OUR VOLUNTEERS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1986, 31 March 1885, Page 3

OUR VOLUNTEERS.

Oi It Te Awaniutu conesDondent wiites — The To Awannitu c.iv.iliy tioop is going to the X ister encampment at I*. i j >n - toetoe. This is a step in the light dnetti in. These encampments should be anniiiil, :vnd it is to be Imped th.it they will be so fin the futiiie instead (if at long intervalas li is been the case hitheito. Th\olunteir movement has been at a standstill iihuoit for mime time. Under Mi ]'>i\ <v'n ,I'hinnistratloii it almost died out f<»i lick of encouragement: the peiiodof annual diill yyeie shortened, and c\eiythin,,' done that c mid )w done, short of :i positive command, to force them to givt up their arms. Contracting the btate o( ntfius in the Noith .md Middle Islandin i\ not on all occasions be advisable, il is getting rather hackneyed, but I cumot 1 efi ,un tiom doing so in volunteer mattci-. T think it was m ISSI, at any rati it « is duung Mr Bryce's regime that Captains (ioidon and Newell were appointed to the posts of adjutant ef Otagi. and Canterbury, respectively. Then duties were to take chai ge of the Volunteerin tln>-.e district**, and discipline them properly Apparently it was not woith vvlnl attempting to discipline the Volunteeus in this i-I md, at least in Waikato. Si\ daydull a year are considered quite sufficient This ni.vy be intended as atubute to their sup"iior intelligence, as peihaps they in iy learn more in that time than othei tioops m two weeks, but it looks more like a dn-ne to induce them to give up ulto frptlu»i However, we m.iy hope fin bcttet things fioin the piesent (loveimncnt. The colony cannot do without soldiers of some kind, and if we cannot afford, or do not at pic-ent lequne a standing army, we should at le.i"t h ive the next best thing, that \x a good Volnnteei force, and the only way to attun that end is by treating the men lib 'tally. Thine is no knowing the tune wlicn we may require their sei vices in de f.'iii'i 1 of the colony, for in the event of lvi n 'l.uid going to war with anothei I'ovei, n wealthy country like New Z 'aland cinnot hope to e-cape a visit fioni some of the enemy '•» tim-eP". It is not at all piobable the enemy would attempt to take tho country, bituein iy .it any tinu hue to defend oiii puits fioni hottiln cr'iHei^, and unit -- w ; have a fairly disciplined Volunt.' ■! foico we would miki a poor defence, and the only way to have such a foice i.s to pay. the men, so th»l wher they leave then faun- or otliei occupations they can pay i,tli( .- to take their j)l ices. (Jive them si\ da\ ' dull, a-id si\ diys or u fmtnightV encampment once a year. Very little can In done towaids bunging men under pioper t mli '1 with only *ix days' tiaining in the \eu I hive bend iieople say volunteeis should not be paid, foi if they are they cm nr, linig< i be < died \olunteei-, call them by any othei name them, "a 10-e )>y,iny other ii mie would smell as .sweet,' 1 but pay them. I do not see why the minoiity bhould give th( ii time and lo.se money for the benefit of the whole. If their services are woith hiv ing they are worth paying for. Sooner cn 1 later England will be involved in awar with another power, and when Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton and Port Chalmers have been vinited by foreign men-of-war .and laid under tribute, we will wake up to the folly of having neglected our defences so long. Instead of allowing our young men to go to the Soudan, we should keep tli( m .it home, for we do not know how soon we may requiie them ourselves. When the othei i-> of the yarious corps meet at the C( ,tning encampment they might, with advantage, devise Home suggestions, to be innde'to the Defence Minister, with regard to volunteer matteix. The Te Awamutu troop is getting stronger, a good many hnv ing joined lately, and many more would, Tain sine, join if they had sufficient encoiuagenient. The old members are deceiving of the highest praise for having kept the tioop together in the face of so many difficulties, for they had few, if any, friend 1 * it coint ; their being in existence now is due \n no M"all degree to the energy of Major Jackson, who, a« he said himself, was determined to do his best to keep the old coip" together in spito of all opposition. The much maligned A. C. Force gave good accounts of themselves during the native w-us. and would behave just as well|if cilled on again. A little more drill yvonld not be out of place in their case either, and it would be just as well if, in tho present aspect of Kinwpean affaiis, they got a little more drill and a little less nav vying. They „ u , n ot be good soldiers and good navvies.

A notificition if roid dosing at Huntly appears, in another column. Utention is drawn to tlic new advertisement of MrJ Hond, printer and stationer, Cambridge, whli.li appears, in another part ot this issue Ni'vik Rnniv- It is said that one out of f . v or\ four real invalid* who t o to foreign countrifb to recover health never return, except as a rorpsLS inu ""Jcrtakers, nc\t to the hotelIpeutrs have the most profitable business. Ihib rxreisive mortality may be prevented, and patients sav-d -nd cured under th* care of friends and loved ones at home, if they, will but So American Co.'s Hop Bitten in time. JteaU.