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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5555, 17 January 1879, Page 2

liisruraored that the ostensible reason assignd by the Premier for declining to allow the s.s. Hinemoa to be placed at the disposal of the Marquis, of Nokmanbt was that she would be required for a survey trip round the south and west coast, and to report upon and to test the light of the new lighthouse at Puysegur Bay, which it is hoped will be completed within the nest few weeks. It would have been a graceful act of politeness to our present and our future Governor to have thus carried out the old maxim of “ Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest,” as the Hinemoa, if she had gone to Australia,

would doubtless have brought back Sir Hercules Robinson onherreturn journey. Some excuse had to be found for retaining her, and if this pretext had not been available some other excuse would have been found. It is somewhat strange that no intimation of the expedition referred to has ever previously reached our ears. Regret has been very generally expressed about town that the Premier should have declined to pay this tribute of respect to the Marquis of Normanby on his departure from the colony. Owing to the want of harmony which is well known to have existed between the Premier and his Excellency the refusal to allow the Hinemoa to convey his Excellency to Victoria is with one accord attributed to motives unworthy of our Premier. It is a pity that, like Cesar’s wife, Sir George Geey is not above suspicion. Rightly or wrongly, tho reason assigned by the Premier for his refusal is looked upon as an excuse and a subterfuge, and we regret that tho representative of our Queen should have been subjected to so great a slight. Gentlemen are expected to avoid even the appearance of rudeness, and no one knew better than Sir George Grey the interpretation which a large section of the public would be sure to put iipon his action in this matter. If the whole of the history which lies hidden behind the lines of the announcement made in tho Government organ yesterday ever becomes known, we have no doubt that the reputation of the Governor will gain rather than suffer by the publication. It is well known that the Marquis of Nortnanby is quite able to support and to maintain intact the dignity of his office, and the slight which he has sustained, whether intentional or accidental, would not be unnoticed by him. We regret that the courtesy expected from those in high places towards the representative of royalty should, in this instance, have been conspicuous by its absence. The paragraph announcing the refusal is couched in the bluntest possible language. Even the formal regret usually expressed in such cases has been omitted. We append the paragraph referred to, in order to give our readers an opportunity of judging for themselves: —“We learn that his Excellency the “ Governor and Lady Normanby will “ leave for Australia by the next trip of “ the Arawata, and that ho applied to “ the Government for the use of the “ Hinemoa, but was informed that she “ could not bo allowed to leave New “ Zealand waters.”