Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/268

* VOLUNTARYISM. 220 VOLUNTEER. VOLUNTARYISM. The principles or sys- tem of polity advocated by those who believe in the complete separation of Church and State, the cessation of State endowments and State grants for religious purposes, and, in general, of all interference, patronage, or exercise of au- thority on the part of the civil power in the religious and ecclesiastical afi'airs of the citizen. The"term voluntaryism first came into use in the early part of the nineteenth century in connection with discussions between churchmen and dis- senters in Scotland, although there had been advocates of the principle long before this, nota- bly the Quakers. (See Frie>'ds.) The prin- ciple is held to be based on the express law of Christ respecting the Church, as well as on conscience, the nature of civil government, and considerations of general equity and policy. See Establishments, Ecclesiastical; Noncon- formists. VOLUNTEER, JIilitaet. A member of a military organization, serving of his own free will. He may belong to a trained reserve for national defense, as in England or the L'nited States, or to an auxiliary force of the regular or standing army. The modern volunteer movement had its origin in England, the oldest organiza- tion of which there is any reliable knowledge being the Honorable Artillery Company of Lon- don. The volunteer movement proper nuiy be said to have had its inception in the call for 40.000 Protestants of Ireland to repel the threat- ened invasion of that country by the French and Spaniards in 1779. The fear of an invasion of England by Napoleon brought about the volunteer legislation of 180.5, resulting in the creation of a volunteer establishment closely approaching 450,000, of whom fully one-fifth were Irish. The militia were organized locally and in each county were under the command of a lord lieutenant (q.v.). With the advent of peace be- gan the neglect of the system, an error which was heartily repented of during the ]>eriods of the Crimean War. the Indian ilutiny. the French hos- tility of 18.57, and the difficulty with the United States over the San .Juan boundary. The com- paratively small regular army was used exclu- sively tor the reenforcement of foreign and colonial garrisons, so that a volunteer force was nn im|ierative necessity. The volunteer regiments of this period were made up of tradesmen, clerks, and farmer.s, officered by locally prominent pro- fessional men. or emjiloyers of labor, each officer and man paying the entire expense of his service — uniform, equipment, drill-hall, instruction, etc. Wealth was almost a necessity on the part of tile ollicer, owing to the custom of enlisting em- ployees to complete the strength of the command, the employer paying all the expenses. Prohibi- tive almost as such regulations were, the prefer- ence of a free people for a volunteer army rather than a huge regular army led to the assembling ■under arms of 100,000 men. The moment the war stimulus ceased, however, the organization ngain showed signs of decay, so much so that the Government, in order to keep alive the system, finally placed it on a firm national basis by es- tablishing it as a recognized form of nationnl defense, defraying its expenses, and bringing it in actively close touch with the regular army. Jn 187U was commenced the system of joint nia- ncBuvres, volunteer regiments taking an ecjual share of the work and training with the regulars. English volunteers are enlisted under the Volun- teer Act ( 1 803). and the Volunteer (military ser- vice) Act of 1890. They are organized fur ser- vice at home, but may oiler themselves either in- dividually or en masse for service in the regular army. Under the Volunteer Act of 1900 new regulations were formulated as follows: (1) A member of a volunteer corps may contract to come out for actual military service at specified places in Great Britain whenever summoned by order of the Secretary of State for War, and to serve for a period not exceeding one month in the absence of a royal proclamation, calling out the volunteers generally. (2) A member of a volun- teer corps or regiment may contract to jiroceed upon active service to any part of the world in a unit or company formed of volunteers, on spe- cial conditions as defined by the terms of this contract. The Boei Vvar of 1899-1902, in which large bodies of volunteers and yeomanry did valuable service, demonstrated the value of volunteers to the British Empire, a fact which has resulted in a similar organization and equipment to the reiru- lar and militia battalions of the regimental dis- tricts to which they belong. The volunteer system of the United States was originally tormed along the same lines as in Eng- land. The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Com- pany of Boston, like its British prototj'pe, enjoys the distinction of seniority as a volunteer organization. In 1792 Congress rec- ognized the existence of volunteer organizations not included in the regular State militia, and has- from time to time, as occasion arose, or neces- sity demanded, raised volunteers for tempoiaiy purposes, but in such cases they have invariably been Federal rather than State forces, the com- missioned officers being appointed by the Presi- dent. Volunteer officers while in service rank with regular officers and are entitled to the same honors and privileges as regular officers of the same grade. Their uniform is essentially the same as that of the regular establishment except that the letters U.S.V. are used instead of the U.S. on the collar. In the War of 1812, besides 4.58.40.3 militia, there were 10,110 volunteers, and 3049 mounted rangers (q.v.). About 73. .500 volunteers were en- listed for the Mexican War, the State militia not being called upon, owing to doubts as to the le- gality of their employment in a foreign country. The Civil War was practically fought by vol- unteers, the regulars engaged numbering only about 07,000. Periods of enlistment were from three months to three years, or for the Avar. Colonel Dodge, in A Birdneije Yieiv of Our Civil War (Boston and New York. 1897), gives the actual enlistments at 2,708.000 for the armies and navies; or. reduced to a three years' term. i.e. counting three one-year men as one three-year man. and estimating as a full man only one who enlisted for a term which could have lost him three full years (men who enlisted in January, 1805, for three years, could actually serve only four months, and would count as one-ninth of one man each), there were furnished in the North about 1,700,000 men. In the South, counting in the same manner (a man enlisted for four years was a man and a third), there were furnished