The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-07-13 00:00:00

(4e gotottqribge (Aseder.

SATURDAY, JULY 18, 1872.

OUR VOLUNTEERS IN CAMP.

A Woman's Peace Congress has been sitting
in London. Mrs. Howe, a cultivated and influ-
ential American lady, has come over to this coon.
try for the express purpose of appealing to tae
women of European society on behalf of peace.
Now we by no means regard such congresses as
these as Quixotic. The more that public opinion
is iufluenced in favour of peace the better, and
as women naturally exert an immense influence
on public opinion, it is but a truism to say that
it is well to enlist their advocacy in favour of
peace. But while every effort towards interna-
tional peace, in theory or in fact, is highly de-
sirable, it is equally desirable that that purely
defensive, and therefore peaceful force, the Vol-
unteers, should be aided in acquiring the highest
degree of efficiency. The annual gathering of
the National Rifle Association on Wimbledon
Common and the friendly contests that there
take place are amongst the most important
means to this end, and they deserve what they
are this year receiving snore heartily than ever,
public encouragement.
This year's gathering of Volunteers at Wim-
bledon is the thirteenth annual meeting, and
everything leads to the conclusion that it will be
the largest, most enthusiastic, and most success-
ful meeting that has yet been held. This is the
first year that the National Effie Association
takes its stand on the common as a right. The
laws as to our so-called public commons are
mysterious and of very doubtful application.
Hitherto Earl Spencer, as lord of the manor of
Wimbledon, though he has heartily seconded the
views of the National Rifle Association, has ac-
corded as a favour the permission to meet in
camp and for rifle-firing. But now, under the
Wimbledon and Putney Commons Act, these
commons are vested in conservators; the Na-
tional Rifle Association pays towards the conser-
vancy fund; und they occupy the encampment
for a fortnight as a right. As a mutter of fact
this is no gain as compared with the past, but it
is a very important privilege for the present and
the future, and it is an earnest fur the stability
and increasing power and usefulness of the as-
sociation.

'The number of Volunteers taking part in the
encampment is considerably more than the ave-
rage of the previous meetings, while the entries
for the various competitions are much more nu.
merous than during previous years. These
facts conclusively prove that our volunteer sys-
tem is sound, healthy, and capable of progress
and development. Our citizen soldiers have
had an immense deal to contend against. It
has not been all praise and flattery on the part
of the public and the press, and though honest
and friendly criticism really aids any movement
that has a good foundation, the Volunteers have
been subjected to much hostile criticism that has
naturally tended to iepress the movement. And
on the part of successive governments our citi-
zen soldiers have not on the whole been treated
with that liberality that they might fairly have
expected. But they have survived snubbing and
hostile criticism, have triumphed over all obsta-
cles, and have become developed to an extent
which shows the inherent vitality of the move-
ment.

The camp at Wimbledon this year presents a
pretty and an animated scene; with the flags of
all nations flying from lofty masts; the pictu-
resque tents covering a vast space on the open,
breezy common; and the many coloured dresses
of the several regiments giving variety and the
charming effects of contrast. Pleasure is cort!
bined with busine,s, if, indeed, we may not say
that the whole business is pleasure. The post-
office and postal telegraph establishments are in
active operation; there is a club, with books and
newspapers, for the members of the association ;
there are refreshment saloons adapted to the
! varying wants and pecuniary resources of the
Volunteers; there is an ample police force which
is happily little required; and there are adeqaate
arrangements for public worship.
! The leading object of this great national
1 gathering is of course the acquirement of skill
in firing, and it most be admitted by the most
captious that this object is being attained in the
most agreeable manner. Simultaneously with
this the Volunteer is thus accustomed to out-
door discipline and to camp life. True there
may be no great hardships connected with this
encampment, but there are discomforts and
drawbacks which are cheerfully endured, and
which do something towards the effectiveness of
our citizen soldiers. This annual camping out
with its accessories of firing for prizes and obe•
dienee to discipline under conditions which each
year must be novel to many who Submit to it, de-
velopes the soldierly qualities of our Volunteers,
and popularises the national movement with
which they are Identifid, and therefore deserves
the hearty support of the nation at large.

fint day,

TRE STOURBEIDGE OBSERVER: