The Globe. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1877.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 1083, 18 December 1877, Page 2

The Globe. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1877.

Notwithstanding the action of the Government in connection with the proposed visit of Sir W. Jervois, we hope the question of making some sort of provision against foreign invasion will not he allowed to drop. We may never know what it is to receive the visit of a hostile ship, hut it is surely the height of folly to wait till it is too late before taking any steps whatever for securing ourselves against such a contingency. Wo are told that we can safely rely upon England’s fleet to keep us from any such visitation. But those are helped who help themselves, and if we are content to leave our harbours exposed to attack by an armed ship of the smallest size, we cannot expect the Home authorities to be over anxious about our small concerns. It must be remembered that a hostile visit of an enemy’s ship to these seas, however destructive it might be to us, would have no real effect upon Great Britain’s Imperial interests. As the Spectator put it some months ago, the bombarding of Melbourne or Sydney would have as much effect upon the issue of a war in which Great Britain was engaged, as the Chinese practice of making faces at the enemy. At the Fire Brigade dinner last evening the want of support accorded to the Volunteers was forcibly referred to. There is perhaps some reason for this. We are afraid that, as at present constituted, they are of no great value for defensive purposes. What we require, especially in the Middle Island, is to have our Artillery Volunteers greatly strengthened in numbers, and encouraged to devote more attention to such drill as will make them useful in defending our harbors. We should have men trained to manage floating batteries, armed rafts, and torpedoes. Had Sir W. Jervois been permitted to visit this colony and ■ report upon our harbor defences, he might have been able to recommend the construction of such works at a comparatively j small cost. Once the means of defending ourselves were placed within our reach, there would be no lack of men able and willing to come forward and acquire the necessary drill. If the matter were taken earnestly in hand by the Government, it would probably be found that our principal harbors could be made perfectly safe at a comparatively small cost. The present war has shown how completely heavy armed ships are kept at bay by torpedoes, and a knowledge that our ports are defended in a similar way would probably keep all cruisers at a safe dis-h-ace, It is the artillery arm of the Volunteer sendee therefore which we hope to see encouraged aud aided in every possible way.

That thriving watering-place —Sumner —has just grounds for complaint at the manner in which it is treated by the authorities. It has gov a church, a schoolhouse, and hotels, hut it has no resident policeman. It is true that on Sundays and holidays a representative of the law generally makes his appearance, but the short time he has at his disposal is almost entirely occupied in seeing that tht licensing laws are not broken, But there m other ttogs to be looked ate Asj

Sunday almost are to be witnessed cases of furious driving and riding, and in the matter of bathing the law is frequently broken. Not longer ago than yesterday might have been witnessed the spectacle of some thirty or forty men bathing in the most public manner, to the great annoyance of the numerous visitors. We think the time has come when a policeman should be permanently stationed at Sumner. He would find plenty to attend to, especially if he paid an occasional visit to the Heathcote Valley. It must be remembered that it is not so much the actual number of inhabitants which has to be considered, as the large number of people who daily frequent the beach for health and recreation. A large proportion of these are women and children. Were it known that a representative of the law was always at hand to be appealed to, people would feel greater confidence in leaving their families there during the day without special protection.