Hawke's Bay Times. NAPIER, MONDAY, MAY 11, 1863.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 114, 11 May 1863, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times. NAPIER, MONDAY, MAY 11, 1863.

Wonders never cease: one of the latest wonders produced for feeding the love of the marvellous inherent in the nature of frail humanity is Sir George Grey’s newly invented Cavalry, which invincible arm of war is to be known amongst men as the “Colonial Defence Corps” ! ! A fine sounding name that! It strikes the peaceful citizen .with the idea that there must be something in it, and he congratulates himself that by means of it, (not the name, but the reality) he will be saved the ignominious and harassing duty of the Militia.

It will, however, be our painful duty to disabuse the minds of our respected readers of that comforting reflection, for we shall show that nothing is farther from the thoughts or intentions of our Government, than to render this corps even in the smallest particular,- fit fur duty. That highly trained diplomatist Sir George, has made his arrangements in regard of this matter so perfect, that it is next to impossible for the corps to advance any further than the printed notice which announces its existence.

The regulations issued for the purpose of giving the deeply interested public some notion of what the meaning of all they hear about this new corps may be, will probably bear comparison with any document which ever came out of a Colonial Secretary’s Office, for the entire ignorance which it evinces of the subject under treatment. The only way of accounting for this ignorance satisfactorily is, that Governments and Governors are remarkable for their ignorance of everything relating to the art of governing. As an example in point, Sir George Grey professed in the plainest possible terms, and in the plainest possible manner, entire ignorance of the state of Taranaki. It is a most astonishing but equally indisputable fact that that high functionary, who by the way came out here some two or three years ago specially to settle the distracting Native question, professed to the war-striken people of that once flourishing settlement, that he was unaware of the circumstances which had led to a bloody and disastrous war, and by consequence of that war, to the desolation of their homes, and ruin of all the worldly hopes and prospects of that once happy people. With such a shining example of profound ignorance of the most important matter at present connected with these Islands, it is not to be wondered at that the Government are just as ignorant of the proper manner in which to set going a kind of irregular Cavalry corps. It strikes the unprofessional observer that out of so many gallant and experienced soldiers, now settled in New Zealand, some one acquainted with Cavalry discipline and management, could surely be

found to give some useful hints to our helpless Governor, and thus prevent that sorely afflicted man of talk from falling into further absurdities in his dealings witlCthe Maories. Nothing can be more signally absurd than to suppose that men can be found to voluntarily join a corps, without any other inducement held out to' them to do so, than is’conveyed in six shillings a day, out of which, it must be borne in mind, they are obliged to find themselves in a horse, and rations for themselves and forage for that horse. No able bodied , man in possession offfiis due share of the senses would be likely to give up the comparatively lucrative occupation of laboring in'the vineyaixTof peace, to become at a reduced wage and’ most unprofitable conditions a laborer in the miry ways of war. The theory is monstrous. There is not a man living who is practically acquainted with the state of the labor market in New Zealand at this time but will declare that it is preposterous to suppose that upon these conditions men of any value as men can by even the most remote possibility be got to serve. No bounty money is offered. No allowances of any sort whatever is even_hinted at, r and yet this ridiculous proposition is hung out an all its naked ugliness, to be laughed at by every passer by. But suppose the condition 3 of enlistment agreed to, and the corps actually raised, what sort of a figure would this gallant band cut, think you, gentle reader ? Think you the men would prove gallant “ soldiers, bearded like the Pard, full of strange oaths, seeking the bubble reputation, e’en in the cannon’s mouth” ? That they would probably be bearded like the Pard, and that it is still more probable they would swear pretty heartily and pretty frequently we have no doubt ; but Sir G. Grey will take very good care they don’t do anything so supremely ridiculous as to look for the bubble reputation in the Maori musket’s mouth. And further, no two horses would bo alike in shape, make, or color, and not any one of them would be found in good working order. Here, then, a blowjs aimed at the efficiency of the troop which of itself is fatal to its organisation and its development into a practically useful arm of the service. Officers of a sort may be got in plenty ; but the question is, whether, setting aside the men and horses composing the rank and file, the necessity for brave, experienced, and able men to act as officers does not become greater in proportion to the absence of all those qualities in the body of the troop. If we are to be defended at all, let us, in the name of the God of War, be defended in a proper and effectual manner, and not left open to the accusation of being a people who, not content with hiring men to fight our battles, hire the worst sort, and fit them up in the worst manner which it is possible to conceive. It is bad enough patiently to submit to have our nationality insulted, our rights infringed, and our laws defied, by a more handful of ill-armed savages, but to be mocked in our misery and degradation by such a pantomime as this Colonial Defence Corps as it at present appears is beyond all endurance. Shade of Bernadette look at this and weep,—a cavalry corps composed of men and horses of all sorts, shapes, and sizes, to be commanded by officers whom the veriest muff would disarm with a cudgel. Finally, if Sir George Grey is really going to fight the Maories, and has hopes of doing so successfully, be must raise a troop of horse as a troop of horse ought to be raised, composed of young and active men mounted on strong and active horses, officered by gentlemen esteemed for their bravery and sound judgment, and accustomed to handling bodies of mounted men. With five hundred men of this sort, the result of the fighting would no longer remain trembling in the balance.