The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, JULY 25, 1870.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume V, Issue 173, 25 July 1870, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, JULY 25, 1870.

The report of the Inspector of Volunteers, from which we quoted a few days ago, is as unsatisfactory a document as could possibly have emanated from an officer entrusted with such duties as those lately confided to Col. Harrington. In saying this we are not alluding to his report as to the state of efficiency of the different corps inspected by him, but to the suggestions he makes with regard to the general working of the Volunteer system. In the letter of instructions addressed to him by the Defence Minister we find the following : — " The Government would also wish to receive any suggestions which might tend to the improvement of the Militia and Volunteer Forces, without however, causing any great additional expense, and wish you generally to encourage the Militia and Volunteer movements in order to make them an efficient means for the internal defence of the Colony." In accordance with this request we should have expected to find some valuable remarks on the working of the present system together with suggestions as to how the existing evils and shortcomings might be remedied, but we have looked through the report in vain for such hints as we should have wished to find in a document of this description, and we rise from its perusal without having gleaned a single idea as to how the present very unsatisfactory state of thingt may be ameliorated. Put into a few words Col. Harrington's suggestions amount to this — Tbat the Militia Act is unpopular — That the capitation allowance to Volunteers is insufficient — That drill instructors who have received a certain amount of training should be sent out to the several districts — and that to qualify members of the force as "efficient " volunteers they should be compelled to attend a certain number of "preliminary drills," and fire a certain number of rounds to entitle them to capitation allowance. This is all very well in its way, but Col. Harrington appears to us to have commenced at the top iustead of at the bottom of the ladder. His remarks are applicable to districts in which large bodies of Volunteers are already in existence but not to those in which the force is a purely nominal one, such us is the case in Nelson, and, indeed, judging from the Inspector's report, in many other places as well. For instance we find tbat in one district "the muster was small;" in another they "only turned out in small numbers ;" in a third " the company did .not muster well," and so on. This is the great evil that has to be overcome ; it is these small musters that are the bane of the whole system, and therefore we are surprised to find that no suggestions are made relative to greater strictness on this head. It is all very well to say that the present capitation allowance is insufficient, and that greater encouragement must be given to induce the younger portion of the community to serve as Volunteers, but something more than this is necessary to swell the ranks. The Militia Act may be unpopular, but if the Volunteer Companies do not muster in such strength as they should do in proportion to the population of the districts in which they are formed, then the Act, unpopular though it may be, should be put in force, while, at the same time, superior advantages should be offered to Volunteers, and then, what with the pressure on the one side and the attraction on the other, our Volunteer companies might present a respectable appearance, such as would be in strong contrast to the wretched farces that are now enacted on our parade grounds where perhaps a dozen, or occasionally a score, of men represent the whole company. Once get the ranks well filled, not merely on the muster roll but on the parade ground, and then we go entirely with Colonel Harrington that every requisite should be provided for the Volunteers, who should not be called upon to sacrifice money in addition to their time. Let the legislatures, both General and Provincial, see that the Volunteer force ia I 1

likely to become a really useful body, inj which strict discipline is maintained,! and we have no doubt that the representatives of the people would not hesitate for one moment in voting the necessary supplies, but so long as it continues to be the mere sham it is at present, it is not to be wondered at if members are somewhat chary of finding money for that which is not likely to yield any return in the shape of permanently benefitting the country.