H.—l9

4

staying a second week in camp, they should also be paid each day for six days the 2s. 6d. personal payment that other corps can earn for daylight parades. If this is sanctioned, I should like commanding officers to arrange for a week's training camp by separate corps, and the whole battalion to go in camp afterwards for a second week and practise battalion work and extended manoeuvres. The strength of mounted corps has been increased from three officers and sixty men to four officers and eighty men, so that the number of effective rifles is now the same both in the mounted and infantry corps. The Volunteer Eegulations have been amended so that mounted corps now draw Is. 6d. a day forage allowance for each day they are in camp. t Shortly before the outbreak of the war two officers had been appointed as Instructors of mounted corps, Lieut.-Colonel Eobin for the South Island, and Major Davis for the North Island, but both these officers went away with the First Contingent. The experience they will have gained before they return to the colony should be of the greatest benefit both to themselves and the Force. I have now one staff-officer for mounted duties, and his time is fully occupied in attending camps and going to out-stations to instruct; in fact, so far, he has been exclusively employed in the North Island, and has not yet been able to visit the South Island. lam very short of noncommissioned instructors for mounted troops; they are not to be obtained in the colony, but this will be remedied on the return of the contingents. The battalion system, so far, has hardly had a fair chance with the mounted corps, as it could only be brought into reality at the time of Easter camps, the time for which the battalion was together being practically only three days, and that at a period of the year when there were many recruits in the ranks. I propose to form this branch of the service into battalions of four companies each, grouping them by convenience of locality; but I am quite at a loss what to do for officers to command the battalions and form the staff. This, I hope, may be remedied in the future, as the necessity for it is very great. To encourage Volunteers to provide themselves with a good class of horse, I recommend that at the big agricultural shows the Government should offer prizes for the best and most suitable troop-horses, the property of Volunteers. To qualify for such a prize a horse must have undergone at least one year's complete training with a mounted corps. Field Aetilleby. Officers and men of this branch of the service take much interest in this work, but owing to being armed for the most part with obsolete weapons and to lack of opportunity for getting any practical work, this arm of the force cannot be considered efficient. The very life of field artillery depends on its mobility, and this is a quality absolutely wanting in our field artillery. To attempt to bring a field battery into action with one pair of horses per gun—in some cases with makeshift harness —is an absurdity, and a very practical danger to the men working the battery. A 15-pr. field battery has just been received from England with full equipment of guns, wagons, and harness. This, I understand, has cost the Government about £10,000, and if the old system of horsing and drill is to be continued it is money practically thrown away. I proposed that a certain number of horses should be bought, and that twenty-six men should be enlisted and thoroughly trained as artillery drivers. This would ensure at least the guns of the battery being mobile and capable of being efficiently served. The remainder of the men for working the battery— i.e., gunners, &c.—would be Volunteers, as would also the officers, and this would be following out the system in vogue with our garrison artillery, where the Permanent Force supply the specialists and carry out the technical duties, and the Volunteers man the batteries. Neither drivers nor horses can be properly trained for field battery work unless they are being constantly exercised at that work. This scheme has not been accepted owing to its cost. The only other method I can suggest to ensure anything like efficiency is to specially enlist in the Volunteer force a certain number of men as drivers, each man to provide a pair of suitable horses, and always to turn out for parade with the same horses. They should parade for battery drill at least once a week, and remain in camp during the time of the annual camp, and also attend Easter Camp. A certain number of non-commissioned officers should be engaged on the same terms. To induce Volunteers to undertake this, a substantial retaining-fee would have to be offered them. The lessons of the present war in Africa have so clearly shown the value of mobility in field guns that I feel it is my duty to point out this deficiency in our field artillery as strongly as possible. Naval and Gabbison Aetilleey. Out of a total of eight naval artillery corps in the colony, only four have taken advantage of the daylight parades, and the garrison artillery corps have not turned out at all for these special parades. This branch of the service should avail itself of every opportunity of turning out and getting into the forts by daylight. The work of training depression range-finder and gun-layer specialists can only be carried out efficiently in the daylight. These are most important duties of garrison artillery. The efficiency of the service of the guns depends largely on their proper performance, and every opportunity should be taken by officers commanding corps of getting their men trained in these special duties. We have not a sufficiency of the Permanent Force to carry out all specialists' duties, and no men to replace casualties, so that a certain number of men in each Volunteer artillery corps should be efficiently trained as specialists. I do not consider that sufficient allowance of gun-ammunition is made to the Artillery Volunteers for practice purposes. The ammunition for heavy 8.-L. guns is expensive, and, owing to wear on the gun, it is not advisable to carry out a'very heavy annual practice from the 8.-L. guns; but I propose