THE COLONIST. NELSON, FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 1865. WHAT IS MEAT BYY POLITIC IN NEW ZEALAND.

Colonist, Issue 795, 9 June 1865, Page 4

THE COLONIST. NELSON, FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 1865. WHAT IS MEAT BYY POLITIC IN NEW ZEALAND.

It is amusing to see credit claimed by some of the newspapers of New Zealand, for what they term the calm attitude and high tooe which the Colony, the Colonial Ministers, and the newspapers have maintained in the discussion of the questions of Imperial assistance, and interference, the conduct of the war, and the rights and claims of the Colony.. We hare even seen it asserted, in connection with these matters, and the difference of opinion which has existed between ft section of Colonial politicians and the Home oo* vernment, as represented in Mr. Cardwttt'i dispatches, that the lofty attitude of the Colony had begun to tell on public opinion in England. We have before now expressed our conviction respecting the character and mod* of expressing "public opinion" in New Zealand. Neither in the war of memorandums which past Ministers of the Colony carried on with the Governor, and conducted in a most bitter spirit, nor in the tone in which present Ministers speak of General Cameron in their recent remarkable memorandum, can we discover much indication of either a lofty attitude or the calmness of a statesman's manifesto. Much less do we find either of these qualifications in the manner in which the great portion of the newspaper press of the Colony has discussed important questions bearing on the present management. Cramped and hemmed in by local prejudices and local jealousies, and by • spirit of petty rivalry which leads to & discussion not of principles but of personalities, one section pf the press of tht Colony expend* nidk

time and strong language against each other in a fashion which belongs to the local journalism of twenty years ago. Another class of New Zealand journals, anxious for aggrandisement of a special locality, concoct and parade draft constitutions for a new system of government in the Colony, which, were they not utterly abortive on the face of them, would bring to other parts of the colony an additional government and legislature, whose presence expenditure and offices would, it is vainly hoped, help to retrieve the finances of one or two provinces whose own extravagance and recklessness, aided and abetted by these same oracles, have temporarily wrought their ruin. There is still another portion of the press of New Zealand which seems to drag on a weak and weary existence for no other purpose than that of representing and expressing the opinions and desires of a few former leaders in politics, and which are themselves at the command of a few of the friends of such leaders, whose ancient animosities are brought up and repeated time and again. The true view of local self-government is fotgotten or disregarded by journals such as these. The sterling system of local selfgovernment is that which seeks to aid itself not only without injuring its neighbors, but which really in aiding itself helps on the progress of the state. But for this such journals as these care nothing. Their cry, often quite undisguised, is rather to help themselves by injuring their neighbors, and some seem to value the prospect of their own local advantage in the ratio of injury which they may inflict on others. These are no «xaggerations. Unhappily, it is scarcely possible to examine a file of newspapers either from North or South without finding abundant evidence of their truth. We have spoken of the repeated publication of strong personal animosities, and probably never was there a truer word uttered, than what was stated, regarding the position Sir George Grey has occupied in New Zealand during the last three years, in the House of Commons by Mr. Arthur Mills in the debate on New Zealand in March last. That gentleman, speaking of Sir George Grey, then said:— " If ever there was a public servant who was entitled, he would not say to exemption from the hostile criticism of Parliament, but to a careful consideration of his case, it was the Governor of a distnnt Colony who had at once to carry on a civil war with a hostile race and an official war with his own responsible advisers. That was the position of Sir George Grey. (Hear, hear.) If there was any gentleman in or out of Parliament who was ambitious to •ucceed Sir George Grey, let him read the papers hi the blue books beforemakinguphismind. (Hear, hear.) He would there see what were the possible indignities to which an English gentleman might be subjected in the responsible exercise of his government." What would Mr. Mills have said had he read the malignant calumnies, the dastardly attempts to blacken the private reputation of the Governor, which have been repeatedly published directly and allusively by several newspapers prominent in the Colony, and which are fond of asserting their respectability ? Mr. Mills, however, seems to be not unacquainted with the character and conduct of the class of journals of which we have spoken, as the following extract from a letter to The Times will Show. In correcting two trifling inaccuracies in The Times' report of his speech, one of which was that the escaped prisoners came from Waitara instead of Kangiriri, Mr. Mills says : — "Trifling as these mistakes may appear, I know by experience that in the Colonies the slightest inaccuracy is sufficient to afford a pretext for discrediting all the context of a speach in which it may be detected." Is it not humiliating to think that a "British statesman should have cause thus to speak of the practices of the New Zealand press-and New Zealand politicians? And yet-some people flatter themselves and the colony that our lofty attitude and "high" tone (loud enough and sufficiently reviling certainly) created a sound offect in England! Mr; Mills shows at what that tone and that attitude are valued. Some rumors were circulated about two months ago by the same agencies that Sir oeorge Grey was to be recalled, —that he had got into disgrace with the Home Government. Here again was calumny ; the wish •was the father to the thought; and disappointed politicians, with their followers may have rejoiced over the news. But in the very debate from which we have quoted, how completely is this rumor dispelled! It is not necessary to refer to his despatches, which are all of a like tone. Mr. Cardwell, Bpeaking of the differences between Sir George Grey and his late Ministers, arising from the proclamation as to the surrender of arms and confiscation of lands ; Ministers, it will be remembered, demanding an impos. sibility, that is, an order for surrender of all arms, and also a very wide confiscation, then said, — "It so happened that when these differences were arising in New Zealand, the House and the Government took into their earnest consideration, the affairs of the Colony; and any one who was at the trouble to exaniine the correspondence would find that the vrewa of the Governor were anticipated in the instructions which were sent to him from home, and it nag a Ttrj fortunate circumstance that his views should hare received that sanction and authority." It is the fashion now, with a large portion of the Press, and would-be politicians, to condemn, in the same " high" tone, the e«ndu«t of General Cameron, just as they formerly reviled Sir George Grey. Theae shift and change as leaders direct or as the current seems to run, careless though their present attitude shows how unjust was their former position. Every "puny whipster" considers himself competent to Criticise war tactics, and master the science of good government, and hence, no doubt, may we account for the great number and ruinously costly nature of the mistakes in legislation and administration into which the Colonial Government as well as that of many of the provinces have fallen. But, henceforth, let us have no more boasting and self-adulation. There is little ground for either, and we have more need to be humble and strive to rectify our many past errors, rather than let overweening pride add more to the long list.