The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1870.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume V, Issue 42, 19 February 1870, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1870.

The remarks addressed to the volunteers by Col. Harrington, on Thursday last, were precisely such as anyone who has been in the habit of frequentiug the parade ground ou drill clays might have expected. The Inspecting officer, himself a well trained soldier, at onpe delected the errors that occurred in lhe various evolutions that the men were called upon to perform, and immediately attributed them to their right cause, namely, a waut of regular attendance at drill. His remarks could not have taken the men by surprise, as they must themselves have been perfectly well aware that their manoeuvres are not executed with the same smartness and precision that characterised them in the days when the calling over of tbe muster roll \vaß not the empty farce tbat it now is upon all ordinary occasions. We believe that there are few persons who are not willing to allow the necessity, or at all events the advisability, of training our population to the use of arms, and, iv order to effect this, there is but one resource left iv the event of volunteering falling to the ground, namely, to call out the militia. But the militia service is attended with many inconveniences that it is as well to avoid if possible, and therefore those who are liable to be called out would do well to give a little serious attention to the subject, aud to decide which of the two they would prefer. Our opinion is that volunteering might be successfully carried out if the w*ho!e sj rstem were revised and reorganised. The first step to be taken must be to swear iv the members for a fixed period, subject, of course, to such modifiations as may be rendered necessary by change of residence, or temporary absence from the district. According to the present regulations, any volunteer is at liberty to leave the force whenever he pleases, upon giving three months' notice of his intention to do so — and what is the result ? Those who were on the parade ground on Thursday last can furnish a ready reply to this question. The working of our present system has proved to be somewhat as follows ; — A spirit of volunteering was rife among us, and it became a popular thing to join the force ; many did so because they felt a real interest in it, and they believed it would be a pleasant and a healthy recreation, many more offered their services merely because others had done so, and, perhaps, because they liked the uniform, and thought it would suit them ; besides, there is, doubtless, something inspiriting in being one of a large body of men trained to act in concert, and to move with mechanical precision. In the course of time, however, the novelty wore off—with some, it took longer to do so thau with others — the drill became irksome, and they absented themselves from parade upon the smallest excuse; the fines which they had bound themselves to pay for absence and other breaches of discipline, began to form au item in their expenditure upon which they had not calculated,

and the natural result followed —they sent in their resignations, and iv three months they were free. Had these men been sworn in for, say, twelve months^ and beeu compelled to attend their drill regularly, the probability is that they would, having once pot over tho first drudgery, have token a liking to their work, and would not. when they became proficients, bave been so anxious to give up what would have become, as it were, a habit with them. But it was not only these half hearted volunteers who, by this system of resigning at a short notice, came to be missing from the ranks. Their want of energy, and irregular attendance affected others who, so long as there were good musters, and the parades consequently passed off with some spirit, took a delight in their work, and were at considerable paius to make themselves acquainted with their drill, but as one by one dropped off, until gradually the ranks have been reduced to one quarter of their original numbers, they have felt the dispiriting effects that are generally produced by a thin attendance;, and they too have either left altogether, or have become so irregular in their attendance that when they do present themselves on the ground upon some such extraordinary occasion as the late iuspection, it at once becomes apparent that they have grown rusty, and are unable to go through their various duties in a manner creditable to themselves ov satisfactory to the inspecting officer. It maybe said that the fact of their having to bind themselves to serve for so long a period as twelve months would deter many from joining the volunteers, but we would meet this objection by making it thoroughly understood that, unless volunteering became general throughout the country, the militia would, without fail, be called out, and we have little doubt that, were our young men of necessity compelled to choose either the one or the other, the volunteer companies would soon re-assume their original proportions. This is a subject on which there is yet much to be said, but our allotted space is already filler:, and we must therefore defer its further consideration until a future day.