SATURDAY, MAY 26 1877.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 771, 26 May 1877, Page 2

SATURDAY, MAY 26 1877.

The Cambridge troop of Cavalry Volunteers covnmenced their halfyearly drill onWednesday,^nd, though it is reported that many of them intend, at the close of the drill next •week, to tender their resignations) we trust that they will bear yet a little longer with the neglect which they hove suffered at Ihe hands of the Government, for we; feel sure that when the facts oT. the case are clearly known and at Wellington, they will meet with the redress which they • have a right to expect. . The consideration of the question is oae which the Govern-; nient cannot afford to overlook. There is an anxious desire to economise m the Defence Department, and there is nomor'i certain way to do this than to retain m efficiency, and con- ' tent 'a body of Something like one hundred and fifty" cavalry who, m time of peace, provide and maintain themselves and their horses ready I for the first emerg-ency. In an open country such as this these men are worth double their number of infantryi They are, indeed, the bone and sinew and pluck of the district, the best and cheapest force which a Government could find ready to its hand m the event of emergency, or keep m existence as, better still, the less costly preventive, against actual war. It; is said by the men, and very justly so too, ; that m coming forward for. the defence of the district. Arid* , 'placing themselves and their horses at the disposal of the Government, they are making quite sufficient personal^ sacrifice for, the public good without losing a fortnights time r , .and" m most cases hotel charges and '•■hb.rse keep for the same period. All they do receive is capitation money £2 10s and twelve days pay for themselves and horses at the rate of 7s per day or =£6 14s altogether. A pound a day as we have before stated is the very least the Government should pay for service such as this. Were the case one of simply playing at soldiers, we should not care to advocate it, bi.it",' knowing as we do the thorough efficiency of the troops, the value they would be to the Colony m the .case of -their services being required, and the effect that the half-yearly drill and parade have on the nafcive/rbind, we cannot too strongly .urge, upon the' Government the desirability of .keeping together' such a defence force m the district. .Freedom from the possibility of even panic is the only.^condition under which colonisation can progress favorably and rapidly m the confiscated districts, and rapidity of colonisationandsettlemenfc means the speedy possibility of cuttiug down altogether the cost of Colonial Defence. With energy . and tact, and and a wise expenditure the Session of 1879 may see its way to cutting down the defence vote to a merely nominal sum. On the other hand an ill advised niggardliness, we cannot call it economy, may produce a state of affairs which, if not leading to an actua 1 . war ex.

peiiciitui'e, may cause even a greater aanual cost thau now to need be liiaiiUained for.yeftrafco come, Wo have spoken of playing at soldiers.. There* is ..enough of "this m the Colony ; and U there were less, the maintenance of a really effectual volunteer foroe m the oonfiscated -districts jvould fell lightly 6a the". GFovernment. Of use are tlie Volunteer cowpauies m the Middle Islftntl, or., even the Auck.landaarl WtflHn^ion R-iflo Volunteers? The sanitation r ! mont^y e^-^ pended on them migJit b« more profitably oufclayed m .-fostering the lnovenienfc where it is needed. The Auckland Volunteers, if war broke out m. Waikato, or ou the. East Coast,- could riot be sent there, and' their services would not -be required where they would b^Jegally available. Of what use is the mdney expended m rifle prize-firing and the cost •of passages, <fee, to a° number of competitors? This money, if expeuded by. the Government m fostering.the movement iv the confiscated districts where the settlerstake it up m earnest, as a means of defending^ their families and .property, would save/ the Govern?merit a. thousand pounds now spent on' defence- for every hundred pounds so diverted . into a, wiser channel; and it, .instead of drilling the Volun; jieets, our.. Waikato Cavalry for instance, a troop here and a troop •there. -at a- time, the wholes force were sent twice a year into camp m some central part of the district, .for a -week each time, >' they would become as'fiae a body, of cavalry of their numbers as. would be found. in any part of the. world. ' If our .larger cities, must have Volunteers, let them maintain artillery corps, the only useful arm of the service they can maintain, and the money now uselessly expended upon faucy 'soldiering would keep together- the really useful , volunteer* forces that could be depended .. Upon,, the only brie the ■:" existence ■of which carries with -it any moral weight the eyes of the natives!

./rhere'is, however, another point from which the question must" be viewed. ,We have 'shown what is at one and the same time the duty and the interest of the Government m. the matter. They have hitherto fallen Short of what was due from them, but so, too, has the Waikato public. Time was, some five or six years ago, when the panics, which were of regular occurrence, and which fearfully "retarded settlement and depreciated the value of property m this district, made the settlers generally feel the value of the Cavalry Volunteers which were at that time first enrolled, and those who did riot join m person became honorary members, -and money and countenance were forthcoming. Now, the same public, secure m the enjoyment of peace, which is mainly due to the very existence of these Cavalry Volunteer Corps, forgets the very source to which it owes its security, even m some cases to the extent .of ridiculing the members of the corps for their soldierly zeal, and taunting, them with losing time m drill, which would be more profitably employed between the stilts of their ploughs. The men who use these taunts should be the first £o remember that their own ploughs would lie idle, and their lands a waste, but for the acts_of better citizens than themselves.