PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1886.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 7174, 18 September 1886, Page 2

PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1886.

It is next to a settled matter, we under stand, that the Easter Encampment of Volunteers will be held in New Plymouth, or at all events olose to the town. Such being the _oase it is necessary that we should be prepared to receive our visitors, of which there will bo fully three thousand, in a suitable manner, and to do , that it is welljto begin to think about the matter fit once. 'In the estimation of some people Volunteering as carried on in tyew Zealand is a farce. Of course allowances have to be made for captious critics ; but to say that our Colonial"" Volunteer have not the" making of good soldiers is not true ; in faot a fortnight's training in the field would make them equal to any hue regiment of the Imperial Army. In a young country like this all men are still engaged in the rough work of- taming the wilderness, in establishing homes and connections, the existence of almost any kind of volunteer force is no doubt in a sense creditable to the oommunity. If in Taranaki we have not of late years shown such a martial spirit as in other parts of the Colony, it is. more through the community '-! having • been surfeited ' with the" redc oat" owing to the long" and tedious,, wars, ,with, the natives in this district. The neoessary rest having been scoured, the volunteering spirit is again being imbued into our young men ; aud it only wants the "Battle of Waireka" to bo fought over again on peaceful terras to stir np the blood of the rising generation to follow in the footsteps of their fathers and grandfathers in preparing themselves for action if their services are at any time required. The volunteering movement was started in Great Britain in 1359, and was taken up in the same year in Taranaki,. the late Mr. Watt, who die.d in Dunedin the other day, being the captain of one of the first corps that was formed in New Zealand. Their services were soon required, for in 1860 they bad to maroh out to meet a foe as brave as themselves. The cause of volunteering starting in Great Britain was owing to the country suddenly becoming aware of its insecurity from the smallness of the standing army,- and , the possibility of ocoasion arising when nearly the whole of it would have to be Bent abroad. Over two, hundred thousand volunteers are now enrolled, thus ensuring almost absolutely safety should an attempt be made at invasion. ' It will be seen therefore that the British volunteers have accom.plißhed the purpose for which they were oreated, and scoured the country from outside danger. In New Zealand the cirountstances are somewhat different. We have as extensive a coast line as Great Britain, but. our entire population — malejaud female, adults and juveniles — is not more than three times the number of the Volunteers at Home, our forces, by the latest report, oonsistiug of nearly nine thousand men-at-armß. Ths is a creditable enough army considering our limited population, but quite inadequate to repel invasion should a hostile landing ■ be attempted by an enemy's fleet. ' It'is, therefore, very neoessary that Volunteering should be encouraged, and that every young man capable of bearing arms should be a member of a Volunteer Corps. The holding of the Easter Encampment here will put new life into the Volunteer element of the place; but in> the meantime recruiting should go on, for it would be a disgrace to New Plymouth to say that we could only put one company into the field. As Wo have said, it is too much to expect perfect results from a Volunteer force ; but until we are in a position to pay a huge price for defence by a paid army we must make the best of what we can do amongst ourselves. Eventually our public schools will turn out a large body of well drilled young men, who will take kindly to a system more compatible with military discipline than the present. For this, however, wo must wait ; nevertheless, we - can still go on adding to our strength, by enlisting every young man in the place.

A HorßO Parade is advertised to take place on Saturday noxt, oa tho reclaimed ground, Currie-street. ,

The Hon. Mujor Atkinßon and Mrs. Atkinson were passengers by tho Rotorua, which arrived hero yeßtcrday from Wellington, but evidently remained in Nolbod, as they did not arrive here.