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Appendix No. 4.
MAURITIUS.
112
No. 38.
Colonial Office to Royal Commission on the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad.
Sir,
Downing Street, June 15, 1880. WITH reference to my letter of the 14th February* I am directed by the Earl of Kimberley to transmit to you, for the consideration of the Royal Commission on the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad, copy of a despatch from the Governor of Mauritius respecting the proposed formation of a company of rifle volunteers.
I am, &c. (Signed)
R. H. MEADE.
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Inclosure in No. 38.
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Sir,
Sir G. Bowen to Sir M. Hicks Beach.
Government House, Mauritius, March 31, 1880.
I HAD the honour to receive by the last mail your despatch of the 14th February ultimo, informing me that my despatch of the 19th December ultimo,† respecting the proposed formation of a company of rifle volunteers at Mauritius, had been referred for the consideration of the Royal Com- mission on the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad, together with my other despatches respecting the defences of the island.
2. In my despatch of the 19th December, 1879,† I reported that about 100 gentlemen, for the most part belonging to the Civil Service of this Colony, had applied to be incorporated as a volunteer rifle company, and that I had informed them that I was unable to accept their services without your previous sanction. This application has recently been renewed, and I recommend that I be authorized to grant it, with the limitations and on the conditions stated in my last-mentioned despatch. I fear that if a favourable reply be not ere long received from you the applicants may feel discouraged, and the present public spirited movement may die out.
3. I have already suggested that the proposed rifle company should be formed in connection with the existing Mauritius Rifle Association, the members of which are all of European, almost entirely of English, birth and descent, and connected with the Civil Service, and with the professional, mer- cantile, and planting communities. I have lately attended the periodical meetings for practice of the Rifle Association, and I find that it contains many excellent marksmen. It will be recollected that the Major-General commanding and the other military authorities agree with the Executive Council in believing that a volunteer company, formed chiefly of members of this Association, would be a valuable addition, in case of need, to our present weak garrison of less than 400 officers and men of all arms.
4. Moreover, I have already pointed out that in the Colonies, as in England, there are undoubtedly practical advantages in the volunteer system, in addition to the primary object of defence against foreign aggression; for that system fosters a general spirit of loyalty and patriotism, as well as of mutual good feeling and comradeship among men of different religious creeds, political parties, and social classes.
5. Again, Mauritius appears to be the only British Colony of importance in which no volunteer corps has as yet been formed. Such corps have existed for some years past, not only in the great Anglo-Saxon Colonies of Australasia and of North America, but also in the mixed community of South Africa, in several of the Crown Colonies, such as Singapore, British Guiana, and Trinidad, and in several even of the smaller West Indian Islands, such as Antigua, Tobago, and St. Christopher.
6. Under these circumstances I beg once more to recommend that I be authorized to accept the services of the proposed company of rifle volunteers of Mauritius, and to take the necessary measures for its organization on the conditions submitted in my despatch of the 19th December, 1879.†
I have, &c. (Signed)
G. F. BOWEN.
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No. 39.
Sir,
Royal Commission on Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad to Colonial Office.
13, Delahay Street, June 18, 1880.
I AM directed by the Royal Commission on the Defence of British Possessions and Commerce Abroad to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 15th instant, transmitting the copy of a despatch from the Governor of Mauritius, respecting the proposed formation of a company of rifle volunteers.
Though the Commission have received no evidence in respect of Mauritius, and have not yet considered in what way the garrison can best be supplemented by local levies, or what should be the constitution of the force, they are disposed to think that every encouragement should be given to the proposed movement.
* No. 32.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
HERBERT JEKYLL.
+ Inclosure 2 in No. 32.
‡ No. 38.
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