The Taranaki Herald. PUBLISHED DAILY. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1887.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 7980, 26 September 1887, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. PUBLISHED DAILY . MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1887.

The Governor of the Colony is the official representative of the Sovereign, the constitutional head of the State, whose assent gives the seal of authority to every new law, and sanction to every Executive Act that is performed in the name of the Grown. He is the last remaining evidence of Imperial Bale in the Colony, and as he costs £7500 a year, the * question naturally arises in most people's minds whether his services are worth the money ? The subject has been referred to by every candidate on the hustings, and nearly everyone of them has given it as his opinion that retrenchment must be commenced by lopping off some of the future Governor's salary. The position of a Governor in New Zealand is very different to that of a Governor. of any other oolony where the chief oity is a metropolis that requires an acknowledged head of sooiety. New Zealand still retains the position oi being an aggregation of small colonies in whioh sooiety requires no such head, and therefore it is only wasteful expenditure, and the fmanoial position of the colony being bad, the amount ehould be reduced by at least a third. Our present Governor has proved a very expensive one ; for had it not been for him starting the", war scare in the larger cities the money spent in the fortifioations, laughed at by Admiral Try on, would never have been wasted. A Governor's power has been considerably contracted of late years, and for all practical purposes we could do without one, for he really has very little influence in promoting the material prosperity of the oolonist. It is usual for a new Governor coming ; to a oolony to travel over the greater portion of it, and at each place he has to be feted. A number oi pretty speeches are made and replied to, but they are, as a rule, so fulsome, and not always true, that a Governor is apt to get into trouble if he is not very oareful of what he says, owing to the jealousies existing between" the ofeief .towns in the several provincial districts. All this is guile unnecessary, and the expense incurred might be saved. A Parliament is going to bepreated by the present elec' tion, the members of which are pledged to go in for the .most rigid frugality. The Governor's salary is to be reduced to £5000, whilst an abatement will be made in the remuneration of each member of the Ministry. The members are also going to reduce their j honorarium by a fourth. The Civil Service is to be remodelled, and those drawing large salaries will be out down so as to meet the financial exigencies of the times. This is all right and proper, and we only hope that we shall find the pledges at the hustings thus carried out. For the class of men sent to the Colonies as Governors £6000 -a year should be a very large salary, As a rule a Governorship in the Australian Colonies is a sorji of refuge for the impecunious, scion. of the.English aristocracy or a military or naval officer, who has baokstair influence to help him to the position. It is rarely that the Colonies get a man of ability like Sir Hercules Robinson sent them ; and therefore we do not see why the taxpayers should be called upon to find money to pay an inferior man the salary that should be only given to a man of great ability. As a rule military men make very poor Governors. Thoy do not understand the exigencies that pertain to oivil life. They are so used to martial law that they would govern a eommuni'iy in the same manner as they world command an army. Expense has no thought >:</ them ; and money that U not the?; ■. in wasted

without a thought. If therefore we are compelled to have a Governor — and whilst we are an appendage to the British Empire we suppose we shall be compelled to have one — lot the Parliament demand that he j shall be a civilian, one who 1 has some knowledge of oivil life, and if he does not know a blunderbuss from a rifle, so much the better. It is scarcely worth while for a country to tax itself heavily in order to provide handsomely for men of the stamp that of late years have been sent as Governors of this oolony. With the exception of Sir Hercules Eobinson, none have shown themselves to be men of any judgment. The Marquis of Normanby was a quiet, good-intentioned gentleman, but oertainly the salary given was far higher than his value ; and, in fact, far more than he would have got for any position he might hold in England. Every argument in favour of retrenchment points to the Governor's salary as the first to be operated on. It is a useless and unnecessary office, but as we are compelled to have a Governor, let us pay as little for the automaton as it is possible for us to do. We have heard it argued that we cannot get a first-class Governor without paying a first-class salary ; but in New Zealand it has been proved we have had nothing but fourth-rate men sent us as Governors who have drawn our first-class money. Sir George Bowen, Sir Arthur <jjprordon, and Sir William Jervois nave all shown their inferiority by their actions, but having friends in office to help them on, they have managed to secure positioners Governors and the emolument attached to the office. With all his faults, Sir George Grey filled the position of Governor with credit, and ; whatever he did his objeot was to benefit the oolony which he intended afterwards to make his home. That he made mistakes in the past, no one, we feel sure, is more aware of it than himself, but who is better able to reotify an error in judgment than the one who has at one time blundered? It has struck tis for some time that Sir George Grey has been endeavouring to eduoate publio opinion in the direction of an alteration in the Constitution Act, by whioh the people would have the' power of electing their own Governor. If. such a change was effected, we have little doubt but Sir George would be the first who would be selected to that position. Sir George Grey may not have a large following in the House; but if his health permitted him to stump the colony, we are certain that no other man would have any show against him. His eloquence, his enthralling manner over all he comes in contact with, would soon gain for him a legion of supporters, so that his eleotion would be a certainty. We shall not, however, for a while be allowed to elect our own Governor, nor do we expect that Sir George will live to see that reform brought about. However, in the present financiel depression, if the British Government would only appoint him to succeed Sir William Jervois, he would, in the interests of the oolony be prepared we feel assured, if asked, to assume the position at a salary very much smaller than what it is proposed to reduce the next , Governor to. Our suggestion, we know, is a novel one ; it is, however, one in the direction of retrenchment. We fear, however, that there would be no likelihood of it being carried into effect, for the simple reason that the Home Government would not appoint Sir George Grey, preferring to bestow its patronage on some impeounious individual who is a friend of one of the British Ministers, in preference to doing an aot which would perhaps be a benefit to the colony.