The English Volunteers.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 107, 20 June 1885, Page 5

The English Volunteers.

Every corps, of whatever arm, is inspected once a year by an officer of the regular army duly appointed. Arrangements are made for the inspection by the General of the district, and time and place are made to suit the general convenience of the corps. Two-thirds of its numbers must be present, or the inspection is postponed. When^ a corps is in its regimental camp of exercise it is to be inspected in the camp ; but when it joins a camp of exercise of the regular militia forces, it is not to be inspected there (the number being too small for the purpose), but at its own headquarters. The Volunteers are not left altogether without assistance from the public to defray their necessary expenses. An annual allowance of £1 10s is granted for every efficient Volunteer officer (who has attended a pre3cribed number of drills) and man, with a special additional allowance of £2 19s on account of each Volunteer officer or sergeant who holds a certificate of proficiency, and a special allowance of 10s for every officer who has passed in the year the examination in tactics is granted for that year only. These sums go to the general fund. Traveling expenses on a fixed scale are granted where companies attend drill at stations more than five miles from the headquarters of the corps, and artillery corps receive extra allowance for conveyance of guns or other expenses incidental to gun practice. Officers receive travelling allowance when on military duty. Every company or battery receives £4 a year for postage and stationery. Army forms and books are supplied at the public expense, and also regulations and manuals of instruction and exercise. The artillery corps from their own funds provide the sites of batteries, obtain leases of them, throw up the earth-works, provide accommodation for a resident gunner to take charge of each and pay for keeping them in repair. The Government provides side-arm sheds and expense magazines. Every corps is expected to provide a secure place for the custody of the small-arm ammunition, unless it can be placed in charge of ordnance store officers iu Government buildings. Every Volunteer receives a rifle, a belt and pouch. These they for the most part take with them to their homes. The Snidor, hitherto their weapon, is being exchanged for the Martini-Honry.--"The Nineteenth Century."