Feb. 28.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 387

172. The Officer in Command may appoint such temporary staff from the officers and non-commissioned officers of the Volunteers or any other portion of the New Zealand Forces, or officers who have served in Her Majesty's Land or Sea Forces, as may be required to carry on the duties of the camp.

173. After temporary appointments have been notified in camp orders, such staff officers and non-commissioned officers shall be obeyed accordingly.

174. Camp equipage, if in store and available, will be supplied on loan as far as practicable; but all losses, damages, and deficiencies which are not satisfactorily accounted for will be charged against the capitation grants of the corps forming the encampment.

175. Artillery Volunteer corps will be permitted to form encampments for gun practice at stations where it can be carried out.

176. No attack is to be made by any Volunteer corps by night or by day on any quarters or encampment of Volunteers, unless a mutual understanding between Officers in Command has first been arrived at.

177. Volunteers attending a camp are not to be allowed to quit their lines or billets except by permission of the Officer in Command of the Camp, and then must be properly dressed in uniform as prescribed by regulation; and the Provost Marshal or any officer or non-commissioned officer belonging to the camp will, if he sees any Volunteer disobeying this regulation, at once ascertain his name and corps, and report to his Commanding Officer.

178. Volunteers attending Easter encampments will be allowed to reckon three parades for capitation, provided they have been present during the whole of the time in camp.

179. A non-commissioned officer is to be placed in charge of the camp equipage issued to each corps, and it will be his special duty to see that the equipment is returned to store or handed over to an authorised person complete and in proper order.

BOARDS OF INQUIRY.

180. Boards of Inquiry will be formed according to the provisions of section 84 of the Defence Act to examine into the truth of any charges or complaint preferred against any officer, non-commissioned officer, or other member of the Volunteer Force. Presidents shall cause minutes of the proceedings to be taken during the inquiry, and forward them to the convening officer through the Officer Commanding the District. These inquiries will be held with closed doors.

181. The decision shall be that of the majority of the Board, and signed by all the members; but, in case of difference of opinion, the minority may record and append to the proceedings their reasons for dissenting from the opinion of the majority.

182. The officer, non-commissioned officer, or other member of the Volunteer Force against whom any charge is preferred shall be entitled to have a written copy of the charge delivered to him at least twenty-four hours before the inquiry is held; and the District Commanding Officer is responsible that this is done.

183. The accused member will not be allowed to be assisted by a solicitor during the inquiry, but may call witnesses, whose evidence, with any statement he may himself desire to make, shall be forwarded with the proceedings.

184. The President and members of the Board shall be dressed in uniform, and shall, on assembling, make a declaration upon honour, in writing, which will be attached to the proceedings, in the following terms: “I, A.B., do declare upon my honour that I will duly and impartially inquire into the matters to be brought before the Board. I further declare upon my honour that I will not on any account or at any time disclose or discover my own vote or opinion, or that of any particular member of the Board, or divulge any portion of the proceedings unless required to do so by competent authority.”

185. Any officer, non-commissioned officer, or member of the Force against whom any charge is preferred shall attend the Board in uniform, and, if in arrest or a prisoner, without his side-arms.

186. Boards of Inquiry upon commissioned officers shall be confined to taking evidence upon oath and reporting upon such evidence, as provided by section 87 of the Defence Act.

187. Boards of Inquiry are not to be summoned in trivial cases.

188. A Board of Inquiry may be reassembled as often as the convening authority may deem necessary, and on every occasion of its meeting it is competent to receive and record new evidence.

COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY.

189. In minor cases the Officer Commanding the District is empowered to assemble a Committee of Inquiry, the composition of which shall be as laid down for Boards of Inquiry in section 84 of the Defence Act, to ascertain the truth or otherwise of any charge respecting which the evidence is conflicting.

190. Such Committees have no power to administer an oath, and are to be assembled only to assist the Officer Commanding the District in arriving at a prima facie conclusion in cases of doubt, and to ascertain whether the case is one which should go before a Board of Inquiry.

191. Committees of Inquiry will take evidence, and record their opinion on the subject under investigation, unless otherwise ordered; and the proceedings will be governed in other respects by the rules of Boards of Inquiry.

DISCIPLINE.

192. Meetings of members of the Volunteer Force are not to be held for the purpose of expressing an opinion upon the acts of the Defence Department or of a superior officer, or recommending any particular course of action; nor are memorials to be drawn up to the same effect; and no meetings will be recognised except those called together by or under the authority of the Commanding Officer of a District or Corps, who will be responsible for doing so. If any officer or Volunteer has cause to think himself aggrieved, he will represent his case through his Commanding Officer to the Officer Commanding the District, and on no account is he permitted to communicate direct with the Defence Office, or to seek redress from any member of the Legislature. Any appeal against the decision of the Officer Commanding the District will be made through that officer for transmission to higher authority. Every member of the Defence Force has the right to appeal through the proper channel, as herein laid down, to the Defence Minister. Any appeal or communication made otherwise to the Minister will be considered a breach of discipline, and officers will be liable to have their commissions cancelled, and other members of the Force to be summarily dismissed, for not strictly complying with this regulation.

193. Members of the Volunteer Force, in uniform, are not individually or collectively to attend political meetings, or join in public, political, or sectarian discussions or demonstrations.

194. Although it is intended that every opportunity shall be given for inquiry into well-founded complaints and the redress of grievances, members of the Volunteer Force will be personally responsible if they prefer complaints of a litigious, frivolous, or malicious character.

195. When a Volunteer has been dismissed for misconduct, a notification of the fact, with the cause of dismissal, will be inserted in district and corps orders.

196. Disobedience of orders or any disrespect shown to any superior officer must be instantly reported to the Officer Commanding the Corps; and it is to be earnestly impressed upon all ranks that discipline depends so essentially upon obedience to superiors that all commissioned officers must see that it is duly enforced. Non-commissioned officers failing to report any contempt or neglect of their authority will be liable to reduction.

197. An arrest is held, in accordance with the custom of the military service, to mean a suspension from all military duty, including target practice, until the case leading to such arrest is disposed of.

198. Military duty is held to mean not only presence under arms on parade, but the performance of all administrative duties of a military nature in or out of uniform.

199. After an officer or Volunteer is reported as having been placed under arrest he cannot be released except by order of the officer to whom he has been reported, or, in such officer's unavoidable absence, by the officer next in command.

200. Any Volunteer who fails to produce for inspection, as required, or on dismissal from the Force for misconduct to deliver up, any arms, accoutrements, or other property intrusted to his care, within fourteen days, will be proceeded against under the Defence Act.

201. Volunteers in uniform shall at all times salute His Excellency the Governor and all commissioned officers of Her Majesty's Service and officers of the Defence Forces of the colony when in uniform.

202. Officers of corps are required to report, through the proper channel, all breaches of discipline and neglect of duty to the Officer Commanding the District.

203. Any member of the Volunteer Force proved to have written or to have instigated any communication to a newspaper on matters connected with the Defence Forces of the colony or any portion thereof, or calling in question or reflecting upon any act of any superior officer, is guilty of insubordination, and is liable to be dealt with accordingly; and if the communication relates to confidential matters regarding the defences of the colony, the offender is further liable, under “The Official and Defences Secrets Act, 1891,” to be dealt with as therein laid down. If the offender be other than an officer, he is further liable to a fine under section 109 of the Defence Act.

204. Officers and non-commissioned officers of the Permanent Staff are held responsible that they do not allow themselves, without permission of the Defence Office, to be complimented, either directly or indirectly, by means of presents or collective expressions of opinion from persons who are serving or who have served under them, except in the case of resignation or departure from the district.