THE WAR IN THE NORTH.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Volume I, Issue 36, 2 September 1863, Page 4

THE WAR IN THE NORTH.

THE VOLUNTjSftfR MILITIA. A public meeting took place at Bracken's Hotel on Monday night, for the purpose of hearing Captain Anderson explain the advantages of joining the Volunteer Militia of Auckland. R. Beetham, Esq., R M., occupied the chair.

The Chairman briefly stated the object of the meeting, and introduced Captain Anderson to their notice.

Captain Anderson observed that it had seldom fallen to his lot -occupied as he had ' been for some time with public affairs—to ad- I dress such a large concourse of people as he | found there assembled. It was a move in the right direction; and if everyone of the ! other districts of Otago came forward as they I had done, the Maories would soon have to | sing remarkably small. He would like to explain an error which was very generally

entertained by the public: the district to which he was appointed, and for which he was recruiting, was not Taranaki, but Auckland. The Waikato block, which was now offered to settlers on the terms which he would presently read to them, was situated in Auckland. Lieutenant Mace was at that moment seeking for recruits for Taranaki, while Mr. Mason, M.H.R., was the representative of Auckland in the matter, and the similarity of the names had no doubt led to some confusion. The regulations were very much the same, but in many points those of Auckland were the most liberal. The allotments of land offered to volunteers were much the same, but the terms offered by Auckland possessed the advantage, that, should a settler die before the allotted terra, he could demise the land to whomsoever he pleased; while by the Taranaki rules it reverted to the crown. He would read the regulations, and submit them to their own judgment:— 1. No man above the age of 40 years will be accepted, and every applicant will be subject to an examination by an officer appointed by the Governor, and must produce such certificates of good character, health, and general fitness for the service, as such officer shall require. 2. Each accepted applicant will be provided at the expense of the Government with a passage to Auckland. Before embarkation, he will be required to sign a declaration and agreement to the effect that he understands and will be bound by and fulfil these con - ditions.

3. On arriving at Auckland, the men will be enrolled in the Militia for service in the Province, and formed into companies ; constituted as nearly as may be as follows: 1 Captain, 1 Subaltern, 5 Sergeants, 5 Corporals. 100 Privates.

4. Each man according to his rank will be entitled to pay, rations, and allowance, until he is authorised by the Government to take possession of his land, when he will be relieved from " Actual service."

5. Settlements will be surveyed and marked out at the expense of the Government. 6. Each settlement will comprise not less than 100 town allotments, and 100 farm sections.

7. A stockade on the most eligible site in each settlement will be erected at the expense of the Government.

8. A town will be laid out around, or as near as conveniently may be to the stockade in one acre allotments.

9. Farms will be laid out around, or as near as conveniently may be to the town. The size of the farm sections allotted to each will be according to his rank in the Militia. For a Field Officer - - 400 acres „ Captain - - 300 „ „ Surgeon - - 250 „ „ Subaltern - - 200 „ „ Sergeant - - 80 „ „ Corporal - - 60 „ „ Private - 50 „

10. Every settler under these conditions, who upon being relieved from actual service, receives a certificate of good conduct, will be entitled to one town allotment and one farm section.

11. Priority of choice for each rank will be determined by lot. 12. After taking possession he will be entitled to receive rations, free of cost, for twelve months, upon the same scale as supplied to Her Majesty's troops ; he will be allowed to retain possession, as a militiman, of his arms and accoutrements, and he will be supplied with ammunition for use according to militia regulations. 13. No settler after taking possession will be permitted during the first three years after his enrolment in the Militia to absent himself from his settlement for more than one calendar month in any one year without the leave of the Governor first obtained.

14. During such three years he will be liable to be trained and exercised as other militiamen; and whenever a portion only of the Militia shall be called out for actual service, each settler will be deemed to be a Volunteer Militiaman, and will be required to serve as such within the Province. During such service he will be entitled to the same pay, rations, & allowances as other Militiamen. 15. On the expiration of three years from his enrolment, each settler, having fulfilled the conditions, but not otherwise* will be entitled to a Crown Grant of the town allotment and farm section alloted to him; and will thenceforth bo-subject only to the same Militia services as other colonists.

16 Any settler will be permitted to dispose of his land to any person approved of by the Government; and such person undertaking to be subject to the same liabilities will be entitled to the same privileges as the settler whose place he takes.

j 17. In case of the death of any settler, before he shall have become entitled to his Crown Grant, the land to which he is entitled will be granted to his wife or children, or to such other person as he shall by writing appoint ; or it may be taken for the location of another settler under these conditions, or for any other purpose, but the value thereof in such latter case will be determined by valuation, and the amount paid by the Government to the settler's widow or children, or other person appointed as aforesaid. j The pay of the Militia and Volunteers serving in the Province of Auckland, is as follows: i Captains .. n s 7d. per diem Lieutenants ..66 Ensigns .. 5 3 ]] Sergeants .. ..36 „ Corporals .. 3 | Privates .. ..2 6 j, ! —With rations and other allowances. Of course it was impossible that regulations drawn up at a few hours' notice could be supposed to include everything that it was desirable should be known; but the Government had appointed an officer with full powers to carry out their intentions. Some | of the men would be drafted off to form a cavalry corps, while others would doubtless ! form a naval brigade to work the gunboats j now being built in Sydney. The Waikato ' was navigable, and thus in this service a sailor i would have as good a chance as any other man. Every man became entitled to receive j pay from the day of his enrolment—it did I not certainly at first sight, appear large, but i when they came to consider that they were j under comparatively no expense, it made a j considerable difference. (" Give us a pound I a day."—Hear, hear.) Yes, they would make i very good wages at that, magnificient wages —better than the Shotover afforded, if all that he had heard were true. Immediately on landing they were found in everything—uniform, rations, arms, &c, so that their expenses would be little or nothing. He could not give them a detailed account of the land set apart, for he had never been there, but Mr. Beetham would give them every information on that point, as from his long residence there he was qualified to do, and he knew more about the Maories and their country than perhaps any man in Otago. His (the Captain's) time was short, and he should like to see the movement commenced as soon as possible. On Tuesday morning, and every subsequent day the Court-house would be open from 9 o'clock, for the purpose of receiving the names of those desirous of enrolment, and it was in his opinion no breach of confidence to remark that the volunteers would probably be accompanied by several gentlemen of the district well known to them. Mr. Jackson Keddell, of the Dunstan, would in all probability go, and he thought Mr. Inspector Morton would follow suit. (The speaker sat down amid cheers mingled with laughter, and cries of " It won't wash.") R. Beetham, Esq., who, on rising was received with loud cheers, said the last speaker had referred the meeting to him for information as to the land offered by the Government in Waikato, and a residence of many years in the Northern Island had indeed made him acquainted—not only with the land and the people, but also with the effects of the war with the native race. None in this part of New Zealand could hear of the war there without feelings of the deepest sympathy with those exposed to its blighting influence. Perhaps none of them had ever experienced the feeling of lying down at night without knowing whether they might pass through the hours of darkness free from assault, ruin, and death—but there were many in the North Island with whom such a feeling was of daily occurrence. If he were not in his present position he would not mind going once more and hearing the " Koara" or war-cry of the Maories. The Waikato was a noble district —such as those who had seen only pastoral portions in districts of the Southern Island could form no conception of. The climate

was lovely—frost and snow never seen, and the soil would grow everything. With regard to the prospects of the volunteers, — while a man might not make a fortune, he would never lack a sufficient independence as soon as his ground was once broken up and fenced in. The country had been settled for a greater length of time than the South Island—in the first instance by the missionaries, and it was peculiarly adapted for small farms. Water carriage was available in the Waikato district, good markets close to the hand of the settler, and from the long settlement of the military there, there were plenty of good military roads. To show the plenitude of wood and water, he might remark that if a settler had to place his homestead at a distance of a quarter of a mile from either, he would consider it a very great hardship indeed. A few unimportant questions having been put, which were answered apparently to the satisfaction of the meeting,

Captain Anderson said he had brought the ! matter before the notice of a public meeting, \ believing that to be the best way of ascertain- | ing their feeling on the matter, and to put it ! before them in its true light. He did not ; wish to enlist them under false pretences— j the more it was canvassed, the better. He had to go on the following day to the Arrow, '' and would like to see as many as possible between the hours of 9 and 11, so as to get a good detachment at once, and send them off by the Airedale. On the Shotover, Mr. Warden Williamson would receive the names of those desirous of enrolling themselves, and would hold a meeting to explain the whole affair to the miners on that river.

Mr. M'Gaw proposed a vote of thanks to the Chairman, which was seconded by Mr. Williamson, and carried amid loud cheerinsr. The meeting, which was one of the most crowded, and yet the most orderly we have seen in the township, then dispersed.