The Wairarapa Daily. THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 1881.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 807, 30 June 1881, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 1881.

A DKI'UTA'CION' Of volunteer ofliciTH wuilcid upon Mr Itou.Kwon, tins i\l iniHtov of Dofonco, on Monday kiU, to urgo upon liim tho oxpedionuy of continuing the cujjiLutioii grunt to volunteers. Mr llom.ehton would not anticipate tho fhmiieiul Htatenicnt of the Colonial Tien surer by making any dotinito Htutonitiiit ro capitation, but. cxpr<*HMotl tho intention of tlio Government to re-organise the force and make it more cnieicnt. Wo liavo watched thu volunteer .movement for some iifteen years in this colony, and had' ;it one time ut long pructical expurionuu iu its ranks. Our conviction has always been, whether now, five, ton, or fifteen years ago, that the system of Induing volunteers in Nuw Zealand is a bad one, and that the Government have always been lo blame for the very unsatisfactory results tiioy have obtained from a very con u i'<vTu'jle.anuuil expenditure. Itisjiuctu' . and drillsergeants, arms and money, have been freely expended, but thedo alone will not make soldiers, iu the first instance the authorities have allowed, otikers, from Corporals up to ilaj.jrs, to wp.nr ] badges and carry swordd without stipulating that they .should have a fair knowledge of martial exercises. It is not unusual to ibid companies in which not asiugle officer con put his men through either the manual and platoon without launders, or move them off their ground without throwing them into confusion, When officers are only fit to stand in the ranks of an awkward squad, what can be expected of privates'" -Just as the Inspector winks at the inefficiency of the officers, the latter in their turn wink at the inefficiency of the privates, and so the greatest achievement of a corps of men amounts to being able to pass muster at a church parade. We are not referring to this district alone, but to oth'tT districts, where the same thing goes on* and has been going on for many years. Discipline has been relaxed in the volunteer corps of the colony for years, and the utter absence of it prevents us from taking aliy pride in onr defenders. We are very-glad to learn that the Government desire tore-organise the force. If volunteers cannot be taught their drill as they are taught it in England, if they cannot be compelled to attend parades with a fair amount of regularity, what 13 the use of spending • money on them? Jt is the Government who have been to blame hitherto, and ;it is incumbent upon it to repair, its fault; When money was plentiful j in the* colony, it did not, perhaps, matter much giviug a liberal capitation graafc and a bonus in the shape of la, grant of laud, We are now, how-1 ! ever;'beginning to "eapn the value of I public money,".and to look to getting an absolute return £. r all: that is expended., We hope to see' a substantial vote for volunteers pass the House this session On the understanding that it is \ not to keep up a.military farce but that it is to he devoted to training men to be real soldiers. The old plan of cooking up annual reports of the • various corps in the.colony, and representing;, them; as they ought to be, rather than : as tlfey were, must 'bo abandoned. The great of a en pita tion grant is not very material! The iGovorument ought to provide suitable arms one' uniforms. Let! them do this and abandon the capitation system altogether. Capitation has been ; the sugar plum with which successive Ministers have sweetened volunteer^.. We trust, however, ,to Ray goodrbyo wtg the sugar plum epoch. A voinnteep officei' of experience informed Esj Hoi/LfiSTOX that tyo thirds of the men enrolled could isot: fire a rifie - properly. This is the natural result of the sugar/ plum system. Let the Government either make soldiers of these two thirds,- o? relieve them from a false position.