The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1882-11-14 00:00:00

brat_ &mutt' Exprpoo.

DORCHESTER, NOVEMBER 14t6, 1882.

THE YEOMANRY.

There is no doubt that the late campaign in
Egypt gave • stimulus to the Cavalry arm of the
service, and to this must be assigned the greater
attention which the authorities have promised
to bestow on the Yeomanry regiments of the
country. The abolition of the latter has been
long threatened ; but evidently the force is not
to be snuffed out. A departmental committee
will sit for the purpose of establi3hing a more
complete organization, and it is said that the
Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief will next
year pay a special visit to the head-quarters of
several regiments. Encouragement is needed
all the more, because for • long time past the
service has suffered from indifference, not to say
neglect. Officers were supposed to be maintain-
ing troops for their own amusement. Farmers
joined to please their landlords. No opportu-
nity was omitted to hold the force up to
ridicule, and when • grant was proposed in
Parliament there was always a sardonic smile
on the face of the minister who asked for the
money. As we have said, this fact was in some
measure owing to the reduced estimation in
which cavalry regiments generally had come to
be hold. K assassin and the capture of Cairo
have quite revived the usefulness of this branch
of our army. The campaign would neither
have been so expeditious nor so brilliant if
attack had been confined to infantry and
artillery. And what has happened in the care
of Fgypt might possibly be found to exist were
the invasion of our own land to occur. One of the
greatest recommendations of Volunteer Cavalry
is the intimate knowledge which its members
possess of the country. But this is not its only
merit. The farmer is par exrdlove a rider. Be
is as much at home on horseback as on his feet,
and, if properly drilled, there is no reason why
he should not beConto • • •ovviseahlo a• th.
professional horse-soldier. If neglect has had
• blighting influence, encouragement ought to
quickly revive. Not • few errors have crept
in which It is in the power of the authorities to
remove. For instance, members should be ex-
clusively farmers, as pumping the best elements
of efficiency. Hitherto exercise with the Yeo.
have been a play-game, affording oppor-
tunities for jovial outing, only less amusing
than sport in the hunting-field. If the force
Is to be efficient, it must accustom itself to
more serious and business-like work. Instead
of resorting once a year to the county town or
to some pleasant seaside place for six days'
drill, the Yeomanry must be taught to under-
take such duties as would be expected of them
in actual warfare. They should know how to
tether their horses, how to clean them, and
how to have them ready at • moment's notice.
They should gain some experience in tent duties,
and know what it is to obtain forage for their
horses and food and water for themselves.
Some will say, if such tasks as these are ex-
pected of the Yloomanry,the numbers will quickly
diminish We are not quite of this opinion,
since if something like reality were instilled inte
the service, there would be the same sense of plea.
sure in the performance of a public duty which
has animated and rendered successful the Ride
Volunteers.

The nen-attendanee of the hon. member for
this Borough at the House of Commons, during
• period when questions uf vital importance to
his party are b.-jug disputed and decided, must,
we should imagine, be a source of considerable
vexation and aonoyance to that long-suffering
party, although for our part we do not utter
• complaining word. We take the following
pertinent paragraph from our contemporary,
the Shcrborne Jotolial :—"Sir John St. Aubyn,
BL P., has paired with Mr. Brymer for the rest
of the session, having been ordered to pass
the winter at Pau. It is not stated where Mr.
Brymer has been ordered to pass the winter."