. What I said was that we, not knowing what might be done in England, ought to raise a force according to the best light we have; but that we might find that in England we were able to raise a force much better for us than any that we could raise here, and that such a force might come to supplement or take the place of what we raised here.' Mr Hall immediately replied — ' Such conduct is very inconsistent. The Government is going to demilitarise the Colonial Defence force — to put it, as they say, upon the most effioient footing possible. This is a work the doing of which must occupy some months. When it has been done, out will come a force from England, sent by the Commissioners, to take the. place of our very efficient demilitarised Constabulary. If that force is not to take the place of the Constabulary, it is to be in addition to it.'

These explanations place the Government in a very unbecoming position. It is an obvious inference that they are contemplating a breach of faith either with the Constabulary or with the House of Representatives. With the Constabulary, ifj it ia reduced or disbanded on the arrival of another force from England ; with the House of Representatives, if the latter force is maintained in addition to the former, involving a large additional expenditure. It is not easy to see how they can escape the dilemma. According to the statements we have quoted, it is evident that the Government propose to do away with the Constabulary either wholly or partially, according to circumstances. If the Commissioners succeed in enlisting a force of the kind desired — one composed of men from the Irish Constabulary, or of short-service men in the army — the Government will feel itself in a position to dispenso with tho Constabulary in the North. Tho special forco will of course bo a permanent one. Although the term of service is limited to three years by tho wording of tho resolution, it id not at all probablo that the force so enrolled will bo struck off pay at tho end of that terra. It will ultimately become tho standing army of New Zealand — tho permanent Dofenco forco of tho North Island. Whatever fighting work may have to bo done, will be dono by thorn. Tho presonfc Constabulary will nicanwhilo bo ' demilitarised' to such an extent as to rendor thorn unfit for fighting;. It will bo gradually reduced, and such of its mombors as may bo retained in tho sorvico will bo employod in tho ordinary duties of a police forco. This is tho meaning, apparently, of tho preventive charnotor which tho Government propoao to stamp upon tho Constabulary. Tho mon will bo employed as doUictivcs—in ferreting out sly grog and ammunition Rollers, and in procuring inform ation in tho troubled districts. This, too, will explain tho Defence Minister's prophecy that 600 mon will * eventually bo found sufficient to moot tho roquiromonta of tho country.' Six hundrod detootivos j would no doubt do good work in the troubled districts. But what will be* oome of the promiw* hold out by tho

f Government at the present time, when [ the chances of our obtaining a special regiment from home are at least doubtjful, and when efficient men for the Constabulary are urgently required 1 Where will the permanent employment be ? And what , compensation will be offered to , men who, misled by Government crimps, may be induced to join an unpopular service, and find themselves superseded in a month by recruits obtained in England ?