Wallingford May 13th/63 My dear McLean, I have not much time to write you, but there are one or two things I want to say a word or two about. The principal point that appears to me at present to want your, our consideration, is to determine what steps it will be our duty to take consequent upon the Gen. Govt. proclamation in reference to the "Military defence corps". The first step is of course to get authority to organize the Corps. It must however be at once apparent to you that we cannot get men who are to be of any use to us, at the scale of remuneration laid down by the Gen. Govt. 6/- a day is the rate fixed as emolument for a man who has to find his own horse and feed himself. It is at once apparent that on these terms we shall get no force at all. What I wd. strongly recommend to you is whether it is not urgent, that we shd. ask the Gen. Govt. to guarrantee us the 6/- a day perman and that with that guarrantee in hand, it will not be our necessary policy to give an additional emolument to secure the services of a force that may be required it may not be so easy to form it as at present. I hope you won't think me too urgent on this matter. But I do think it is our duty to, as far as in us lies, to make provision for circumstances which may arise, and which the difficulties in the North at least make more urgent and necessitous. It is an after matter of consideration how such expense shd. be provided for. As far as I can see at present I think the Govt. shd. incur the responsibility of providing the necessary funds to secure an efficient force and trust to the circumstances of the case being sufficient to guarrantee confirmation of the same. Don't, my dear McLean, think me an alarmist. No one is less so than I am. But I remember the past 18 months, and cannot help feeling that with sucha population of terrorists, as I remember existed then it is our bounden duty to take all steps in our power to take the possible chance of a difficult emergency into consideration and make provision for it. So much about that, you will do all you can I know in reference to its subject. Mr. Fitzgerald wrote me in reference to some application about a Soldier obtaining land who had not complied with the N. L. Military Settlers Act Regulations. My reply was that if the Govt. could constitutionally help the individual well and good but that I for one shd. advise you not to exceed the powers that attach to your office. It is late in haste Yours always J. D. Ormond.