The Waikato Times. TUESDAY, JULY 3, 1877.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 781, 3 July 1877, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

TUESDAY, JULY 3, 1877.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatever state or persuasion, religious or - political # # * # * Here shall' the Preso the People's right maintain, Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain

It is time, we think, that some notice was taken by the Government of the case of the Waikato Volunteer Cavalry. Very great dissatisfaction is felt both by officers and men with the manner in which theyhave been treated by ;he Department. Thousands of' pounds are spent annually in keeping up a useless display of fancy soldiering in the Middle Island, and as much more is expended in }rize-money and in paying the passages of competitors to the annual rifle contests, the real value of which to the Colony may be set down as nil. But while all this fancy soldiering has been going on to little or no purpose, a body of men in the North J'sland have been doing the real work of the Defence Department. The Volunteer Cavalry in Waikato have been as good as a couple of companies of the Armed Constabulary in their effect upon the only enemy the Colony has any need to guard against. We do not under rate the value of the. men of the Armed Constabulary Force, far from it, but those who know the natives best and the character of the country to be operated upon will at once reopgnise" the, fact that the power and value of the Armed Constabulary located in the district are doubled by the auxilliary force placed by the Volunteer Cavalry in the hands of the Government for defensive operations. Virtually, then, each cavalry volunteer has saved the Government the cost of maintaining a member of the Armed Constabulary. This is no exaggeration of fact, and it has been done at a yearly cost of £6 14s per man—namely, twelve days drill at seven shillings per day for horse and man, and fifty shillings capitation money. The Volunteers not unnaturally demur at this. The Government saves by every such Volunteer at least £IOO per annum in the cost of the member of the A.O. Force, which it is thus enabled to do without. The Volunteer has no objection to be made the instrument of saving to the Government (i.e.) to the community, but he does object when the burden is just shifted a little too far towards his end of the pole, and he gets more of the weight than his strength will allow him to beai*. He has no objection to prepare himself and hold himself in readiness for an emergency and to bear the brunt of it when ib comes. He is a good citizen who does this much, but ib is not fair to ask such anone to give his time when drilling, and the keep and time of his horse for nothing into the bargain, or so near nothing as a sum of about eleven shillings a day represents. This is the grievance of the. Waikato Volunteer Cavalry. It is enough, they think, and we think so too, tbat they enrol themselves at possible future risk and certain present inconvenience to assist in ensuring the peace of the district.' This is more than the rest of the community cares to do, and in doing this they have gone far enough. They should at least be guaranteed freedom from pecuniary loss. The Government is asked to do this and no more, and we tell them, as we have told them on previous occasions, that if they allow these Volunteer Cavalry corps to disband for the sake of "a comparative trifle of £7OO or £BOO per annum—the amount of one out of scores of sinecure billets provided for ex-partisans—they will have to increase the Defence vote by at least £12,000 a-year to provide the 120 members of the Armed Constabulary Force which will then be needed. The following are- the resolutions which were passed at a meeting of the Cambridge Cavalry Volunteers held on the 25th of May last. They were forwarded through the commanding officer, Major Jackson, to the Defence Minister, and as yet no reply has been received : " That in consequence of an intimation -from several of our old members that they iutend resigning from the Volunteer Corps unless something equivelent to the cost is allowed, We respectfully ask our Commanding Officer to lay our case before Major Jackson, the officer commanding tne Cavalry in Waikato, and through him to the Defence Minister to devise meaus for keeping the Cavalry Volunteer's Force up to its present state of efficiency.'' f|f§iisr " 'i hat a report of the above resolution be brought forward." The report .was laid on the table,

and read by Oaptaiu Rnnciruan as follows :•*-

" That the Cambridge Cavalry Yolunteers have now been organized over five years and there are at present more than 50 per cent of its members who joined when the corps was first enrolled. But now they feel they are not supported in their efforts to keep the corps in existance either by the Government or by their follow settlers. The population is nearly double what it was when the corps was raised and they have not received that support by the addition of new members which they feel such a corj>s is entitled to,' considering that its constitution is! for the mutual protection of life and property." "They feel also that the Government have broken faith by repeal, ing the Volunteer Land Act, thereby repudiating their obligations to those who who have served from 1 to without consideration. However desirable it may be to keep the corps together, for mutual protection, the present members fail to see how the matter is to be accomplished, except the Government devise some other measure than at present exists. A large majority have signified their intenting to resign previous to the.November drill, unless some more inducement ' and countenance is afforded."

" The present cost to the Government of the whole Volunteer Cavalry in Waikato, calculated at 120 men, including pay and capatation, is 15s, while they place at the disposal of the Government, capital in horses and horse-furni-turne: amounting to £3OOO, the interest of which, at £8 per cent, would be £240 per annum. The relative cost of 8 constables (privates) amount to JEB73 12s per annum, while they place no property at the disposal of the Government."

It was resolved " That the foregoing report be attached to the resolution as proposed, and that Captain Runciman present them to the Officer Commanding the Cavalry, and through him to th 6 Defence Minister."

Since the above was? in type, a gentleman who saw the Defence Minister on the above subject, in town during the last few days, informs us, that Dr. Pollen expressed himself as most desirous to meet the wishes of the Waikato Cavalry, fully appreciating the value their services are and have been to the district and the colony. What, however he needed was, that some definite proposal' which might form the basis or consideration, should be made, and this, he said, should havo the earnest attention of the Government. The Volunteer grievance, resolves itself, we believe into one of pay, and as we have said before, the increase of the pay and capitation allowance, so as to give a pound per day per man for the period that they are out on drill, is not too much for the Government to give, and should suffice at any rate to prevent the members of the corps from being pecuniarily losers.