RIFLE CORPS.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 4, Issue 181, 8 March 1860, Page 4

RIFLE CORPS.

[From the Times.'] JVc are happy to believe that the formation of Rifle Corps bids fair to be a great rnoveanent, valuable for the immediate defence of the country! and still more valuable as restoring to the population that self-dependence and those manly habits which a nation can never lose’with impunity. On every side these corps are being formed;; exercising grounds with adequate ranges are obtained, the men are sworm in, and the institution may be considered now fairly established. We. return to the subject now in order that the good work may not slacken in its progress. Z’lie Rifle Corps are in their infancy,—a strong and healthy one, hut still an infancy. It requires national sympathy and national activity to bring them to a happy and useful maturity. Mow, if there were any signs that the members of these corps had joined them in a spirit of caprice or affectation ; if they were what certain similar institutions have too much been, mere append* ages to the station of country: gentlemen, or means of giving a mock military uniform, to be worn three or four times a year as a fancy dress, we should not think it worth while to

urge perseverance or improvement. The rifle corps which are being established are in no way akin to the old apparatus for nominal soldiering. They liave sprung into being because every man of common judgment is convinced that the country is on the point of being exposed to very great dangers. All classes may have occasion for the exeroise of courage, selfdenial, and public spirit until the clouds. which threaten Europe are overpast. It is this conviction which has made the volunteer movement successful at its outset, aud, as circumstances tend to show that political disquiet must endure for some time to come, the stimulus to activity will not be wanting. AW who believe that tlio volunteers are actuated hy really earnest motives, aud that their corps nre likely to contain before long many thousand effective men, must be desirous that the system adopted should be a good one, and that the corps at the outset should adopt suoh a model as will make them really useful to the country. This object will be best attained by considering how those countries most oelebrated for their volunteer forces have perfected this me* thod of defence. The two countries which will occur to every one are Switzerland, with the Tyrol, and the United; States of America. These two regions differ in every; possible respect. Indeed, it is difficult to name any countries where the conditions of warfare are more diametrically opposed. One is a .mountain region of small extent, situated in the midst of military monarchies ; the other is a vast plain sundered from the rest of the world by 3000 miles of sea. And yet in both the foundation of an efficient defence lias been the same. Bands of citizen soldiers accustomed to the use of the rifle have met periodically for a certain amount of military training, and these have in time of war been found a force of the most formidable kind. In both countries the principle has been the same ; whether a few hour’s march brought an enemy to the gate, or weary tracts of forest had to be traversed, the use of practised marksmen has been singularly effective. We say, then, that the first thing to be thought of is to. make a large part of our population skilful riflemen ; to make the weapon a national weapon, to make the exercise a national exercise, and to have in this country a reserve of men who may at any time fill up the ranks of a Volunteer Corps on an emergency. Z’his naturalization of the rifle ' among ns is an object as much to be sought after as the formation of any definite body for service, in case of a par tiicular event. But the two things may be accomplished by the same method. If in the course of tlie next twelvemonth the Volunteer Corps of this country succeed in making the rifle shooting popular ; if, in addition to the strength derived from their, actual numbers, the country has tlie benefit of their example, and finds that the youth from one end of the land’to the other are taking to the use of the rifle, and are anxious for tlie formation, oi fresh associations, then we may congratulate ourselves on having not only a present, but a prospective, defence against all dangers.. The truth is, that habitual use of weapons is nine-tenths of a soldier’s trade. In the present state of warfare even the usefulness of a private in a line .Tegiment mask depend much more on his proficiency with the highly finished weapon placed in his hands than on the mechanical drill to which, he has been subjected. No one will, of course, fancy that we underrate. discipline and unity of action. Tliat there is no difference between an army and a mob, and that a squadron of dragoons are not . more effective than as many farmers and drovers, is uu-absurd proposition. But it will

be evident to all who have paid any attention to military affairs of late years that the old excessive and minute drill which we have derived from Frederick ■ the Great is not the most valuable of military acquirements. To march in a line like a brick , wall, to turn the toes well out, with the little finger to the seam of the trousers, the chest “ well furrad.,” aud the stomach drawn in, is capital exercise for turning uncouth plougliboys into dapper soldiers ; but, with even a life to, practise it in, too much time may be ; wasted on it. Much more will this be the case when the subjects of this martinet rule are young civilians, with not too much time to spare, and whom it is. necessary to turn into efficient fighters with the least possible delay; We cannot conceive any plan more likely to hinder the usefulness of this movement than the attempt to turn volunteers into lines-men, and waste the time which would he spent on rifle practice in producing a bad imitation of the regular army. To-obtain the best marksmen anil .the best

weapons should be the object .of every corps. Meetings for practice will naturally bring with them a certain and a sufficient amount of military science. The gentlemen of the higher and middling classes of England are not ignorant rustics who do not know their right hand from their left, and whosewalk is a roll or a shuffle. They liave already a great deal of the soldier, in them. They are quick, intelligent, hold themselyes well, and have quite as much of a military appearance as the troops of our • formidable neighbour,; France. To teach such men aIT the drill requisite will be the work of no long time. The whole object of military manoeuvres is, after all, to put men iu their proper places at the proper time, and to accustom them to act on a given signal. It cannot be imagined that such men as form our Rifle Corps will require very much instruction to enable them to do this, and we have the lessons of history to teach us that such knowledge has always been acquired in sufficient amount wherever courage and the acquaint* ance with arms existed previously in the com* munity. For the present every means should be used to obtain a sufficient supply of men, weapons, and places of exercise. On the first point we can say no more. If the present state of Europe does not call forth the patriotism of our young men, then it is needless for the press to exert itself. With. respect to the supply of rifles, it seems to us the “ National Association for the Encouragement of Volunteer Rifle Corps aud the promotion of Rifle Shooting throughout Great Britain,” among many excel lent objects which it proposes to itself, makes a mistake in proposing to offer prizes for rifles. The care of the Government and the competition of the manufacturers will supply the nation with all that is necessary, and the As* sociation will do well to direct its energies to encourage the formation of corps or clubs, and inducing men of every condition to join them. The field is open, and there is a great work to do.