DEFENCES OF THE COLONY.

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 98, 18 April 1885, Page 3

DEFENCES OF THE COLONY.

Numeeous inquiries having been made to us concerning the Militia Act, we have taken the trouble to prepare a brief digest of the law on the subject now in forco. Tho first Militia ordnance was passed in 1845, and measures dealing with the same matter found their way into the Statute Book in 1858 and 1865, while Amendment Acts became law in 1860 and 1862, The Act at present in force is the Militia Act of 1870, which consolidated and amended all then existing law relating to the Militia in New Zealand. It repeals all the Acts before mentioned, and all regulations under their authority, saving those having refereuce to then existing liabilities and commissions. It is provided that all officers shall be British subjects by birth ornatuialisation, the Governor to act as Commander in-Chief of the Militia and all other Colonial Forces. The Militia shall consist of all males between the ages of 17 and 45, with the following exemptions : — Judges of the Supreme and Native Land Courts, members and officers of the General Assembly, superintendents of provinces, secretaries and under - secretaries of the Colonial Government, civil commissioners, resident magistrates, the clergy, professors of any college or university, members of provincial councils during ses sion, all sheriffs and constables, warders and officers of a proclaimed goldfield, duly registered medical men in practice, telegraph clerks, gaol warders, attendants in lunatic asylums and hospitals, postmasters, mail - carriers, government ferrymen, Customs officiate, school teachors actually ongaged in teaching, seafaring men other than watermen or boatmen, volunteers, all persons affected with lunacy, deafness, blindness, or any other disease or infirmity being duly certifiod by a medical man appointed by the Govornor and paid by the Government for tho purpose. No officers who have voluntarily retired from the Army or Navy shall bp required to serve in the militia in a lower rank than that which he held in the service. Natives also are exempt, but the Governor in Council has power to suspend the exemption under certain conditions. The burden of proof of exemption rests with the person claiming exemption. Tho Militia is divided into three classes : Ist class, men between 17 and 30 years of age ; 2nd class, men between 30 and 40 years of age, and 3rd class, men between 40 and 43 years of age. The appointment of officers is left in the hands of tho Governor, who may also confer brevet rank. Provision is made for tho constitution of Militia districts, and the division of such districts into battalion divisions, each battalion having a field oflioer, adjutant, and regimental staff, The officer commanding the battalion has the power to divide his command into company divisions, each company being officered by a captain, lieutenant, and ensign. Officers holding appointments under previous Acts are placed on tho unattached list, unless previously posted to battalion or company. Clauses relating to enrolment are as lollow :— 23 The enrolment of tho Militia shall be made in each company division by the adj utant of toe bittilion, or oilier officer appointed by him, or otlicer commanding an independent com pan > ,as th-j ea o may be, who h) actual inquiry at each houso on the company division if neco-bary, or by any other means in his power, shall obtain and keep at all limes a correct roll of thecompunj in such form as iiidj be directed by the olli or commanding the district, and copies of saM rolls shall m the month of January in each year be posted in conspicious places within the said company division. 21. Each man liable under this Act for enrolment in any company, battalion, or regiment, and not so enrolled, thall. within 20 days after thopostinK of the said rolls, give in his name, age, and place of residence, cither personally ov in writing, to the adjutant of tho battalion or ofllcer commanding the independent company, as the case may be ; and no person liable to be enrolled shall be relieved from training and execiae, or from actual servioj. by omission from or erroneous entry of his name on such roll. The Governor may call out the whole of the Militia or any part thereof to be trained as a military force by proclamation in the Government Gazette and in the local papers. No militiaman is co npelled to attend for more than 168 hours in any one year. Penalties are provided for neglecting to give information or giving lalso information respecting tho, qualifications and liability' to serve in the Militia, and for interrupting or obstructing the Militia at muster, inspection, or parade. Provision is also made for fines and punishments for disorderly conduct and other military offences. The Militia may be called out for actual 3ervico, "pro vided always that no Militia officer or Militiaman in any rogiment shall bo carried or ordered to go beyond the boundaries of tho district for which such regiment or independent company is raised, except only such as shall volunteer for service out of the game." When only a part of the Militia is required for actual service, such men as may volunteer for service are taken first Should the number so volunteering be insufficient the whole of the first-cl^ss shall be taken before any are taken from the second-class, and the whole of the second-class shall be taken before tho third-class are called. Theperiod of actual service is one year. Militiamen drafted for actual service may have their places taken by substitutes. Militia officers take precedence ovor officers of volunteers, and armed constabulary. The interests of miners are protected while on Militia duty. The following are the Militia districts in the Provincial District of Auckland: -Mongonui, Bay of Islands, Hokianga, Kaipara, Mangawai, Whangarei, Auckland, Wairoa, Waiuku, Whangape,. JEtangiriri, Hamilton, Raglan, Alexandra, Cambridge, Thames, Coromandel, North Shore, Tauranga, Matata, and Opotiki. The appointment of Captain Feuton and Lieutenants Dacre and Gerrard, have been confirmed by His Excellency, their commissions dating from February 19th.

Manufacture of Guncotton in Auckland. Experiments in the making of guncotton have, we learn, been made recently in Auckland, at the instigation of Government, who wished to ascertain whether that explosive could be manufactured here with safety and in sufficient quantities for defence purposes We are glad to learn that the experiments have proved most satisfactory. The gentleman who has had charge of proceedings is Mr James Burst, Secretary to the Mutual Intercolonial Mercantile Association, whose office is at S, Mercantile Chambers, Queen-street. To show that the process of making the gun cotton is perfectly safe, it need only be mentioned that Mr Hurst did all the work at his private residence, and that he has now three very good samples at his office j tor the inspection of those interested. No doubt Major Cautley or the torpedo instructor who arrives with him tomorrow will have instructions to see Mr Hurst on the subject. Gun-cotton has three times the explosive force of gunpowder, and for small arms, torpedoes and submarine mines s saidto be more adapted than any other substance. Dynamitein exploding exerts adownward force, whereas the force of gun-cotton fa chiefly upwards. Made, according ta

; latest discoveries, as Mr Hurst claims to have made it, it is safer than any known explosive. It can be stored in any quantity with perfect safety, as it Avill not explode by fire when kept in tho damp condition ; and its lightness, coupled with its safety, admirably adapts it for transit. The damp gun-cotton, as made by Mr Hurst, will not even explode by percussion, as dynamite does, but only by detonation of dry gun-cotton. Mr Hurst is prepared either to make any required quantity of guncotton for Government, or give instructions in the art to Government officers. With very simple and oasily constructed appliances he could make within a month sufficient of this powerful explosive to suffice for the defence of the colony. Gun-cotton is considered superior to dynamite for torpedoes and submarine mines, but it cannot be sufficiently "lamed" to make it of any use for artillery purposes. Some volunteer officers have been representing to Colonel Lyon that they are unfairly treated by the Militia Act, which gives militia officers precedence over them.

Men for the Defence Works. The Minister of Public Works appeal for additional labour wherewith to push on with greater expedition the works in connection with the mounting of big guns at the North Head has evoked a hearty and general response. In reply to the communication addressed to him on the subject by the Harbour Board, the contractor for the Calliope Dock (Mr P. Lanigan) sends a detachment of some twenty men to the works to-morrow morning, and if more 3hould still be wanting, he will be prepared to contribute further hands. The City Engineer has approached the city contractor? on the same subject, and ha 3 arranged that 35 men shall be sent to the North Head in tho morning, while as tho Frozen Meat Company promise the same concessions as I the Board and Council do to theirs, Mr j Allan Maguire in all probability will detail off some score or so of men for the defence works. With such an increase of working hands, the necessary preparations for defence should go briskly forward.