THE VOLUNTEER FORCE.

Evening Star, Issue 3849, 25 June 1875, Page 2

THE VOLUNTEER FORCE.

On Wednesday evening last a number of gentlemen assembled at the Commercial Hotel, Milton, to witness the presentation to Major Atkinson of a testimonial from the officers and men of No. 3 Battalion. Ota-o Volunteers. The testimonial took the form of an address (signed by the officers of four companies) in these words:—“We, the undersigned officers of the No. 3 Battalion, dosire, on the occasion of your leaving the force, to express our high appreciation o f your? (soldierly qualities and your zealous efforts in tho cause of volunteering, as ako your uniform courtesy to officers and men during the time the battalion formed a pov tiou of your command. Incur own names, and on behalf of the non-commissioned officers and men of the several companies, we bid you farewell with many regrets and the most sincere wishes for your future prospekty.” And in presenting it, Major Steward spoke highly of the late adjutant of the district, and said the address was intended to represent what could not he bought by money—the thorough esteem of a large number of fellow volunteers who called the Major their friends. Major Atkinson replied that ho had not expected this testimonial from the volunteers of an outlying district, and went on to say: With regard to some substantial presentation, I may say that I believe something is being done in Dunedin; but Volunteering is at such a low ebb just now, that this may perhaps cause some delay. The longer any--king a the kind is delayed, the more it loses in value, and I may at once say that I do not want anything. 1 like the testimonial you have given me better than anything of greater intrinsic value. It will show that one section of the Volunteer force knew the way I have worked and slaved for the Volunteer force of the Colony, I sever my connection with the greatest possible regret It is impossible for a gentleman, or a°mau with a spark ©f gentlemanly feeling or spirit, to remain in the force under the existing system. I will do anything—l am not above labor—so long as lam allowed free iction, and can have an independent spirit ; but in the Volunteer force I was interfered with and trammelled in every possible way. They did this every day. It is not the fault of the men or the officers : it is tho fault of the Executive department that the Volunteer force of New Zealand is in its present state. There are as good men and. true in this Colony as in any part of the world—men who, if necessary, would do their duty; but from the wa, in which tho Volunteer force is managed by the Government at - the present time, no man of spirit or feeling in tho pay of the Government could remain in it.”

Later in the evening some plain speaking wai indulged in by Major Steward. As this gentleman it the Chairman of the Defence Committee of both Houses of Parliam-nt, and rumor points to him as a probable candidate for the honorary command of the Volunteers of the Province, we think his remarks entitled to some consideration. At all events they are worth perusal. They are reported by the ‘Bruce Herald’ as foilows :

He had been a volunteer since 1859 continuously, and had seen something like sixteen years service. He knew something about volunteers, both in the old country and this. He wished to say distinctly that in proportion to the number of the population, as good a Volunteer force could be maintained in New Z -aland as m the old country. He believed that in the same proportion a better Volunteer force could be raised here in New Zealand than in the old country. He would say further that the reason tuat the "Voluuteer force in New Zealand ha-1 fallen under a cloud to some extent, was not so much the fault of the material of which the force was composed, as the faulty manner m which the force was managed.—(Hear, hear ) He did not say that the fault Jay. with the officers, for ho did not think this was the case. He thought the officers in New Zealand were superior, grade for graie, to the officers in Lpgland, up to lieutenant colonel. The captains, lieutenants, sub-lieutenants, and majors were, he considered, better up to their work than officers of the same grade in the old country. We had never had a division brought into the field, even for parade purposes, so he could not speak of officers commanding divisions. Lieutenant-colonels had no opportunity of handling their men, and majors had very little. All the work had fallen upon officers in command of companies, for they had not boon able to get the companies together. One reason why the enthusiasm of the men had fallen off was this : they had not had an opportunity of being brought together for battalion drill, or for any change of drill. When men had the same drill night after night, they had not the same interest in what they had to do as when there was a change of drill. The consequence was that the thing became stale, and the men became disgusted—not only the men but the officers. There were thirty men present one n J«ht and a different thirty another, so that the othcera bad to go over the same work again night after night. This sort of work he considered much harder upon the officers than upon the men. Another reason why the enthusiasm in volunteering had fallen off in New Zealand, and particularly in Otago, was that the Government had not kept faith with the members of the force. He said this distinctly. It might or might not have been right to offer men in this island for five years’ sendee thirty acres of land, or a quid pro quo, but the promise was made. He considered that the force would be better without any such concession in the shape of a payment, for he believed Volunteers should be purely Volunteers; but at the same time, the Government should give them their arms and uniforms. Before he became an officer he thought this system inexpedient, but he had no right to complain of an existing rule, and he was bound to tell his men as they enrolled that after serving five years, they would be entitled to this land, or its equivalent in money. Now, the Provincial Oouucil refused to acknowledge the agreement. Last year they offered a sum per acre below what was promised, aud this year they ignored the promise in toto. In his opinion the system was wrong, but the agreement having been made it should have heeu kept by the Government if they expected the other side to keep it.—(Hear, hear.) This was one of the causes to which the decline of the volunteer force could be traced; but then there was still another cause. For some reason or other the people of New Zealand, particularly for the last year [or two, had come to look volunteering as a farce, for the reason that invasion was not at all probable, and that, therefore, volunteers could be dispensed with. r l he people had lost sight of the great reason which lay at the foundation of the Volunteer movement. The population of the country should be trained up, not only to resist any possible invasion year, or next year, but so as to be able any time their country was in danger, to riso up man for man. It might be years before any such danger arose, and it probably would be years, for he did not suppose that there would be an invasion of New Zealand this generation ; but nevertheless he was of opinion that our population should bo trained up to arms, so as to be able, when ocoasion required, to defend their own coun'ry —for all true colonists should look upon this as tin ir own country. If the population were tiamed in this idea there would be a moral iorce that would tell when the day of danger came, instead of leaving the minds of the yon; g to the idea that they might have to defend their country. He had read a gicat deal that had been written on the subject in the newspapers in New Zealand, and had thought over the matter, and he must say that, in his opinion, the writers had missed the right track. Ho that these writers for the Press were endeavoring to point out what they considered was a wasteful expense to the country, aud he thought they were right to point out incompetence in officers commanding districts or companies, or any laxity of discipline in the force itself. What he wished to say was that they would seek to destroy the whol« thing, and then what would follow ? If )

the force was broken up at the present time, many years would be lost so far as the moral progress of the movement was concerned. He felt strongly upon this subject, and he was sorry to see that the turn of the tide was so strong that it was not unlikely that the Volunteer force would he broken up altogether. If he were asked what should be the remedy, he would soy that he would like to see all the youth of the Colony, from fourteen to eighteen years of age—or it might be extended to twenty—compelled to attend drill for so many days, or even hours, a-year, so that the whole population might be from generation ro generation trained to arms. Companies could then be formed in districts not beyond the reach of inspection, and they should be regularly inspected once a year, or oftcuer, by a travelling inspector - a military man up to his work. He would like to see the coastal companies made artillery companies, properly anned, and served out with proper guns. If they could not be proper ly armed, let there be no company at all. Plenty of ammunition should be allowed, to enable the man to have constant practice, and a high standard of efficiency should be insisted upon. If this were done, there would soon be a Volunteer Force in New Zealand that we should not have any occasion to be ashamed of. If we did not adopt a compulsory military system at once, it would be better to abandon the whole thing until public opinion came round. He had thought over this matter for some years, and he thought it was the only alternative we had before us. — (Applause.)

Major Atkinson endorsed what Major Steward had Said with regard to compulsory drill for boys, and alluded to the drilling ol both boys and girls at the High School, Dunedin. He spoke of hia efforts to have drill made compulsory in the Government schools, and of the success that had attended them. Drill should be compulsory on all males under twenty-one years of age, and if this were done he would go back to his old position at a third of the salary, so long as he had command and control. While he could not do his duty according to the regulations without other officers undermining him with the political head, he would not hold such a position. He had a great respect for Sir Donald M'Lean, but the Utter knew nothing about soldiery, and was easily misled by iossil soldiers who had been twenty ye«rß oat of the service.