The Southland Times PUBLISHED DAILY FRIDAY, 19th OCTOBER, 1877.

Southland Times, Issue 2916, 19 October 1877, Page 2

The Southland Times PUBLISHED DAILY FRIDAY, 19th OCTOBER, 1877.

Sic Geoege Geet, by the chapter of accidents, Premier of the colony of New Zealand, has spoken, and he was bo enamored of what he said that he forthwith caused the Hansard report thereof to be telegraphed to the uttermost ends of the country. It would be a misapplication of the term to assert that the speech is disappointing. It would have been an agreeable surprise had this Ministerial deliverance been other than it is, but being such as it is, why it can only be said that nothing else could have been expected from the quixotic Knight of Kawau. To the vast majority of the people of the colony the speech will appear only in the light of an addition to the many ridiculous exhibitions to which the whilom Governor periodically treats the public — the pity being that in this case it is bo coßtly to the country and calculated to draw from disinterested lookers-on contempt upoD her political institutions. We who are on the spot and can watch the operatioßS of wheels within wheels, much as we may regret the effect can trace it back to its proper cause ; but observers from a distance interest themselves only in the resnlts, and are prone therefrom hastily to draw deductions unjust to the whole community. It will, for instance, in the Cape Colony be matter of contemptuous speculation what manner of coLonists are they whom Sir George Grey presumes to /sad; while we can conjure up the smile with which will be received in Downing street the announcement that he is now Premier of the coloDy whose affairs were muddled under his Governorship. Sir George's responsibility is, however. *^c people, not to the Secretary n eZ^°,. "" a " "emains to be seen how of Mate, and ,j „;„ misc bievous long they will brook •:... interference in public affairs. To return to the pronunciamento of Monday evening, it certainly is remarkably open to comment, but not to criticism in the political sense of the term, inasmuch as where there is j no policy enunciated there can be no criticism. But Sir George Grey has nevertheless subjected himself to grave censure, not the least portion, indeed, of which is that he should have undertaken the reins of government without apparently being competent to conceive and define or capable to carry out a policy. From beginning end" what is his speech? Words, words, words— as a whole, simply appalling in their monotony , divided pfrkQ parts, here sickening in their oztte? (apuity, there revoltiag in their jjriah Heep-li^s subservience to the Housed The ' aUusipss to the " liberality of honorable .members," and to " this august assemblage/ wo&ld be

amusing, were they not repeated with a persistency that evokes a feeling akin to loathing. It would be a tack too formidable for editorial undertaking to wade through the four columns of the speech as reported in our issue of yesterday, and to make running comment upon it. "We, therefore, propose briefly to refer to its more — we were about to write " leading," but prefer the term startling— features. It is, perhaps, needless to say that Sir George modestly sets out with the announcement that he is the Alpha and Omega of all the political wisdom of New Zealand. Nor will the statement that he proposes having two of his colleagues in the Ministry tattoed create surprise. The erratic knight's penchant for the " Noble Savage of the forest primeval" is so notorious, that it is rather a relief to one's sense of the proprieties to receive the assurance that his colonial colleagues will be gentlemen of the Native race. "We then have some shadowy reference to finance and retrenchment, from which we can only gather that the new Premier wants at once a large sum of money in order that he may set about economising. A good many people would be glad to economise upon the same conditions. Certainly there is under this head a hint that his friend Mr Larnach know 3 a great deal more about the matter, and that that gentleman will immediately, if not sooner, give them a regular eyeopener on the subject. We can quite believe it ; and will confine ourselves in the meantime to saying that if Mr Larnach knows no more of finance than does his Chief, it is a poor lookout for the country. We now come to Sir George's policy, and "in order that we may not be accused of distortion, we quote his own words : — Hon. gentlemen were pleased in their wisdom to destroy absolutely the Provincial Governments and the provincial legislatures, but in doing that they did not do away with the provincial system, and there is no doubt whatever that the two systems of administration have never yet merged into one another, and that a vast and unnecessary expenditure is incurred by attempting to conduct a system of administration not suited to one united Government. The great effort therefore which I think must be made, is to devise a system of administration of public affairs by which the whole administration will be grasped by the powerful hand of one Government, if there is to le but one Government."

The italics are ours ; and we tbu3 emphasize the words, because it appears to us that herein lies a possible indication of a new policy. But what is that new policy ? Is it a return to Provincialism, or is it Separation ? It must be change of some kind, and it would have been more honest, more straightforward, and more statesmanlike of Sir George Grey to have boldly said what he meant. As it is we can but speculate, and speculation brings us to the conclusion that the Premier has designs which, if carried into effect, will undo all that has already been done after years of struggling. The conclusion of this precious statement is as ridiculous as the commencement. Next to the wholly untutored nigger, Sir George Grey loves the badly tutored white Native, and he has a specimen in Mr Sbeeban. With a few more wild animals added the Premier might turn the recess to profitable account by starting a travelling menagerie : it would most undoubtedly pay. There is in the speech an indication that something of the sort is contemplated, for he says : — "During the recess such of them as we think suited to the circumstances of the time shall be carefully prepared, and shall be submitted next session." As it is wholly impossible to divine whether measures or Ministers are here referred to, we say that quite possibly the same idea that has struck us found ita way into Sir George's mind. The relation wbich the white Native member of the Ministry is to bear to his colored brethren is stated in the following words :—" The fact of my having to aid me as a colleague a gentleman born in New Zealand, knowing the Natives from his childhood, and much regarded and esteemed by them, will be to me au advantage such as could not have been enjoyed by a Ministry in New Zealand at an earlier period of its history, because so person so born—so educated — and with such a knowledge of the feelings of the Native race was then to be found

in the colon y." And this, as summarised by us, is Sir Geor»e Grey ' 9 ideas of the great duties, the heavy responsibilities of the high ofljce into which he has b,een pitchforked. The man who signally failed as a viceroy, who as Superintendent of Auckland could pot ayert the ruin, that threatens it, assumes direction o f > the affairs of ™ c -•■ioQ at a period when a young n<*. . Uq ; esperience more than at any oiu... *\ Cnr^_ wisdom, calm deliberation, ana v... ness are required. Thia senile patron of savages, the titled market-gardener of Kawau, gathers arouad iiiiji a piebald Cabinet, and tells the country how he is going to guide the ship of ; State. To where? To utter ruin if he be permitted ■ but fortunately that permission depends upon a variety ot circumstances which Sir George Q-rey cannot wholly control,, and we look to a combination of these forcing the entire House t© the country.