LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
THE EXPENSES OF VOLUNTEER CORPS.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE “13111,0TATOR.1 SIR,—Will you grant me space in your columns for some observa- tions on the more immediate difficulties which the officers and men of Volunteer corps have to encounter, and for the expression of a hope that if my complaints prove, as I believe, well founded, the common-sense and patriotism of the country will press the adop- tion of remedial measures on Her Majesty's Government? Of course our difficulties are financial. I think, however, that a very good ease can be made out for additional assistance, only I would couple it with a complete change of system. Let me explain. At present, the whole responsibility for the working of a Volunteer regiment in its minutest details is thrown on its commanding officer. In matters of discipline let this pass (albeit, his powers are all insufficient), but ho must be much more than a command- ing officer to manage a battalion well. He must be an accountant, a thorough man of business, and take upon himself the functions of Government in making contracts, with all the responsibilities and difficulties entailed by such a position.
Here is the case, for every single efficient man in his battalion the capitation allowance is £1 ; for every extra-efficient, 10s. additional ; for each officer or serjeant passed school of instruction he receives £2 10s., a special grant made last year. Now let us take an imaginary battalion, numbering, say, 400 efficients, and see what these allowances amount to on a fair average, and how far they extend in enabling him to cope with his necessary outlay :— Efficients, say 400 at ........... ............ £400 0 0 Extra, do., 300 at 10s 150 0 0 Officers and serjeants' extra grant, 30 at £2 10s 75 0 0 Total £025 0 0 Now let us see how far this £625 will help our lieutenant-colonel in the expenditure he is absolutely compelled to encounter :— Road-quarters, including rent, rates, water, gas, coals, insurance, repairs, soy £100 0 0 Rent of armoury, say 50 0 0 Care of arms, including allowances for cleaning, oil, tow, repairs, dm., say 80 0 0 Butt expenses, including rent of ranges, allowance to drill-instructor, carriage and storage of
ammunition, &a., say 110 0 0 Conveyance of his battalion to and from VolUn- teer reviews at Wimbledon, Brighton, &e., say 50 0 0
So far we have a total of £340 0 0
—expended on objects contemplated by the capitation grant, and the Colonel has £285 to lay out in uniforms and accoutrements. We will suppose that his battalion is in a good recruiting district, rich in men and poor in-money; that it is of great importance for the prospects of his battalion that he should raise its strength to something approaching the " establishment," for dwindling bat- talions are regarded with no favourable eyes by the War Office, and whispers of amalgamation are abroad. All his officers and men look to him to take some action which shall retrieve the for- tunes of the corps. He knows too well that the day is gone by when young men would pay £8 besides giving their time gratis for the privilege of learning the goose-step in the Onetieth Did- dlesex ; the classes who gave us shoals of Volunteers tea or twelve years ago have begun to propound a few questions to themselves, and one of them is, " What do we get for our pains ? Well, our Colonel holds council with his officers, with his committee, and with himself, and arrives at the following result :—He wants 400 men to complete, they won't enlist buying their own uniforms, and it will cost him £000 at least to provide them with chakos, tunics, trowsers, and accoutrements, exclusive of great-coats (a luxury undreamed of in the wildest aspirations of the Onetieth Middlesex) ; to meet this expenditure, be has the £285 before alluded to. My Colonel is au old soldier, a proud man, and a poor man ; he will not go cap in hand round the parishes in which his recruiting district is situated, begging for subscriptions grudgingly doled out by vestries and public companies. If he is a weak man he goes to a contractor, mortgages the capitation grant for the next two years, and obtains as many suits of uniform as the contractor can be persuaded to advance, giving his own name as a security, per- hapscoupled with those of some of his officers, and there he is in debt for many a year to come ; or else he procures an amalgamation with some other struggling battalion, resigns, and is no snore seen. Or a third course is open to him, and ten to one he adopts it. Some local magnate, some self-made man, some " money-bag," is always at hand who feels an ambition to write " Colonel " before
his name. The appointment is proposed, Her Majesty approves, the old Colonel retires into private life, the new Colonel woos his military Danaii, as I suppose Mars would have done in a shower of ohakos and great-coats. The local press is enthusiastic over his patriotism and public spirit, and the discipline of the battalion goes to the dogs. The new Colonel leads a chequered existence ; for one or two years he is good on committees, not brilliant in the field, hates his adjutant, and finally retires in high dudgeon, having been publicly rated by an inspecting officer because at a critical moment he did not know his right hand from his left. This, Sir, brings me to the gist of this too long letter. The in- evitable tendency of the present Volunteer system is more and more to throw the command of Volunteer regiments into the hands of rich men. And yet I do not know any position in which practical soldiers are more absolutely required. The more doubtful the troops the more need of experienced officers. Now for my remedies. They will be much cavilled at, but I don't think you will ever get Volunteer regiments of real value unless something of the kind is done.
Let every Volunteer battalion be commanded by an officer on half-pay or retired from Her Majesty's regular service of at least fifteen years' standing and field rank ; enlist no man in the Volun- teers for less than three years.
Equip the men in all respects as regular soldiers at the expense
of the State, compel their attendance at forty-eight squad drills, six company drills, and six battalion drills yearly, these, in addition to the drills necessary to form and sot up recruits. Oblige every officer and man to attend a camp of ,instruction for six clear days each year.
Frame and pass a modified Mutiny Act applicable to Volunteers. I assure you, Sir, if these measures were carried out, thousands and thousands of young men all over the country who will not join the Regulars or Militia, but are hankering after military ser- vice in some shape or other, would join our ranks. When I look at my Volunteer squads drilling on these winter nights without great-coats, I am always afraid lest an agent of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals should pass by ; and when I hear Her Majesty's Ministers saying flowery things at public meetings about the Volunteers, I am reminded of a certain private soldier at the Cape, who when complimented by Sir Harry Smith for patriotism and devotion, replied, with a respectful salute, " Beg pardon, Sir Harry 1 I don't want no gammon, I wants boots."--I am, Sir, &o.,
A COMMANDING OFFICER OF VOLTINTICERS.
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