GOVERNMENT AID TO VOLUNTEERS.
TAORD Elcho is about to ask Mr. Gladstone if he will consent to grant a sum of money- in aid of the volun- teer movement. The calculation is that about one pound sterling per effective of the volunteer force would enable the members of that body to do many things which it is not now in their power to do. The whole sum that would be re- quired, it is estimated, would amount to some 150,0001. It would not, of course, be banded to the individual volunteers, but would be paid into the regimental chest, and expended in promoting the efficiency of the corps. We presume, for instance, that the sum would be spent upon butts, practice- grounds, hire of drill sheds, ammunition for field-days, drill- sergeants, and other matters now defrayed by subscription. This is a promising looking project. The position of the volunteer is peculiar. He undertakes to find himself in everything, and the expenses, at first for mere uniform and equipment, rapidly grow from month to month. Of course, where a corps is poor, either some of the essentials must be dispensed with, or the officers and the public must provide them. We can well imagine that the members of some corps in the metropolis find that the.ex- penses are greater than they can bear. Hence the plausible project of a grant in aid. What more reasonable, it may be said, than that the Government should, out of the public funds, supply a very small proportion of the sum annually expended by the volunteers for the purpose of adding to the safety of the country ? In principle, the question of a grant is already conceded, for the Government supplies rifles, ad- jutants, ammunition at cost price, and targets. If Govern- ment granted more aid than it grants now, the Wavoffice could not exercise any more power over the force ; and as to the Horse Guards making "slaves" of the volunteers the idea is absurd. Therefore the question of principle must be given up, because if Government aid involves slavish submis- sion, that slavish submission ought to exist now.
We are quite ready to admit that Government might, and ought to, give more aid than it does ; but we demur to the mode of giving it suggested. A Parliamentary. grant of money, to be expended by the officers of the different corps, would beget a very false idea in the public mind, and tend to deprive the force of its boast that it is a self-supporting voluntary army. It is better to depend on public subscrip- tions than upon the Treasury, because thereby those who cannot give service in the body can give service in gold. And that is the prevalent feeling. How, then, can the Go- vernment give more aid ? They can do two things : first, they can provide rifle grounds. The new arm requires con- stant and systematic use to secure average shooting power in the men who wield it. But all corps cannot afford to buy or rent rifle-grounds. Those who can may do so, and of course frame their own rules with greater freedom. For those who cannot, G-overnment should provide the range required. This would be a legitimate use of public money, and a great assistance to the volunteers. It does not follow that one corps should monopolize a butt ; on the contrary, several corps should, in regular order, use it. The second thing that the Government could do would cost less, but in its results would be equally important. The Government could provide, and pay for, inspectors of company drill—one to each battalion. The function of this officer would be to keep a vigilant eye upon the management of all the com- panies; and to report to the adjutant upon the defects of system. At present company drill, and even musketry instruction, is very loosely carried out. In some companies there is no system at all. For want of system, and for want of good non-commissioned officers, companies go on from month to month without improving in their drill, because the teaching is spasmodic, irregular—neither one thing nor the other. The consequence is, that neither the officers nor the rank and file learn anything thoroughly. But were an inspector appointed, with instructions to report to the adju- tant, a regular system might be laid down and enforced. The regimental commander would then have some means of knowing, when company officers presented a list of men for promotion, whether promising men had been chosen. If the Government would do these two things, we are sure that the result would be more fruitful of good to the volunteers than the grant of any number of thousands in aid of the regi- mental funds.
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