INTERNAL DEFENCE.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1774, 2 October 1862, Page 3

IN TERNAL DEFENCE.

Amongst other pieces of legislation passed by the Ministry towards the close of the Session, and hurried through the various stages, from initiation to perfection, almost in a single day, was " an Act intituled an Act for raising a force for the internal defence of the Colony." There is no question, but, that a strong necessity existed, for some action being taken in this direction, and we shall therefore shortly glance at the various clauses of the measure, with the double purpose of showing what it really proposes to do, and whether it is likely, that its provisions if carried into effect, will fulfil the objects, contemplated by its introduction. The third clause then, provides — " that the Governor may at any time, and from time to time call together arm and array a force whether of the Native race or Europeans subject to the provisions hereinafter contained and may cause them to be trained and exercised accordingly, U suoh times and places as he shall think fit. Provided, that the number of such force shall not exceed five hundred." It will be seen frura the above, that the maximum number of men to be raised for thi s force is 500, but in the short discussion, which took place in the House on the second reading, it was distinctly stated by the Colonial Secretary, that it was not contemplßted for the present year to raise more than 200 men, to be composed partly of Europeans and partly of Muoiie.s, and that there was a sufficient sum to be obtained from the estimates already grunted to obviate the necessity of asking for any more money at that time. The force "when raised is to be employed as an armed constabulary and to be subject to the " Mutiny Act" and the * Articles of War." The enlistment is to be

voluntary, aud (he Governor is to fix the length of the period of service, while its pay is to be drawn out of " any funds which may be appropriated by the General Assembly for the reinstatement of any disturbed districts, or from any funds to be applied to native purposes generally, or lastly from any funds specifically voted by the Assembly for the purposes of the Act." If il were not that another clause fixes the limit of expenditure as not to exceed a sum of £30,000 in any one year, there would be considerable danger, with the large general powers conferred on the Governor and Executive, by this measure, that the Colony would be involved in all the pecuniary liabilities of a costly and it is to be feared comparatively useless experiment, and even as the eisu stands it is impossible to see what are to be the ultimate expenses. It is only proposed to raise 200 men to begin with, and this certainly will not cost very much but if the plan is to have anything like a fair trial al all, it must be carried out on a more extended scale, and the dribbling away of .£30,000 a-yeav, will soon make itself felt. The expenditure of such a sum as that will scarcely be long sanctioned by the people or their representatives unless some practical purpose is to bfi carried out, and we scarcely think that can be done by distributing a mere handful of 200 men, hulf of whom would be natives, through. ; out the various districts of this Island to preserve law and order. If the internal defence of the Colony is really to be provided for at all it will not be by such a petty scheme as the present, and a force larger in number and different in composition will be required for the purpose than that proposed to be raised in this hasty and inconsiderate piece of legislation.