Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News TE AROHA TIMES & WAIORONGOMAI ADVOCATE. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1900. Notes and Comments.

Te Aroha News, Volume XVI, Issue 222048, 8 February 1900, Page 2

Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News TE AROHA TIMES & WAIORONGOMAI ADVOCATE. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1900. Notes and Comments.

Ax ‘Ex-volunteer officer’ writes a’very sonsible letter to the Post on the above subject, from which the following extracts are taken : The Defence Of “ The Premier certhe Colony, tainly has tolcl us that he is quite prepare 1 for any eventualities that may occur, but if this be so I am afraid that the outward signs of such preparation are not very visible, and the consensus of public opinion is plainly that th°y would like to know a good deal more about what our position really is. The Premier says he intends to have more volunteers ; if so, the sooner he takes stops to procure them tho bet ! er, as it takes a good twelve months to i istruct men so that they may be serviceable if called out. Further, they should be armed with magazine rifles similar to those which might be brought against them by an invader. If our arms are not equal to those of the enemy we certainly would have a poor show of defea'ing them. We require at least' 50,000 such rif 1 • s to make us safe. Could we muster 500 men if required ? I very much doubt it-. Regarding ammunition for small arms, have we sufficient to stand a three moh'hs’ campaign, and have we waggons and horses to convoy war material from place to place, if suddenly called upon ? If we are so well supplied as we are told we are, what about the paragraphs which I have lately seen, to the effect that arras and accoutrements from other corps have been taken to fit our contingents? This does not look as if wo were very abundantly supplied. Again, with reference to the artillery, we are told that the long range guns of the navals were of great assistance at Ladysmith; if we should unluckily get shut up in Wellington in a similar manner, have we any such guns to use in defence without robbing our naval forts? True, wo have a gun on Mount Vict< ria, but I am afraid that it is scarcely up-to date. We may not see any immediate use for such guns, but it would bo far safer if the colony had some heavy long range siege guns, because it is certain that if we should ever be invaded, it coffid only be by the enemy having command of the sea for a time, in which case the colony would be left to its own resources, and have great difficult}' in importing war material. Our field artillery is also open to much improvement. The projectiles are only 6lb instead of lolb, and they only carry 400 instead of 600 C yards, and the wheels of boll guns and limb ts are none too strong for rough country. The Wellington battery is not supplied with trained horses, but those such as are used in lorries, etc., and there are about eight sets of regulation harness where thote shoukl he at least 38; when oth' r harness is required it is, lam told, of rather a job lot. There are no ammunition waggons, but 1 suppose in active service we should have to utilise drays, etc.”