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Thames Star, Volume XIV, Issue 4424, 9 March 1883, Page 2

(To the Editor of the Evening Star.)

Sib, - Some one or two years since, the present time of the year was one of-most active preparation in the Volunteer world. Every exertion was in progress to render each member well drilled and au fait in knowledge of sentry-go camp duties, &c. The " dear old battalion " (as your corres* pondent so aptly describes it), which presented such a complete • appearance on Easter Day reviews, has collapsed, and so has the old independent feeling of volunteering which enabled this district to astonish Aucklanders with such large company musters and decorous organization. What is the reason that volunteering has thus collapsed? Is it because the district is depopulated, or that a love of volunteering no longer exists PI do not believe that' either of these reasons can be assigned in explanation. My observation leads me to believe that the reasons are to, be found— Ist, in the unfair treatment accorded'the Parihaka contingent; 2nd, in the impolitic conduct of affairs by cdrtain '< volunteer officers, who forget they are elected to their positions by popu:; araajjxj aip ut 'pjg '■ aSwjjns iu\ strictness of the new regulations; 4th, in the absence of any quid pro quo for services to the State. What can be more

absurd than to fine a Volunteer for non« attendance at parade when no remuneration is given for such attendance. The New Sovth Wales volunteer receives £12 per annum for his services, if he absents himself he is with reason _ fined, the stoppage of his pay constituting the fine. It appears to me that the New Zealand Government expect to secure the New South Wales discipline in our volunteer

force, without offering the monetary in« ducements of the N.iJ.W. regime. The sooner His Excellency Sir-Wm.Jervois takes the New Zealand system in hand the better for the well being of the force. THe regulations now current in New Zealand are similar in almost every respect to those of N.S.W. Doubtless these rules

wonld be as popular and successful here as in the sister colony, if the important item of payment for service were included in the rule of the New Zealand Regulations. Without such equivalent value for service rendered, discipline can neither be expected from the men, nor exacted by the officers. The present life of a volun-

teer corps depends entirely on the popularity or otherwise of its officers. This is not what should materially affect the well-being of a corps; the discipline of the service should not be allowed to rest

so completely on the popularity of the officers. The remedy for this is to be found, I believe, in the quid pro qtio system.—I am, &c, Thamssis.