OUR NEW GOVERNOR.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1097, 17 August 1880, Page 2

OUR NEW GOVERNOR.

"Closely following upon the sudden and unexpected announcement that we were about to lose the services of Sir Hercules Robinson as Governor of these Islands, comes the statement that Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon, G. C. M. G ] has been appointed his Excellency's "successor. The new Governor's name is already familiar to New Zealanders as that of the able Governor of the neighboring colony of Fiji and High Commissioner and Consul-General of the Pacific, the duties of which difficult and important/position he has carried out with such marked success. Of Sir Arthur Gordon it may be said that his whole training and antecedents, from his very youth upwards, have been in. the highest degree calculated to prepare him for a position of responsible rule and authority. The youngest son of a Prime Minister of Great Britain — George, fourth Earl of Aberdeen — Sir Arthur Gordon soon found himself drawn into the arena of politics. In 1854, when barely 25 years of age, he was : elected to the House of Commons as a representative in the Liberal interest for Beverley, the chief town of the East Riding of Yorkshire, which seat he retained until the general election of 1857, when -he unsuccessfully contested Liskeard against Mr. Ralph Grey, subsequently appointed a Commissioner of Customs. Besides this training in the greatest political school of the world, Sir Arthur Gordon enjoyed, in addition, exceptional advantages, such as are accorded to very few men, for mastering the more subtle intricacies of the art of government. In the first place, he was assistant private secretary to his father when the latter was Foreign Secretary, and afterwards during his Premiership. When Mr. Gladstone went on his difficult and delicate mission to the lonian Islands in 1858, Sir Arthur Gordon was specially attached to the embassy. Prom his connection with that great statesman, both in and out of Parliament, Sir Arthur Gordon must have gained much that would be of incalculable use to him in after life, not only in point of knowledge, but no doubt a great deal, of his influence also is due to the same cause. Sir Arthur Gordon commenced his career as v a Colonial Governor in 1861, when he was appointed- to take charge of New Brunswick. In • 2866 he was transferred to Trinidad, and in October, 1870, he was appointed Governor of Mauritius. For his services in these capacities he was. in the* following year, created a. Knight Commander of the Order of S.S. Michael and George. On 4th February, 1875, Sir Arthur Gordon was appointed Governor and Oommanderin- Chief of the Fiji Islands, 'which had been created into a separate colony, and taken formal possession of by Great Britain in the previous year. . In 1877, he was appointed High Commissioner and Consul-General of the Pacific, a position of very extensive power and authority. Sir Arthur found his new charge at a very low ebb, morally and in every other respect, when he first took the reins of power, but a few months of his vigorous and clearheaded rule sufficed to bring about a very marked improvement. These services were recognised by the British Government, who in August, 1877, raised Sir Arthur to the position of Knight Grand Crdss in the Ordor of' S.S. Michael and George. Sir Arthur was married in 1865 to Rachel Emily, eldest daughter of Sir J.;G. Shaw Lefevre, Clerk of the Parliaments and Vice-Chancellor of the University of London^ Sir Arthur vyas born on '26th November, 1829, and is consequently in his 51st year. His present appointment is a promotion in point of salary, the Governor of Fiji being j £5000 a year, while her majesty's 'representatives in New Zealand receives

£7,500 per annum,