Volunteering.

Manawatu Herald, 24 July 1900, Page 2

Volunteering.

A meeting is convened for to-morro"w night of all those interested in the formation of a rifle club and volunteer corps. It is well that the public should keep these matters alive, as the day is not distant when their services, if offered, will be accepted. The Defence Minister in his statement to Parliament is at last fully aware of the value of trained shots and drilled men to the colony, and the frequent refusals hitherto met with have become records of the past. Volunteering besides being a most useful occupation is also an enjoyable one to the young and active, and the best characteristics of a man are brought out when under wholesome restraint and discipline. The advantages of a volunteer corps established in the town would b >. great as providing a means of interest and instruction, and connected with a company are many offshoots which tend to encourage good comradeship and sociality. It should be the duty of all residents to forward the formation of such a corps by all reasonable means, and we believe this would be done were a corps formed and accepted by the Government. We trust the meeting will proceed no further than to obtain the names of those willing to serve, leaving the question of officers out of all consideration, as so much depends upon the selection of men to appointments that the recruits should be only those who have no ambition to fulfil outside of the success of the company as a whole. With such a guidance the local company should speedily become one of the best to be found on the coast.