The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-05 00:00:00

NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION.

The general meeting of the members of this asso-
ciation was held at Willis's Rooms, St. JaMes's,
yesterday afternoon. His Royal Highness the Duke
of Cattbridge, president of the institution, occupied
the chair, and among those present were Field Mar-
shal Sir J. Bprgoyne, Earl Spencer, the Earl of
Ducie,. Lord Morton, the Hon. F. Byng, General
Hay, Colonel Loyd Lyndsay, Colonel Halford, Mr.
Malcolm, M.P., the Hon. R. Charteris, and others.
In opening the proceedings,

The Duke of CAMBRIDGE- said their winter meet-
ing was generally not a vcry4arge one, nor one that
usually gave rise to much discussion. his obser-
vations would therefore be brief. With regard to
their finances—the, question to which they would
naturally look first—he thought he might give them
a fair report. They had this year added to their
invested capital the sum of £2,300, whichg-avethern
a total capital of £10,300. In other years the amount
added to the invested capital. was only £1,200,
so that there was now a considerable increase upon
that head. With respect to the annual subscrip-
tions, it was certainly a remarkable fact that they
amounted only to £1,360, although the expenditure
for the last year was £22,600. That was a state
of things which required the consideration of all
who were interested in the association, and which
showed on how very precarious a footing it stood
financially. In fact, it was only by extraneous
means that the institution was kept going with such
an enormous deficit. Fortunately the visit of the
Sultan had contributed materially to their resources,
and enabled them not to defray the large expendi-
ture which he had named, but to add to their capital
the sum above mentioned. But as such happy
windfalls could not always be expected, and as the
society ought, if possible, to be placed on a solid
basis, it became very important to consider whether
the annual subscriptions might not in some way or
other be increased until they were more commen-
surate with their necessary outlay. Although some
of the charges incurred in carrying on their opera-
tions might be heavier than could be wished under
ordinary circumstances, and although it might be
desirable in theory to reduce them, yet, looking
at their present position in a practical point of
view, it would certainly be imprudent to diminish
those charges, and it was to be hoped that they
would be continued in order to keep their work
going. He should add that the butts might have to
be seen to, that the drainage was deemed defective,
and the roads were much complained of—all of
them matters that would require an expenditure of
money ; and there, again, they must have a reserve
fund to fall back upon if it became necessary to
attend to these things. So far as regarded their
finances : he now came to other questions. The
entries at first sight appeared to have decreased,
but it would be found that for all the large prizes
they had actually increased. The diminution had
taken place mainly in respect to the pool and the
Swiss carton practice. The entries hart realty In-
creased by 900 when.they Cattle tabs looked into.
In the All-comers' Enfield there was an increase of
890, while the small-bore entries showed a diminu-
tion of 118. Next, as to the subj.;ct of rifles. Some
would wish, he knew, that the shooting for the
great prizes should be carried on with the Snider
rifle ; and no doubt the time would arrive when it
would become necessary to have that rifle, or what-
ever rifle might be selected for the general use
of volunteers. But as long as the rifle for .
ordinary purposes in the hands of the volun-
teers remained the muzzle-loader, it was not
deemed desirable that that change should be
adopted, and he thought it would obviously
not be proper, 'because, after all, what they wanted
to encourage was the shooting by the men of the
various corps with the rifle with which at the time
they were really armed. (Hear, hear.) Until the
period came when a better arm—a breech-loading
arm as it, of course, would be—was put into their
hands, it would certainly not be a right- thing to
shoot for these prizes with the Snider ; although
nobody denied that as far as practice went it was
very superior to the muzzle-loader. Then the ques-
tion arose as to the Snider or any other rifle for the
volunteers. No doubt the breech-loader was well
adapted for general purposes; and it had now been
adopted and generally issued for the army. It would
naturally be issued to the militia and the volunteers
also—the sooner the better. (Hear, hear.) But of
course that was a matter of expense, and where
very large items
of expenditure were involved it
must be a question, and there must be a con-
siderable period over which such a heavy outlay
would have to be distributed. Therefore the fact
of the volunteers not having yet received either
the Snider or the breech-loader which might be
selected for ordinary purposes must not make
them suppose that there was any disposition on
the part of the authorities to prevent them from
having that weapon, which they, in common with I
every military body, would have as soon as finan-
cial and other exigencies would enable the authori-
ties to put it into their hands. (Hear, bear.)
Having acknowledged in complimentary terms the
receipt of a donation to the funds of the association
from Sir W. Martin, in addition to a previous sum
of £375 contributed by the same gentleman, his
Royal Highness went on to say there was a subject
that caused a great amount of trouble at their last
Wimbledon meeting. Ile referred to the sending
in from the various Volunteer regiments of the
names of the gentlemen who wished to shoot for the
great prize. Last year 248 men sent in their names,
and were "squadded," but never appeared at Wim-
bledon ; and the consequence was that many other
men who were there and ready to shoot could not
do so because those 248 were expected and did not
attend. Of course where such very large numbers
had to compete for the same prize rather extensive
arrangements had to be made to enable them all
to shbot at the proper time and in proper
batches ; and when once those arrangements had
been completed, it was extremely inconvenient
to have them upset, especially as the Volunteees
came from every part of the country. Therefore it
was of the greatest consequence that—allowing, of
course, for illness and other accidents which could
not be foreseen—the men whose names were sent in
should really come up, and that those who were
afterwards unable or unwilling to appear should
give intimation of the fact as early as possible, in
order that others who were anxious to shoot might
not be precluded from doing so. A greet deal must
depend on the commanding officers; and if those
gentlemen would take a little trouble in that matter;
and ascertain whether those who sent in their names
tvould come up within a reasonable time or not, the
competition would be greatly facilitated, and much
disappointment prevented. (near, hear.) There
was another point which it was requisite to notice.
The council had decided on restoring the rule as to
the pull of the triggers of small-bores, making the
minimum pull of 31b. (Hear, hear.) Unfortunately
the necessity for that change was illustrated by a case
which came to the knowledge of the council last year.