The Evening Star THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1874.

Evening Star, Issue 3634, 15 October 1874, Page 2

The Evening Star THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1874.

Major Gordon’s report on the New Zealand Volunteer Force, presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by his Excellency, should have been headed “ The Humors of Volunteering in New Zealand.” We are very loth to say one word calculated to lessen the obligation society owes to men who have stepped into the ranks with the intention of doing good service should their efforts be required. Our purpose in drawing public attention to the subject is not to cast ridicule upon the institution, but to expose its defects, with a view to their rectification. We have no wish to find, in case of actual service, that

a turn-stile is more certain, Than, in events of war, Dame Fortune. Dame Fortune should, as far as possible, be set at defiance by reducing the chances of defeat; and this can only be done by careful preparation and training for conflict, if ever that is to take place. In battle success depends upon the talent of the commander, the discipline and courage of the troops, and the perfection of their arms in skilful hands. In the Colony, great attention’ has been paid to the skill of Volunteer marksmen, and although latterly enthusiasm to shine with the rifle is on the wane, every man who has a spark of the English sportsman in his veins likes to be a good shot. The misfortune has been that we have fallen into the error of imagining that if a man can hit a bull’s-eye in cool blood he is a good soldier; whereas the truth seems to be we have accepted skill in one branch of the military art as evidence of fitness in every other. It is almost a pity to wash the dust from our eyes; the illusion was so pleasant, and we used to sleep in our beds with such a profound sense of security that no enemy would ever succeed either by night or day in disturbing our peace, so long as Majors Bathgate, Jones, and Steward, with Lieut..-Colonel Cargill, held command in Otago. Little were we prepared to find that Major Gordon held the three first so lightly esteem as to recommend their commissions “to lapse or be cancelled for nob having fulfilled (or being unable to do so) the requirements of their commissions,” Nor must it be supposed that the case of Otago is singular, Wellington, as a Province, stands worse than Otago in regard to its commanding officers. The Drill Instructor “ was very defective in his knowledge of certain portions of the rudiments of his duty, owing perhaps to his having for too long a period of his Imperial service served in the tailors’ shop of his battery.” It is plain that ability to-hit a needle’s eye with his thread, had not taught him to hit a bull’s eye with a rifle. No wonder that the troops were deficient in squad and company drill. The whole of the corps of Wellington City are described to be pretty much in a like condition. Major Gordon wonders how certificates of efficiency could be given so as to obtain capitation for them. He seems to have explained the cause of his own bewilderment when he said there were three paid staff officers in the Masterton and Greytown districts who “ never appear on parade.” We do not know that it is anything to be surprised at that the districts in which there is the least call upon men’s time and energies in business ai-e spoken of as having the most efficient Volunteer corps. Some towns iu the North Island, the Province of Nelson, and one or two places on the West Coast, where business does not require the whole of the men’s attention, appear to be nurseries for Volunteers. Canterbury, like Otago, does not shine. If it be true that the Naval Companies of Dunedin and Port Chalmers are “ failures, ” as well as the Cadet Companies, we find in our neighboring Province that the No. 2 Company of Volunteers, at Heathcote, was represented by two men, of whom “one wasdrunk.” In the North Island, affairs vary according to circumstances. The Native wars have had the effect of militarising some of the settlements. Yet in Napier this is how one company behaved on parade : “ Its members talked incessantly, jostled each other, &c., in the ranks, and seemed not to be under any control whatever.” We need not follow Major Gordon through his report as to the fitness of our Volunteers for actual service. What we have quoted would be food for ‘ Punch,’ were there one in existence in New Zealand, and we have not told the worst. But we do not acquit the Government of blame in the matter. Where there is indifference as to the equipment of troops, discipline is a farce. The very best troops in the world would be powerless and stand defenceless before an enemy. Yet in just such a position would our Volunteers be. Major Gordon reports that “ by far the larger portion of the Enfield rifles in the hands of Volunteers are worn-out, many of them having been used as fowling-pieces by militiamen , prior to being issued to Volunteers the “ Terry breech-loaders are in a worse condition;” and the arms served out to cadets not being uniform, some of the corps are placed at a disadvantage in prize firing. With regard to uniform, Major Gordon is not better satisfied than he is with

other portions of the Volunteer outfit. He deprecates the variety of colors adopted by the various corps, but yet more the variety in the rig of one man or of the same corps. He condemns the “ grey Nelson cloth,” although of good material, on account of its being capable, in the hands of a tailor, to be trimmed out in every possible shade. “I have seen,” says the Major, “ tunics constructed of this cloth of three different shades in the same tunic, ai’ising from each piece probably having been shrunken in water of as many degrees of cleanliness and purity,” He does not like the tailoring either, and complains that tailors cannot make a suit to fit closely and comfortably. It thus appears that our Volunteers are, as a rule, badly clothed. Under the circumstances, we think they have been wonderfully patient; but as fathers, brothers, and sons make up the force, in the name of mothers, wives, sisters, and sweethearts, we protest against such mockery of defensive preparations as being worse than useless. If ever our Volunteers should be called into actual service, their lives would be uselessly sacrificed ; for a very inferior force, if well organised, would be sufficient to put them hors de combat. To send troops so prepared into the field, is to send them to certain defeat or death.