THE VOLUNTEERS IN ENGLAND.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 4547, 24 May 1889, Page 4

THE VOLUNTEERS IN ENGLAND.

A London journal points out the increasing importance of the volunteer force ut Home. There never was a time, it 9»ys, when the necessity fur making the volunteer force &n eiß-.-iont liehting power wm so apparent as it is :d tho present time. In tho early days of its existence people smiled nt what they regarded tia tho absurdity of tho notion that the citizen army would ever bo engaged m anything but a' tearless battle, to use the phrase thu! was applied to a well known encounter which took phico long before the Christian orn. Our insular position it wns argued, would nlwuys render the services of volunteer* m case "of .i great war bloodless. They would maintain order ns a sort of military polico m the absence of tho Line or at worst of the Militia, it wns said, hut they would never be railed upon to take the Held, for the simple reason that no ouemy could over land on our shores. We havo changed all that, and it hjs been made abundantly obvious that the chunked conditions of warfare, the enormous maritinip commerce requiring protection m the event of an outbreak of hostilities, and the strength of foreign navies, have combined to render the possibility of invasion a subject for serious consideration. Our first line of .lot' 'nee, it is admitted by tho most competent jiul:;, ;, should be the Navy ; but they have lu.ule it clear of late that we cannot afford to rei-itrd tho efficiency of volunteers merely from th" point of view presented by the t irijeU -at Wimbledon or clsoivhere. The rolntiuns with their employers of the member! who jre employee* is becoming an important element ill the constitution of that force which m an emergency would stand between the genernl public and conscription. It is ol vital importance that employers of labour, espt'Lhllr to any lurge eitent, should realise tlj.' value of the military force which has cur. vived"iuch neglect, and to-day is a great factor m our c ilculationa for national defonce. It ii d- clared that there are many firms who, while not >ljrins» openiy to prohibit those persona m th.-ir employment from becoming "Volunteers, vet secretly oppose the movement m theii mode ot treating those engaged with them who wi»h to attend drills. If this is the else it is a pity that the names of such firms ,ir-.> uot generally known m that connection, m order that public opinion might effect that which patriotism seems unable to do. We hope soon to hear that tho fund of a hundred th.uuand pounds proposed to bo raised by ih<> Lord Mayor for tho benefit of Volunteers has been obtained.