The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-03-07 00:00:00

LORD LORNE ON THE VOLUNTEERS.

The London Guildhall was crowded on Saturday
evening with a distinguished assemblage, upon the
occasion of the distribution of prizes by the Princess
Louise, Marchioness of Lorne, to the London Scottish
Volunteers. The Lord Mayor, whe was accompanied
by the Lady Mayoress, presided, and those present
included the Marquis of Lorne, the Earl of Wemyss,
Lord Campbell, General Elkington, General Gipps,
and Colonel Moncrieff. The report as to the pro-
gress made during the year was of a very satisfactory
character, and showed remarkable increase over
previous years. Private John Kean was the best
shot of the battalion. At the conclusion of the cere-
mony, the colonel tendered to her Royal Highness
the thanks of the regiment for the honour she had
done them by her presence an in presenting the
prizes.
The Marquis of "Lorne, who was received with loud
cheers, addressed Colonel Lumsden and the officers
and men of the London Scottish, and assured them
that it had been a great pleasure to the Princess to do
another day's duty with the London Scottish, and
they were both very happy to see the regiment so
magnificently represented by the members who filled
its ranks. Out of the 30,000 Volunteers who formed
the infantry corps in London, the London Scottish
contributed a very respectable quota of over 800 men.
He could remember the days when the corps was a
very young one, and when it had to battle with
the first enemy the Volunteers had encountered
in the slight ridicule which for a time attached,
in the minds of a few not very deep-thinking
people, to the movement of the citizen soldiers
who came forward to defend their country. That
enemy was soon overthrown, and the movement was
at the present time 25 years old, and was continually
increasing in vigoar and steadiness of purpose.
(Cheers.) It was emphatically the case that the
volunteer force had received, not only the tacit
assent, but the cordial recognition of all the officers of
the regular army, who were glad to see a large
auxiliary force in a highly efficient condition. He
believed that all, whether belonging to civil or mili-
tary professions, were more especially glad of the
existence of the auxiliary forces at the present time,
when things did not look particularly cheerful, and
the country might have occasion to require the
services of the volunteers, and call upon them to con-
stitute the home garrison. It was a remarkable and
a praiseworthy fact that, as the Government had gradu-
ally been tighteaing the bonds of discipline and de-
manding more and more of the volunteer service,
every single demand had been more than responded
to—(cheers) -and at the present time there were a
greater percentage of efficients and a larger number
of men in the ranks than there had ever been upon
any previous occasion. Was it too much, the speaker
continued amid cheers, to say that, as the volunteers
had continued to maintain themselves efficient and
ready for a period of over twenty-five years, a whole
generation of mankind, they had earned the right to
a *ider and a larger recognition at the hands of the
Government of the country than they had up to the
present received. The Government had, he believed,
acceded to the wishes of the people in gradually
giving the volunteers greater recognition, but he con-
sidered that the time had arrived when the Govern-
ment should see that every member of every
regiment was thoroughly equipped in all matters of
personal accoutrement, so that in the case of the call-
ing out of the force the men would be infantry, not
merely in their uniform, but in every matter of
outfit, whether personal or regimental. (Cheers.)
The men should be thoroughly perfect, and ready to
take the field. His lordship remarked that he
ventured to mention these subjects in the Guildhall
because the defence of the great City of London must.
be one of the points to which immediate attention
would have to be directed in case of war, and it was
perhaps necessary already to look around and see how
the force at present guarding London could be
doubled or trebled in time of necessity. It was there-
fore, perhaps, particularly appropria'e that that
meeting should have been held in Mildhall at a time
when the Volunteers had shown their capability to
rise to any occasion, and he repeated that it had given
both himself and the Princess great pleasure to have
been present upon the occasion. (Loud cheers.)