Evening Post. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1877.

Evening Post, Volume XV, Issue 285, 5 December 1877, Page 2

Evening Post. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1877.

Mr. James Gordon Stuart Grant, " First Rector of the High School of Otago, and the founder of the eight hours system of labour," ?s he styles himself, has once more been at his vile but congee'? 1 work of misrepresenting and maligning the Colony through the columns of English journpls. Mr. Grant is absolutely irrepressible. He has at one time and another been kicked, horsewhipped, and otherwise subjected to personal crstigation for his gross litsls and slanders about men and women of good repute, and the punishment had the effect of making him give up this particular branch of his nefarious business. A creature of the Grant type has usually an intense tei/or of physical punishment. For libelling the Colony vs a whole he does not, however, run the risk of such punishment, consequently he still continues to indulge in fa'sehood, abuse, and vituperation to his heart's content. He has indeed adopted the motto — " Fear not to lie, 'twill seem a lucky hit; Shrink not from blasphemy, 'tw-U prss for wit," ? and he carries out the system with an audacious mendacity all his own. His last production in this line is a letter addressed to an English paper called the Bristol Daily Times and Mirror. He opens it by saying " that he desires to let a few rays of light into the English mind regarding that dark corner of the earth New Zealand." He then points out that only he (Grant) should be credited with speaking the truth, and that anything .said concerning the Colony by successful colonists, who have returned to England, " is to be regarded with positive suspicion." "The truth," says Mr. G R ANT,"is not in their crooked ways." Then Mr Grant proceeds to expound what, he alleges, is the truth. And this in effect is what he tells our fellow countrymen in England : — " The Colony is reduced to a pitiable condition of humiliation through gross mismanagement and mispfovernment. Thousands of people are on the very verge of starvation. Our actual condition is truly alarming." Then he describes Dunedin as swarming with paupers, and declares "that as the Colony is in the hard gripe of adversity, it is cruel and inhuman on the part of its venal Parliament to induce more immigration to these shores on flagrantly false pretences." " I hope," he adds, " that every newspaper in New Zealand will raise a stern voice against such infamous kidnapping. It is high time to put an effectual stop to such nefarious conduct." Finally, he says " that tho peasantry of England are far more happy at home than they ever can be in New Zealand ; that men of education have no business in the Colony, and that the farmers of England arc infinitely superior to the freeholders of New Zealand." In short, New Zealand is, according to Grant, "a coarse and barbarous democracy of the South Pacific." If the antecedents, character, and position of this man Grant were known to journalists in Great Britain his statement would receive little of either credence or attention. As the case stands, he is not known, so his lotters now and then find publicity, and do a certain amount of harm to the Colony. While liis statements are in the main utterly false, and convey entirely wrong impressions relative to the position of affairs in the Colony, yet they are made with that sort of ingenuity which gives them a certain false appearance of truth. For instance, he supports his assertion about Dunedin being swarming with paupers by quoting the amount spent in relief by the Benevolent Society there. This makes it appear that Dunedin is a poverty-stricken place, whereas it is, on the whole, the prosperous capital city of a prosperous Province. In every large centre of population there must and will be some poor people in temporary need of help. And so it is in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin. The sickness or death of the head of a family, aud the occurrence of unforseen accidents may bring people to poverty. Then in every city there are some people to be found who are idle, improvidont, or given to excessive indulgence in drink, and poverty inevifably comes upon them and those dependent upon them for support. But when all this has been

admitted, it remains to be said that every man and woman possessed of health, who comes to this Colony with a determination to be indu3t/ious "and sober, can find work, save money, and in a reasonable time possess a freehold comfortable home of their own. It is not merely because a working man gets higher wages in the colony, that he is better off here than at home. It is because his opportunities of getting on in the world are far more numerous. The man who goes to a new settlement, saves out of his wages and buys land, reaps the profit of the rapidly increased value which it acquires with the advance of the place. We could name hundreds of settlers in this district who are now well-to-do, and possessed of valuable properties In the country^ who had nothing fifteen years ago but then* stout hearts and strong arms. The picture drawn by Grant of the deplorable condition of the colony, will only create a smile here. The one element of truth in it is this, that we have incurred a large public debt, and that some nortion of the loans have not been judiciously expended. Time, prudent administration, and the development of its magnificent latent resources will enable New Zealand to surmount all financial difficulties, and become a great, free, and prosperous country, despite what wretched slanderers of the Grant type may utter against it.