The Star. FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 1884.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5093, 29 August 1884, Page 2

The Star. FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 1884.

The greyite meeting, held in Christchurch on Wednesday night, was as complete a fiasco as anything of the sort could well be, or as this particular thing deserved to be. The principal speaker appeared in the person of an illustrious stranger from the North, one Mr Harker, who introduced himself to the audience as a man with a grievance. He had, he declared, been described as a lunatic from Napier. We are not prepared to offer any opinion as to whether a jury of Mr Harker's countrymen would, or would not, declare him to be of sound mind. But we are bound in honesty to state that so far as his conduct at the meeting on Wednesday night was concerned, there was nothing in it inconsistent with the notion of his being a "" luny from Napier." After talking a farrago of rubbish, to which no further reference is here needful, he endeavoured to prevent a speaker who differed with him from obtaining a hearing, and endeavoured also to have a resolution passed endorsing in effect tho disgraceful display of unsuccessful wire-pulling and j office-seeking to which Sir George Grey j has treated the Colony for the last three j months. Fortunately, for the sake of i common sense, common honesty, and common intelligence, qualities not so ■, rare among the, working classes, who

composed the meeting under notice, as among some of those persons who would like to be thought thoir leaders, the resolution died an ignominious death. It affirmed that no Ministry would be acceptable to the Colony which did not contain the name of that "tried and faithful friend of the people," Sir George Grey. An amendment, carried by four to one, struck out the name of Sir George Grey, that friend of the people, tried, but found so very much wanting. Not satisfied with this, Mr Harker accused the Chairman who was none other than the faithful Dorney of " true to the corps " memory, of unfair bias against the resolution. To satisfy Mr Harker, the amendment was again put, and was carried this time by ten to one. We hopo Mr Harker was satisfied. So far as Canterbury is concerned, the affair is of no very great importance. People here have known for some time past that Sir George Grey has no following worth the name in the Province. But, outside Canterbury, the news of the meeting's result will be of some interest as showing that Greyism is now quite dead in this part of New Zealand. Even that class of electors whose weight is only felt j at noisy public meetings, have now, and we trust finally, repudiated Sir George. ( Greyism is dead ; and we cheerfully resign its corpse to the guardianship of Mr Dorney.