ABOUT THE TAPROOM.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1997, 25 April 1885, Page 2

ABOUT THE TAPROOM.

[B\ " HOOTS.']

Evehyuody's going a soldiering. Homo be causa they like it— they have a natiualturn in that direction ; otheis bociiiiie the conn try say*, they must, and are therefore cum pulled to. New Zealand is a freo countiy, where every mvi claims to be independent and to be able to do what he likes ; but thru* is a limit even to liberty and the light "f private judgment, and now is the tune when, unfortunately, that unpleasant limit has to be observed. The gallant McGovern and hi 1 * satellites are on the warpath, beat ing up for recruits, and ha\o already succeeded in ciuollingtho makings of a pietty lespectable— as if it were possible to get to getlicr a respectable militia — company. I had a look o\erthe 101 l tlio other day, and : was sin prised at the grand prospect which it afforded. The nameb represented the bone and sinew, the talent and good looks, the intellect and the dignity, the very ere un, in tact, of VVaikato main mortality. Though in thu main the names were those of the ordinary " Wny-'anded," still there was a veiy happy and ludicious sprinkling of bank clerks, commercial scnbbleis, haid-up respectables, pedagogues, laujei-., and their assistants, c.iuuter-h.ind-., ,uid that ])romiscnons assortment of humanity whose occupation is generally designated m official returns as "undefined." Now, stiange to say, there was only one jonin ilist, 01 a pel son who described himself as such, and only two individuals who had the coinage to set themselves down as '" gentlemen." Of course it w.is a lucky thing for them that they w ere f>o thoughtful, oi else some of their most intimate friends would have mistaken them for something else.

The anxiety displayed by the young men of Wiukato to escape from service in the uulitu is likely to load them into serious difficulties. To put it mildly, there appears to exist a dowmight honor of the militia, and, if at the present moment a do/.iMi volunteer corps weie to be established, 1 believe tlio ranks could be filled without difficulty. In view of the proposed alteiation in the act, whereby married men of all ages aic to be exempt from seiving in the (list class militia, theie are not wanting indications of a dangerous run upon tin; registiais of in ullages, who, in view of an augmentation of their stipends by means of fees, aie earnestly praying that tlie Ku*»ian Bear may not tin n tail and run. But the fugitives who thus seek refuge from wnr in matiiinony had bettei think seiionsly eie they take the decisive step. A private in the nnlitiii may possibly (certainly not probably) be called upon to tight foi a few weeks or months, but the heedless diver into matrimony may find himself involved in a warfaie which will end only witli the life of hn partner or himself. It is tiuu that the militiaman (if he should meet the enemy) runs a risk of getting killed, but, on the other hand, how welcome would be a bullet to many a miserable benedict V

Of course the gieat majority of those em oiled are bachelors, and I will agree with those who maintain that bachelois alone should be selected for such a delicate piece of business. A<» soldiers, manied men are a meie encumbrance, and the Government calculation that a married man between seventeen and thirty is only equ.il to a bachelor somewhat about fifty, is in itself a laudable feature in their warlike policy. That this is the basis upon which tlie Minister foi Defence has founded his proposed alter itions in the Militia Act, tliei c can be no doubt, and his keen insight into such matters, and the undoubted knowledge of human nature which ho betrays, redound to tlie credit of his administration. 1 always had a high opinion of Mr Ballance ; and I must confess that this masterly distinction of his— and I h;tve every reason to believe its his — has continued his greatness in niy estimation. Married men are very pood in the domestic circle — and even in the tap-ioom they occasionally excel— but the idea of a m >n who has been mibniciged by the aits of female finery, and who has so far capitulated as to enter into a life pirtneiship, being trotted out to defend anything, let alone his countiy, will never, 1 tnist, dawn upon the mind of the New Zeilend Government. If there is .anything m the way of married life to be introduced into the composition of oui militia, let us have tlie women by all means. If there be a choice of evils, by nil means let us proceed according to the old maxim, and choose the least.

Some few weeks ago Hamilton was olive with the idea of raising a local Volunteer Rifle Coips. The papers said a lot about, it, and there was advertisements calling public meetings to consider the question. It was going to be a corps woi thy of the name, composed of the very essence of Hamilton respectability, dignity anil intellect. Tlie recruits were to be draw n from the banks, the public offices, stoics, and workshop*, and unlike thoir predecessors, to whom I referred some time ago, they were to be respectably habilitated, in well fitting and becoming garments of a strictly military character. Members were to cultivate a martial bearing, and deportment, attend to their drill, and conduct themselves generally as soldiers. In a word, the corps was to be an ideal corps ; something exemplary in fact, and one of which the borough and the buigesses might well be pioud. As n» man wishes to 1> 'come a militiaman who can possibly liv,j and be anything else, it is to bo hoped the (J-oveininent will i,oon intimate that it has deiided to accept the sen ices of the gallant coips, and seive out tho rifle*.