THE "nothing extenuate; nor set down aught in malice." SATURDAY MORNING, 26th DECEMBER THE PROVINCIAL RIFLE PRIZES.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVIII, Issue 2001, 26 December 1863, Page 2

THE "nothing extenuate; nor set down aught in malice." SATURDAY MORNING, 26th DECEMBER THE PROVINCIAL RIFLE PRIZES.

In the old days it used to be said that " everj bullet had its billet," but this can scarcely bi said so now with any approach to correctness — nor indeed could it ever be so said if thi "billet" referred to meant a human one Nothing strikes ordinary readers with sc much surprise as the fewness of the casual ties, on any given occasion, when comparec with the number of men engaged and tht rounds of ammunition expended. There usee to be something farcical in the statement; published during the Taranaki war, of fifteen twenty, or thirty thousand cartridges bein^ used by the troops during a single engage ment. The results were so scarcely percep tible, that sometimes it would have been gros exaggeration to have said that even on< bullet in a thousand found its desired billet Something like this takes place even unde: whatmay be supposed to be themost favorabli circumstances — say, for instance, the sur prisal the other Sunday morning of a body o natives at prayers near Paparata. The sur prise was complete, the Rangers wen only thirty yards off when they first attacked and the panic among the Maoris being in tense, they only fired three or four shots ii return. Some of our readers may think thi ' less said about that Sunday morning's worl the better ; we think so too, more especially as the only resistance that was made — th< wrestling match between a Native and Smitl — went to show that one Englishman is no always able to fight three Maoris, but tha sometimes (in this case for example) the pro portions are reversed.* Under the eombinec favorable circumstances of surprise, non resistance, and panic such as took placi last Sunday week at Paparata, only foui natives were shot, although we read it wai " supposed" (as it always is, but so seldou correctly) that more were killed oi ' wounded. What the cause of this is, must be paten to everyone who takes any interest in thi in the system of drilling which is generally ■ pursued in New Zealand. Drill makes thi difference between an army and a mob. 1. > mob, however rapidly drilled, is an army an army broken and demoralised is a mob , But the Colonial Force should be drilled t< i something more than is necessary to preven its becoming a mob : it should be constantly . drilled in target practice and (what is o ■ equal consequence) in judging distances The exercise by motion is all very well, bm ; it is only like learning to write on a blacl board — merely initiatory to what is realhj required for practical purposes. Constan ball practice, at short and moderately long ranges, is indispensible to efficiency in thi field, and then the best shots will fail tomaki their mark unless they learn to calculate dis-

ances. A whole battery of Armstrong ;uns would be as effete as so many children's irass cannon, unless tlie Artillery were well ip in their distances, unless they were able o judge with tolerable accuracy tlie number >f yards to the point to be aimed at. Atrial jail or two would soon correct any slight ar;illery deficiency, but the rapid change of position and variation in distance which takes olace in infantry skirmishing, generally results in an all but waste of powder and shot. If anything is worh doing at all it is worth doing well. If the colonists are to handle a rifle, the more efficiently they can handle it the better, and we are glad therefore to learn ! that the money voted by our own Provincial Council is about to be offered in. prizes during the present summer. This sum (£150) if divided into a few prizes for the best shots in the Province, would not, we ' fear, give such a beneficial stimulus as if it were divided among the districts to a few of J the best shots in each of them. We all know (and it is a fact worth being proud of) that the " bullets" of one portion of this pro- ' vince would probably find more "billets" : than those of any of other province; that '. Wanganui' s average at the last prize firing was 24i, while those of Taranaki and Auckland were only 15. IST ow if the prizes are offered to ! the best shots in the Province, of course Wanganui will be sure to walk off with them all. Other districts will have no incentive to compete, and the whole object of the prizes will be lost so far as they are concerned. If, on the other hand, the amount is apportioned to the Wellington, Wairarapa, and Wangauui districts, — so much for each district—then we do not doubt but that a very general interest will be awakened, and thatthe competition will be entered into with spirit. The only objection to this proceeding is that the value of the prizes must necessarily be very small. The -money value certainly will be, but the emulation excited in the corps to carry off a first prize in the district, though it be only £5 to £10, will be infinitely greater than would be occasioned if it were a £50 or £100 prize open to all the Province. As it is the emulation ofthe greatest number that the prizes are desired to excite, we hope that those under whose guidance the Superintendent may frame the rules will keep this object in view, and so apportion the amount between the Militia Districts that there may be several small prizes in each, rather than a few large prizes open to them as a whole.