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THE TOMAHAWK. A SATURDAY JOURNAL OF SATI...
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No. 173.] LONDON, AUGUST 27, 187a [Price...
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OUR REAL DEFENCES.
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Of course, we can expect very little goo...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
The Tomahawk. A Saturday Journal Of Sati...
THE TOMAHAWK . A SATURDAY JOURNAL OF SATIRE . tfftiteD bp & . rtbuT fVtckttt . ¦ m ¦' " INV 1 TAT CULPAM QUI PECCATUM PRATERIT . "
No. 173.] London, August 27, 187a [Price...
No . 173 . ] LONDON , AUGUST 27 , 187 a [ Price Twopzmci .
Our Real Defences.
OUR REAL DEFENCES .
Of Course, We Can Expect Very Little Goo...
Of course , we can expect very little good from the present Government . They are niggardly to the last degree . They believe the nation they represent to be mean and ungenerous , and they pander to those vices to their heart's content They save fourpence by sacrificing a shilling , and dismiss a miserable
clerk that they may manage a job for one or the other of their relations . This being the case , we must not feel surprise at their disgraceful treatment of the volunteers . The great movement that has given England a citizen army has never been popular with the Liberal leaders . It was first
proposed that there should be formed " rifle clubs , " for the practice of marksmanship . The " idea " seemed a cheap one , and , accordingly , was much admired by the Radicals of the period ; but when the " clubs" developed into " corps , " the whole spirit of the dream was changed . The matter became
expensive , and could not be tolerated for a second , so , from the moment that the army began to form into a force it had to meet with official neglect , and even opposition . Petty insults and mean attacks were made by the score . If the Ministers had had their way the Volunteers would not have lasted a
twelvemonth . Unhappily , the Volunteers were patriotic , and for ten years and more they have lived and prospered—they are prosperous this very day . In these stirring times it will not be altogether out of place to discuss the past and future of our truly national force . Laughed
at and insulted right and left , the Volunteers have suddenly sprung into importance as the only army upon which England can rely in her hour of need . While Europe was enjoying profound peace it mattered little whether Britannia were armed or not ; but the moment the dogs of war were unloosed her
armour became of the utmost importance . Terrified and unprepared , she turns round and searches for defenders . She finds the wreck of a standing army , the skeleton of a militia , and—two hundred thousand volunteers ! It was a proud moment for the citizen army 1 Everything had failed save and
only the spirit of patriotism ! The presence of danger having shown the real value of the "free-will force , " we trust that the lesson will never be forgotten . Without our riflemen to back them , our ministers would never have been able to assume the tone with regard to Belgium
demanded by justice , necessity , and honour . Without them , we repeat , we should have been foresworn—degraded—ruined . Yes , the much-laughed-at , loudly-abused Volunteer has saved England
from ignominy and disgrace . It sounds strange , and yet , for all It that was , it never is true intend . ed that the Riflemen should take the place of the regular Army , but still , as they seem to have done so , we must accept the position as an accomplished fact Having accepted the positionit becomes the duty of every Englishman
who cares a fig for his , country , to seriously consider the position of the force—the mode of succouring it in the days of peace , the manner in which to make it thoroughly efficient in the time of war . To commence . " The Volunteers" as a subjectmay be
dis-,, discussed under three heads—the officers—the men—and the morale . The officers are not certainly all that could be wished . In the Artillery , granted , there are as fine and as intelligent a body of English gentlemen as could be gathered together , but the
Rifles contain a number of people who have been chosen to command on account of their money-bags . About a year ago commissions were sown broadcast among martial tailors and warlike cheesemongers . This has been to a great extent amended this year . Not every tradesman that has cried out
has been favoured with a commission . The force will not lose by it . As a matter of fact , the " treating " of the wealthy draper or millionaire milkman scarcely make up for their dropped " H's " and thorough incapability of command . The men do not care to be ordered about by wvendors of butter and contrivers
of coats , and the result is disorder , bad feeling—nay , almost mutiny . The matter is now altered to a great extent . A man now-a-days finds no right to a company in a pair of scales or a butcher ' s knife . The force is all the better for the new order of things . The officer of to-day has a greater hold upon his men than the
officer of yesterday—he brings with him to support his commission his social position . The Pall Mall Gazette one evening ; last week suggested that the Volunteers should be officered by non-commissioned officers from the Line . This would never do . Taken as a body , there is no prouder corps d * armie in the
world than the Volunteers , and the insult would be insufferable . It is the first condition of their service that they should be commanded by their own officers—to chasst the present captains and subalterns with a view to supplying their places with "non corns " from the Regulars , would be as intolerable as to give the
command of the Guards to a Bugler-Major of Marines . No ; let the Volunteer officers undergo a rigid examination , let their efficiency be insisted upon , but do not deprive them of their commissions in favour of a body of men immeasurably inferior to them in intelligence and position .
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Citation
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Tomahawk (1867-1870), Aug. 27, 1870, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/t/issues/ttw_27081870/page/3/
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