THE VOLUNTEER INSPECTION.

Evening Star, Issue 6727, 8 October 1885, Page 2

THE VOLUNTEER INSPECTION.

After tho men had completed all the manoeuvres mentioned in tlie programme published in pur last issue, they were addressed as follows by : Sir George Whitmore : Volunteers of Dunedin and Otago, I have to. thank you very much for your attendance. I have information which leads me to believe that under other circumstances there would have been a still more perfect turn-out. If men are willing to give up their time and go to the expense of volunteering, I must say I do not think it is very much for those who employ Volunteers to allow them one day in the year to do oredit to Otago by turning out largely on inspection parade ; and lam very sorryto hear that some employers of labor have not been as patriotic as I think it was their duty to have been. Still the great majority have not acted in that spirit, and the resul* is that we have on patade here today 986 men out of a possible 1,117, Volunteers, you have not Had a gfa&t deal done for you either by the Government or 1$ the law. We must not look to that assistance, to make us perfect, because we very well know we shall not get it. If it were not .for, the spirit which moves the men to So their duty to the country, all that the law flofijs or that the Government has yet done would be very little.indeed towards tHe object aimed at. In England the law is such as to render it almost al military code. Here we niay say that the Volilntcpi law leaves every mart to do verjr much as he chooses j and if you have a very respectable discipline among you, it is because you have the military spirit, and wish to do your' best for the coulitry arid fender yourselves ah efficient force. The efficiency pi Volunteers is usually judged by the attendance oh parade. Attendance on parade, therefore, I beg you to consider as your own credit, and at all your daylight pdrades j ask yori to do your best to have a large fractioii of the force present—as many as can be without very considerable inconvenience; That is the test. I see that General Scratchley, in his report, says that our Volunteer fdree cannot be considered a -forco at all. Well, judged by paper, perhaps not; but I have had pecnliar. 7 opportu,nities of judging what the Now Zealand Volunteers are, because I believe, with the exception of the officer commanding..the New. Soiith Wales Contingent oh their expedition to the Soudan, I am tho only officer whel Ha? fought Volunteers in the world. And I must say that making fair allowance for men who are not under strict military discipline, T do riot think there arts finer-men to fight than those who turn out as New Zea" land Volunteers.—(Hear.) I very well know where the difficulties arc, and I hope as long as I am associated with you that I shall always be found to make fair allowance for them. I beg you to remember that a man with a muslcet does not make a soldier. The first duty of a soldier is obedience ; there can be no discipline where there is no subordination. It is not intended that a soldier should criticise orders, and he is not a soldier if he does so. His business is to yield blind obedience to the command given, so as to enable the men to be worked as one machine. Certainly in our wild wars with the Natives comparatively little discipline was required; but if ever you are required to defend thecountry from an external invasion you will meet disciplined legions, who have fought perhaps in the great wars of Europe, led by generals who well understand how to wield that terrible weapon, a well-disciplined force. lam very glad Colonel Stavely has taken so much trouble to get the force into battalions'; and I hope that you will remember battalion drill is absolutely the essential of civilised warfare. The presence of so many of the country corps to-day—in one I think there is only one man absent —is most creditable to this provincial district, and it shows that if Dunedin were' attacked there would at the very first sign of danger be a large concourse of men from the interior who would come to their assistance. I can say nothing about the attendance of the town corps, because I believe it was to some extent spoiled by some of the employers of labor. What I have seen is very creditable. In a short time one branch of the Navals will have something added to their labors in the working of our batteries, which are intended for them to garrison, and I confidently look to thorn to show that spirit which has made them one of the most popular, as they undoubtedly are one of the most efficient, corps in the country. I have to thank you for coming he»e to-day and for the efforts I know you have made to produce a good attendance.