(1878) the militia of england canada, australia and new zealand

8/14/2019 (1878) The Militia of England Canada, Australia and New Zealand

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THE MILITIA OF ENGLAND, CANADA,AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND.

J^ XjE3TTER/TO THE

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' LONDON!WATERLOW AND SONS LIMITED, PaiNTEEg,r ^rF r ^r nr i


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V* ar-ance in England, where the stalwart soiis ofCanada would be certain ofa hearty reception.The Canadian fiehl batteries, under theinspection of that able and scientific cflicer,

Lieutenant-Colonel T. B. Strange, I].A., arein an advanced stage of discipline forMilitia Artillery. The reserve Militip con-sists of the enormous nund)er of COOjOCOenrolled men, every man of whom must turnout when called on, accoiding to the law o0(l, as there is no neeessityfor so (loin''- ; hut the CniiiidiaiH


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will iuhmI julvict' ill the t'onnatioii ot' an activeMilitia. That the spirit exists is plain ; theMayor of Auckland has written to the LordMavor of Lon(h)n that thev will not sit .stillin his country should Imperial interests beattacked.

Althongli the position of England andIndia in the world is strategically weak, weare exceedingly fortunate in having young,loyal, and enter[)rising nations on our flanks.The time, we hope, is c()mini>: when thev willbecome a stay and support to the old country.

Should the arrangements we advocate becarried out, a great portion of (mr UegularArmy of 200,000 men would be free to con-centrate with a j)owerful native army wherenu)st re(piired. In fact, one point oidywouhl remain to make us a military nation,aiul that is, a considerable increase in thefield batteries of the Uoyal Artillery to bein full [)roportion to the mas.ses of Intantrywe could put in the Held.To crive full freedom to an " active " Militiawill re([uire


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jirmics of England and lier colonics aredependent upon each other's efficiency. Noone branch can be neglected without crip-j)ling the freedom of action of the others.During the Crimean War, England raised

two foreign legions, one German and one;Italian. This proceeding cannot now bere])eated, Germans and Italians are wantedto do their own fiahtino". It is therefore ajrrowino- necessity in time of dancer to theIh'itish Empire, to fall back on the good oldconstitutional force of Militia so suitable tothe genius of the Anglo-Saxon race, to saynothing of its being taken up and laid asideat pleasure. The Militia of England i)laysa prominent part in our history. The armiesof Edward the IJI., which shattered thechivalry of Erance, were Militia. It is truethey were trained to shoot with the bow, butso can the Militia be now with their rifles.The battles of the A\'ars of the Hoses wereIbught by Militia troops.Burgoyne with his regulars, Hessians andIndians, had to surrender at Saratoga to the^lilitia of the English Colonists in America.Numbers of Militiamen, fresh from their


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regiments, .swelled the nniks of our iiitinitryat the battle of Waterloo, and lastly, theterrible l)attles of the Wilderness roundlliehniond, were fought out to the bitter endby A-iilitia troo])s.The population of the English Colonies in

America, when they were driven into aseparation from the Mother Country, wasonly 2,000,000. That of Australia is now2,500,000, with a trade of 80,000,000,e(|ual, as a wrltei' has lately said, to thecommerce of Eimland at tlie commencementof this centurv, when she foiled unitedEurope in its confederacy against her. Herl)oun(lless pastures are occu])ied by 52,000,000sheep and 3,000,000 cattle. These liguresprove that this is no nuisluooni growth of atiansient nature. Sir Hercules llobinson. the(iovernor of New South A\'ales, calculatesthat at the end of this centurv Australia willhave a population of 5,00(^,000 and in 11)50,;>1,000,000. The City of Melbourne is oneof the nujst beautiful in the world, and con-tains over 260,000 inha))itants.New Zealand is also rapidly increasing in


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wealth and po])iilation, and lias a splendidfuture in pr()S|)ect. W(i do not, therefore,think the jn'oposal an extravagant one, thatas a connnenceinent New Zealand shouldraise two regiments of active Militia, Queens-land tAVO, New South Wales four, Victoriafour, and South Australia two reuinients. Ifthese fourteen reoiments were carefullytrained and kept up to the strength of 1,000men each, England would gladly pay for theirservices for garrison duty in the east, whencompelled to concentrate some of her regularinfantry elsewhere.

Sucii arrangements, supported by EnglishMilitia regiments, would strengthen our posi-tion in India. The natives throughout thatcoimtry would be quickly informed thatanother great English power had suddenlyappeared on the stage in the east, and thatrebellion, anarcliv, and bloodshed ^vere furtheroff than ever.

It is argued that some of our Colonies donot even attend ])roperly to their means of de-fence. In one the money necessary is with-held by ])olitical scpiabbles ; in another, s(>nuu'h has been spent on lailways that none


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it'inniiis for dt'tciisive purposes. Wv fear thisis too true, and that our kinsmen are (Iwellingcarelessly. We apj)eal to their honour, andwarn them to be up and doing, and to ({uitthemselves like men.

There can be no surer wav of consolidatins:the ])0Nver of the British Empire, than byleadinii; the vouno; nations of Canada,Australia and New Zealand, to join in itstrials and struii'2:les, as well as in its I'lories,and it is because the subject has never beenlaid before them that we have asked you. Sir,to ])ublish this letter in your importantMilitary Journal.

C, M. G. & P.Armv and Xavv Club,FchrKorfj VHIi, 1878.

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(1878) the militia of england canada, australia and new zealand

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