THE VOLUNTEERS

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1758, 8 October 1879, Page 3

THE VOLUNTEERS

WELLINGTON, October 7. ■Colonel Whitmore reports on the volunteer foroe.of the, colony that volunteering has very greatly increased during the last year, and the volunteer, spirit has spread widely throughout the colony. Three very creditable demonstrations by-.volunteers, at considerable expense to themselves, have taken place, at Dunedin, Auckland, andilnvercargill, and at each place it has been , proved that a considerable body of trained-men can be, at a very short notice, brought together from distant districts. The Volunteer -Rifle Association meeting at Nelson was a marked success, and will be the first of a series of such meetings in the future. It has been with great pleasure that 1 have received from -the Thames, Wellington, Christchurch, Timaru, Oamaru, Temuka, Picton, Cromwell, and Queenstown corps offers of assistance in the event of any outbreak on the West Coast.; proving that the military spirit created by the formation of volunteer corps is a reality, and not, as is too often believed, only ah illusion. In order to foster the volunteer -spirit, 'the Government intend to ask Parliament to -follow the recent English precedent, and to increase the capitation grant on certain conditions. Moreover, in accordance with the arrangements now being made at Home, it is proposed to invito the cooperation of the force in rendering the clothing of the several corps more uniform, and, if possible, to arrange that at volunteer demonstration detachments of several corps may act in companies and battalions with a similar dress and appearance. As a step in this direction the Volunteer Artillery is now formed into a regiment with the same uniform and system tbronghont, and officers have been appointed to it by election. It is proposed to carry out further improvements in regard to this branch of the service, including a regular inspection by a competent scientific officer. The Volunteer Cavalry has during the past year kept up its former efficiency. On the West Coast, as soon as our relations with the Natives appeared to be critical, and when the regular paid force of the colony in the locality was hardly sufficient to inspire a feeling of security in the district, the settlers came forward so readily to enrol themselves for the defence of the country, and to maintain law and order, that in ten days the large number of 1500 volunteers were under arms and training.