15

H.—lo

Second Line. 47. The Second Line of Volunteers (or Supports) should equal in number the Infantry of the First Line. They should consist of companies forty to sixty strong, exclusive of officers, and be raised within a distance of twenty-five miles of the company or companies they support in the First Line. 48. To be kept up on the present system of a capitation grant of £1 10s. per annum, receiving arms, accoutrements, and 130 rounds of ammunition annually, but finding their own uniform. 49. To attend six inspection and six company parades annually to qualify for capitation. 50. The selection of the Corps to form these supports is a matter for the decision of the Executive Government. Class Fieing and Jtjdging-Distance Peactice. 51. Class firing and judging-distance practice to be conducted annually. Every Volunteer to pass through a course to entitle him to capitation. This applies to First and Second Lines. Adjutants. 52. An Adjutant will be appointed to each Volunteer Regiment. He will in this capacity be under the Officer Commanding the Regiment. He will also have to perform District Staff duties, and for the performance of these he will act as Staff Officer of the district, under the orders of the Commanding Officer of the district. He will thus be performing all duties under the command of one officer, i.e., the officer who will be in the united command of both regiment and district. The appointment of these officers shall be left to the Commandant, who shall endeavour to secure them in New Zealand from officers who have been in the Imperial service; and, if he fail to obtain the required number in New Zealand, vacancies to be made up from England. 53. The pay of an Adjutant to be £300 per annum. At the expiration of five years he will receive a bonus of £50, and after that date his pay will be increased at the rate of £10 per annum. 54. Applications for the appointment of Adjutant will be made in the first instance by officers who have served in the regular army, and forwarded to the Commandant. Applications for appointments as Adjutants to any particular regiment will be made through Officers Commanding Regiments, who will report fully their opinion as to the eligibility of the candidates so far as they are able to judge. When a Commanding Officer has any objection on public grounds he will state fully his reasons on the form of application. 55. Every candidate will be examined by a Board of Army Medical Officers in England, previous to embarkation, or by a Board in the colony, as to his general health and fitness. 56. An officer before appointment as Adjutant will be required to sign the following declaration : — I hereby declare, upon my honor as an officer and a gentleman, that I have not, nor to the best of my belief has any person on my behalf or in my interest, directly or indirectly paid or transferred, or agreed to pay or transfer, any sum of money, valuable security, or other thing in respect of my appointment to the Adjutancy of the , and I promise honorably and unreservedly not to make, cause to be made, or in any manner recognize hereafter, any such payment or transfer in respect of such appointment. 57. Any breach of the declaration will be regarded as a violation of personal honor. The declaration will be signed in presence of a Justice of the Peace, who will countersign it. 58. An Adjutant appointed from England must possess a certificate of qualification from the School of Musketry at Hythe, or a similar school of instruction in the colony. 59. Adjutants will wear staff uniforms. 60. When an Adjutant is transferred from one corps to another, he will be allowed to retain in the general service the date of his former commission. 61. As the public services of an Adjutant are to be available at all times, an officer holding an Adjutancy in the Volunteer Force will not be allowed to follow any profession or business. 62. An Adjutant of Volunteers may be granted ordinary or sick leave for continuous or intermittent periods of absence, not exceeding in the aggregate sixty-one days, reckoning from the Ist January in each year. No further leave will be granted without the special authority of the Defence Minister. 63. In the case of duly-certified sickness, an Adjutant will be granted further leave of absence, not exceeding six months. If unable to resume his duties at the expiration of this further period, an Adjutant will cease to hold his appointment.