HONGKONG.
REPORTS ON THE HONGKONG VOLUNTEER CORPS,
Laid before the Legislative Council by Command of His Excellency the Governor,
INSPECTIONS.
HONGKONG VOLUNTEERS.
351
No. 2
HEAD QUARTER OFFICE,
HONGKONG, 28th July, 1894.
SIR, I have the honour to forward for Your Excellency's information the report of Colonel MACDONELL, Royal Artillery, on his inspection of the Hongkong Volunteer Corps in May last, and also the annual report by the Acting Commandant, dated 12th ultimo.
It will be seen that out of the 92 members of the Corps, 61 are reported as efficient.
In view of the short time that the new Corps has been in existence in its present form, and the difficulties they have had to contend with, the Inspecting Officer's report may be considered fairly satisfactory. It points to some shortcomings which will, I trust, be rectified in the coming year.
The substitution of brown leather belts in the Artillery for the buff belts at present worn would be an improvement, but it would entail an expense which is perhaps hardly justified at present and I understand that steps will be taken to improve upon the present system of cleaning them.
I beg to commend for Your Excellency's favourable consideration the points brought forward by the Acting Commandant in paragraphs 2, 3, 8 and 9 of his report.
The cost of maintaining a Quartermaster Sergeant as recommended by Lieutenant-Colonel JERRARD will be $1,800 per annum."
.
The addition of such a Non-Commissioned Officer to the Staff appears to be urgently necessary, and as it is only proposed to charge his cost to the Government so long as the strength of the Corps is under 150, the money voted for the expenses of the Corps will not be exceeded.
I concur with Lieutenant-Colonel JERRARD that pony draught has not proved successful, and I hope the experiments to be made with coolie draught during the ensuing year will show a better result.
The aid which would be given to the Volunteer cause by the issue of a Government notification and appeal such as that suggested by Lieutenant-Colonel JERRARD would, in my opinion, be very great.
The possession by the Volunteers of the whole instead of a part of the building which they now occupy is of great importance to their welfare, and I trust that it may be found possible to put them in complete possession of it at an early date.
In conclusion, I hope Your Excellency will be able to appoint a successor, as Commandant, to Lieutenant-Colonel JERRARD, whose services in that capacity have been of the greatest benefit to the Corps, but who, owing to his early departure from the Colony, rightly urges that his successor should be appointed without delay.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your Excellency's obedient Servant,
G. DIGBY BARKER,
Major-General.
To His Excellency
THE GOVERNOR OF HONGKONG.