The Waikato Times.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 858, 15 December 1877, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

Equal and exact justice to all men, ; ,;. .»uaw>er acm 3 or : persuasion, religious r political ' • • .. .v « •. _..;# , i lere shall the Presi the Pboi'Lb's rig. t i maintain, . '_ fTnawei hv in'iiienci) and . unbrihod l>v •.nun SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15 1877. " The remarks made by the Hon. Col. Brett m the Leginktive Council, m moving that it was desirable tlmo , the Government should, during the 1 reoeaa, devote attention to the^reurgauisation ot the Volantieer system i of the Colony, having especial i;e < gard to the expediency of combining 1 efficiency with economy, andrto < the necessity of gradually replacing ( the arms at present m use with ' wee ions of later invention ap}>ears to have given considerable oflence throughout the Colony. Bat patting aside one or two remarks which have been seizd upon as throwing a «lur upon Volunteers generally, but which, it is c.ear; were never intended to be sweepingly applied to the force IVom the a'ter compliments paid to the Volunteers who so'nbbiy ikssisted m patting down the late M tori insurrections m the North • Island, there Ja plenty of gocd aouiid coin mod. sense m *he remarks of CoL Brett. There is too much-playing at soldiers m New Zealand at the pubiio expense, and, as Ci>l. Brett showeJjthis playing at soldiers is carried oa m exaut inverse proportion o the possibility of their iservicas being ever called into force. Of the 6832 members composing' the Volunteer force, more than halt, or 3748 belong to corauanies m the Mi idle Island. If we go a step further, and analyse the North Island forces, wo shall fiud that the same argument applies o a great extebc to these. Of the 2, 186 Volunteers m the provincial district of Auckland, one half, probably, or more, belong to j Aucklan i City or suburbs, and are ! no more available for the only duty the colony is ever likely to require of them than are the Volunteers of » he Middle Island itself. If the ; Volunteers either m tne Middle j ..sland or iD tbe principal centres of the North are prepared to enrol subject to service m any part of the Colony m which their services may be ! required, then we can understand •he desirability of expending "the large sn^ns annually vtted /for Volunteer purpose--, but if war broke put on tha East Coast or Wanganui tomorrow, neither an Auckland nor a Wellington Company, as the e <se might be, co jld be despatched to the front. Jt ;g . satisfactory to: fiu»l that Parliament has already initiated retrenchment m a very desirable direction, m placing* no sum upon the estimates for the annual priz^-firing. This piece ot nonsense, whioh was very aptly described as a wasteful arid unprofitable expenditure of public money, tendng to no good ■ r 'suit, ii a an end, and, we are glad to see that m " another place " the Minister fr Defence expressed the ! determination of the Government] to make a reducion m Volunjeer j expendirnr* m the current year to ! the extent of from £8,000 to ! £10,000, s aring thar, a pu-tion of ; the money so saved would go to increase the Armed Constabulary vote. The reform once commenced, will be j carried oat we trust to its legitimate conclusion, an I trie Volunteer fore , as far at least as expenditure of : pubic mon>-y is concerned, be con- i fined to the three branches of \ aval and Arriller.- Voluuteers and Volunteer Cavalry — and then only m advanced out-districts such as, m this part of the Colony, the East Coast) the Thames and i Waikato. In those instances it is the interest of tho Government to encourage the movement, because m their case volunteering is not a pastime, but a reality; and a man when he enrols does so knowing that he must be prepared at a moments no ice to take the field. The Government has nob dealt Htierally, fir less so thau it ought to have done with these men, and the one reason that it has hesitated to do so is doubtless the heavy item, this year £30,522 12s lOd, required for the. large Volunteer foiee (exclusive of A.C) scattered through all parts of the coiony. Ihere is very little doubt that two-chirds the above suui expended m maintaining a few really efficient* companies of volunteers on the fro- - tier lines m the North Island would do more to maintain the peace of the colony than double the number of rifle volunteer c 'tupanies now existing m places where they can be of no poasiole use except to furnish guard* ot honor on the arrival ot the Go.erno; or fire a feu de jot ou the Queen's birthday. And we are glad to see the Hon. Mr SLeehan, m notifying the intention of the Government m this matter, pacing a well-deserved coraplimeur, o the Armed Constabulary. ♦Tha , he said, * was an efficient force, which, might be ot sojae use, but, while they had been keeping up the Vomnteer ibroe, they had been cutting down the Armed Constabulary force to ite lowest tfmit," And i

the Government, may well say ao, and more even, that it ia the cheapest force amintainod m the i-.olony. The members of the Armed Constabulary stationed m this dia. evict are at the preseifKtime doing good service to the countiy. The value of theiy^work £nf§t% Oam; bfidge-TSqp^^rbad wai^|timatj^ for the m|>nfyi pMOcfobp at 5«" per man, a^.d| for;!Srbveni^e'r, at rate of 6it;'7d ■ per ma^jier p^'. This U re3eivmsfuirvaluyfbr'ln|ir pay while employed, as they shouldbe the greater part of the year, on public worfes^an.d^at .the same thuejiajv jng £ at hand, for tin emergency, a trained and tried body of men. ; Between! the value of these aud the rifle companies" "of "the cities and nttioTdle* Island, there can be no comparison, and it is certain the bolouy cannot* affjrd to pay for both.