COLONIAL PRIZE FIRING.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 1902, 6 February 1875, Page 3

COLONIAL PRIZE FIRING.

(To the Editor of the Eveni ig Star.) Sib—l was greatly pleased with a letter in this morning s Advertiser, from Volunteer; his suggestions are all worthy of the attention of the Representatives, and I am sure if brought under the notice of the Government by that body would be adopted. It has long been felt that the present system of selecting representatives does not afford good shots a fair chance, for a first class shot may very often from some slight cause or other be off his shooting, and the greatest duffer jnayin one competition fluke in. The £5 entrance would meet the cases of good shots who had been unfortunate, (but should only admit them to final district competition); and I am sure the funds derived from this source would sw;ell the prizes considerably, and thereby benefittheshootists generally, as well as the subscriber; but the suggestion that the next highest take the place of the one unable to fire would clash with the £5 idea, as many a duffer who had qualified as a district representative would willingly take a lesser sum and retire, and thus jiepriye the prize fund of the £5 ; either of those ideas would be good, but both would dash. I was sorry at the commencement of the competition to find so strong a feeling against the Armed Constabulary competing in the matches, and hope, for the credit of "Volunteers u generally, that the feeling has died away In the minds of those with whom it originated, and that no one will be found possessed of so little manliness as to propose to the Governmen that their firing in future should be disallowed. We know that every member of oar community who feels himself to be a shot can join a Volunteer corps; become efficient and compete ; and therefore ereryone winning the belt naturally feels proud of it as he has competed against the Colony for it; but if we exclude the Constabulary we shut out a large proportion of our best shots. To exclude them would hare many bad effects; it would make the firing less interesting and exciting to the public as well as representatives ; oblige the Government to , lessen the sum placed on the estimates for these competitions and prizes in order to provide a separate meeting and prizes for the Constabulary, besides unfairly excluding individuals; as the fact of a man's beiflg a constable alone could prevent his firing, as they cannot enroll as Volunteers, and also lessen the honor of winning the belt, fcr who would be croud of it then ? There is room for many improvements on tie present system of choosing representatives, marking, &c, and I' hope that, if a meeting of representatives is held before their return, tnose who have suggestions to make will not be backward in doing so.—l am, &c, A Volunteer also.