COLONIAL RESERVES.

Kumara Times, Issue 417, 26 January 1878, Page 4

COLONIAL RESERVES.

pretty clear that in «iiy"ifdteire war on the Continent or in th« r Eastern regions in which this <»tiniacy a may involved, the reserves, if not' some portion of the operating : field'armieß, will have to be pSrtlycotuititutftd by irregular contingents enlisted for the period of such a waiy as was the case with the Ameri4&ti* id 'the' ciyal war. A momentous difference between those forces and our own of the same character would be the smfreeirfrom which they would have to be /drawn. Whereas the Americans had Miofenlist men entirely ignorant of the ! ttse-of arms, and officers without thi£|&K|hteßfr -Knowledge of their new prefession, the British contingents wlouTd fee formed, in l the mauV of dis--Bha|ged acquainted in some measure with the duties required of them. ,J The Warin Turkey; has shown already what strength may be exhibited by. : men ofihajdy .physique armed with good breachloaders, which they know ftbwfo handle, even though they are not of the advantages which a long active service would give, provided and .officera unvalue of the spade/' To a of strategy and Sfe ß^lo^o^ - .^lang';'» y a ™ : sdff*ussW , * e ~- of ine coming inA few weeks' -tj^toing;dßa t .Mrgßd§;.and divisional en•fearapmente, J;for J, practising marching, 'Sadies levies of (he Secession war' or the Moblots in the The ,q^stio§;js/ij^Pjd4; suchV-ryolup teers be foi of course, would-depend on the cause Jwar, its duration and t l sWM6\ < : Td the" four'years' struggle recriiita at times,

even -with high. bounties, slack trade, [ and the prospect of good pensions. Bat there was another inducement which, we believe, proved very valuable, and which might be held out by the British Government likewise in case of of emergency—the promise of money gratuities and grants of Crown lands in the Colonies. Some weeks ago we mooted the question of miliitary colonies of pensioners as likely to become a lever to the recruiting of the regular army. The agricultural laborer, by serving his country in the ranks, might become entitled to a free passage and freehold property in the Colonies. The same would hold good with volunteers from the militia. And not only the inhabitants of the British Isles would avail themselves of such advantages offered to them. The 100th Royal Canadians were raised after the Crimean War to become a permanent regiment. "We have in Australia two millions, at the Cape half a million, in North America nearly four millions of British population—that is, a good third part of the whole population of Russia before 1866. All those colonies might send us volunteers, which we would give them back at the end of the war as tried soldiers and small capitalists and land owners, the manufactured material for a Colonial militia of military settlers. There could be Australian, 'African, and Canadian legions, more valuable, perhaps, than any foreign legions we have had before.—Mercantile Gazette.