The Daily News. MONDAY, MAY 27, 1901. THE VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 110, 27 May 1901, Page 2

The Daily News. MONDAY, MAY 27, 1901. THE VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT.

The future defence of New Zealand rests, in our opinion, not on Fe<for ition with Australia or in the supremacy of tho British fleet, butonth* *b : ]i'y of New Zeiknd&rs to har.dle a rifle and shoot straight. It is for this reason that we rejoica at tUo success wh ; ch has attended the offi>its of who wwe instiumentral in sncu'ring the I formation of the splendid battalion ofj Volunteers which held their first; parade in New Plymouth a few diys ago. There are those who dep'ora the spread of the spirit of militarism, which they allege has ee'z-d the youth ; ofour fair colony; but'those who do this fail to read th» sign of th* 'times. What they call the spirit of militarism is really the revival of the spirit which enabled the people of England to'resist the tyranny of the Royal House of Steuart, the spirit- which achieved American independence, the. spirit which broke the power of Napoleon; the spirit in fact that hag made the British narion, For years this spirit his kin dormant, and neglect of precau'iona fpr the safety of the nation nearly lost Great Britain South Africi, In spite of the fulminaiions of the pro-Boer school the war iD South Africa was, in our opinion, a boldly conceived and skilfully planned attack upon the supremtey of the British race. The preparedness of the Boer, the enormous quantity cf arm?, ammunition and warlike storfH, the splendid efficiency of the whole of the Beer forces, prove, beyond doubt, that the war was d. teimined upon long before it eventuated. When the inner his'ory of the wsr becomes known, we feel sure it will be proved very conclusively tr a l , the wholo plan of the wir was made, not at Pretoria and Blotmfo tein ; but at : Sts. Petersburg, Paris, Vieana and Bsrlin. No careful student "f tie hi tory of the last 20 or 30 years oai. shut his »yes to the fact that thero is 'a growing dislike and even hatred of Great Britain on the continent of Europe. The splendid success which has attended the development of British coloaits has inteusifi d this and fotuna.lbly for us, as a mtion, the Transvaal has p oved tho eafe'y valve which has saved, for a, lime at anyrat', a greater and more desperate struggle. S-.range to say the c Jonies wera the first to reco>«ijis« the momentus nature of the struggle wlvxK opened in Siuth Africa, sad their spoataocrus and almost simultaneous offers of troops, to suppoit the Mother Uouatry, cm only be considered as an iutuitive and providential reeogniti' n of the Empire's 'langer, Tae eft'eot of the large numbar of troops by t'ie colonics, and hj) splen iid quality of the seme hat. hem very beneficial. The B.ttalio! parade on Friday showed that there a r e (j'eny mo.-o cf thVsams kaec-pyid, alar, well &e>K up young fellows ard willing to take tr.p p'ace of t v e contingtnts that have already placed the Nrw Zealanl troops in the forrt'ront among.t tho " Soldiers cf the Empire." It is openly-s"a!(d thsi' poth R'lfs-ia Mid France havi phns fo. a d scent upon New Zealand in the pigeon holes of their War Office, and

there can ba no. better defence thin the fact that every man in tin co'ony prepared and able to tako his place in the field agains' r . the fo . We hivebo'li France and G-rmwy fo dosa that a sudden raid en New Zea a>.d is wha! would probably fellow a declaration of war. Tie formation of a b<ittalio;j will, we helisve, be fruighA with greit benefit to the volunteer roovom'fiut in Titrcnaki.' Such parades as tbat held lasi week dofar more good than c>mpany parades. We uii'.'iT'tatd it i< intended to hold a batlal'on p;<radequarttrly, the next on<* to be at Uawe>a Each town, where there is a comply, will have 'he bat'alon parade hi 1J there in turn. This will not only give interest to tie movement ovtr a wider Pi'c-a, but will give at! ilia companies and f the railway officials experience in <n' &iuing and detraining men quickly and omfovlably. The Taranaki Battalion is fortunate in its fir-Id cffic.rs; in Major Etli's and Capt iu Okey thay have offic..rs of grfat experience and proved ability. In Captain T..urt n tlio battdion will hare an Adjutant. wh<\ in drill and disiiplin*), isseco-.id t> none in thedis'.tict. Captain Taunton is.an enthusios'ic voluntefr, and his' visi's of inspection canoo' f iil to eff ot au improvement in the various corps. The Taranaki Battalion starts under most favourable auspicit-s, and wi'.l, if properly 'supported, go a long way '.o pu f . ths volunteer movement 01 a permanently satisfactory ii>otin<?. We doubt viry much if any district can put an equal number of men of ■ such grand physiqua in tho field, while all thftofficers have proved, by.the way iu which their meHiturDsd out aad their *ffii.-i*ncy in th« shott time eicce tmir formation, to be thoroughly in oarxev. We he.rtily congratulate the officars and compliment tha m*n on the splendid appp-aratice of the Taranaki Ba':'alion and. th* dis'.iict in . possLSsipg such a fine body of m(.n.