Page 244
Page 244
10
as the Hong Kong Volunteer Reserve Company. Upon enrolment officers of the company will be selected from among the members and commissioned by the Governor.
3. The Rules of the Association to be framed by a Committee of Management elected by the members from among their own number.
4. The members to practise rifle shooting so as to become efficient shots, for which purpose they will be lent rifles by the General Officer Commanding, and will be supplied with ammunition at cost price.
5. The use of the Volunteer and Police Range will be reserved for the Association one day in the week, and the members will have the right to use the range at all times when not other- wise occupied.
All those intending to join will oblige by sending in their names to the undersigned before the 15th September, 1904.
By Command,
(Signed)
Colonial Secretary's Office, Hong Kong,
August 30, 1904.
F. H. MAY, Colonial Secretary.
Enclosure 4.
Report of the Meeting on 23rd September, 1904.
ON the invitation of his Excellency the Governor, Sir Matthew Nathan, K.C.M.G., a meeting was held in the City Hall last evening, at half-past five o'clock, of those gentlemen who had sent in their names as being willing to join the Hong Kong Volunteer Reserve Association, and of others interested in the formation of the Association. There was a large attendance. Excellency was accompanied by Hon. F. H. May, C.M.G., Colonial Secretary, and Sir Henry S. Berkeley, Chief Justice.
His
His Excellency said:-Gentlemen,-The invitation to the senior members of the Colony who are British subjects to form themselves into an association to be called the Hong Kong Volunteer Reserve Association, which was published in the local Press on the 30th August and subsequent dates, not having met with the recognition that it was hoped it would meet with, it seemed to me that if I could make better known, through the medium of the gentlemen who have evinced some interest in the scheme, the exact conditions under which it is proposed to carry it out, and also the advantages which the Colony might be expected to derive from it, it was probable that the Association would attain greater dimensions, and so become an institution more worthy of the Colony. I propose in the first instance to explain, and in one case to modify, the conditions which were embodied in the notification of the 30th August. The first of these conditions now reads *--- "The age limit for members to be from 35 to 50." I propose to substitute for this:- "Members shall be not less than 35 years of age." By this alteration no man over 35 will be debarred from enjoying the privileges of the Association who feels that he retains sufficient energy to lend a helping hand in the hour of need. I have given careful consideration to the suggestion which appeared in last night's 'China Mail,' that the minimum age limit should be altered from 35 to 25, and I have come to the conclusion that this alteration would not be advantageous to the general interests. It seems to me that the result of accepting it would necessarily be to strengthen the Reserve Association at the expense of the Volunteer force; that is to say, to strengthen the body which receives the lesser at the expense of the body which receives the greater training. Again, if the Volunteers increase as they should do, and as I hope they will do, after a time the bulk of the young men in the Colony under 35 years of age will belong to the active Volunteers, and the Volunteer Reserve Association will then become really a reserve, consisting of men who have had some training and who are keeping up the most essential part of it-musketry practice. I do not attach much value to the argument which was advanced in the papers, that the exigencies of business do not allow some men to join the Volunteers, while they could manage to fulfil the conditions required in the Association. From what I have heard, the heads of firms and departments give great facilities to Volunteers to attend the annual training in camp, and apart from this training the number of drills that a man has to attend is not considerable, and great latitude is allowed as to when they go out for these drills. Altogether, I think it will be found that the time spent by an efficient Volunteer on his Volunteer work is not a very great proportion of the time that he is away from business during the year. Further, it is within my knowledge that some of the busiest men of the Colony are already, or propose to be, active Volunteers. The second condition is that members should undertake not to quit the Association, without leave, within one year of joining, and to enrol themselves, in the event of necessity, under the Volunteer Ordinance, as the Hong Kong Volunteer Reserve Company. This was inserted to make the Association a real reserve that could be counted on in time of emergency. It is necessary that we should know always what men will be avail- able at the hour they are required. It is not intended to prevent men leaving the Association at any time for good reasons, such as leaving the Colony, or suffering from serious illness, &c. With regard to the second sentence of that condition, "Upon enrolment officers of the company will be selected from among the members and commissioned by the Governor," you may be perfectly certain that the Governor will select as officers those members under whom he thinks the remainder will be most willing to render efficient service. The third condition is that the rules of the Association are to be framed by the Committee of Management elected by the members
Page 244
Page 244
Page 244