A WISE STEP.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 9387, 14 March 1898, Page 2

A WISE STEP.

A TEIiEGEAM in another column tells us that the Government has decided to establish a field battery for sorvice where needed, with headquarters at Wellington. This is a tardy move in the right direction and should have been made before the Napier and Wanganui Naval Artillery corps were driven out of the service and fye Nelson Artillery goaded into open through the stupid obstinacy of the Defence Department. The refusal to ,?,ilow the men to continue to wear their jja-yaj uniforms,, and the orders ( to turn the corps into rifles fl om p»W s ) h & v § o° s( < * c !

colony the services of some of the best trained men in it, and has done tho Government much harm all o\er the colony. The \olunteeis of New Zealand have alwav3 been a superior bodj of men, and in the pa«t lia\c done enollent seiure, and it i< pasting stiange to us how successive Govemmenta have neglected so valuable an oiganisation. Let us hope that the present one has at last awoke to its mistake in the matter, and that for the future volunteering will be encouraged and the country rendered able to defend itself adequately in time of danger.