REFERENCES BY THE PRESS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6290, 22 September 1898, Page 1

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[From Ocr Correspondents.!

AUCKLAND, S e pt; 21. The "Star" publishes a biograpliical notice of Sir George Grey which occupies nine columns. In the course of an appreciative article it says r— "As the distinguished man who for more than lialf a Ce ntuary devoted to the public service the talents which God had entrusted to him has gone to his rest his work remains, and by its fruits m coming years his greatness wiil be finally judged, but measured by tliose standards which are available to us in these days of change and with the glamour of his interesting personality still over our minds, we cannot but allot to Sir George Grey the very highest place among the statesmen who have swayed the destinies of those important divisions of the British Empire which he south of the equator. We think that this opinion will be fortified in the minds of all thoughtful men and women who study dispassionately the records of his life. !? ?! 11l $ ai y training of Sir George Grey, and his long exercise of those almost despotic powers which belonged! to the governor ot a. Crown colony in the days when it reqmred eight months to communicate with f^ g L an nd obtain instructions, was not the best preparation one could have for the premiership of a, responsible Ministry, and no doubt much of his failure as a parliamentary leader arose from that cause. He was too uncompromising in his political views, too autocratic in imposing his will upcn those who were politically associated with him, and top little considerate of what was practicable for the moment. He saw no difficulties where others perceived a hundred lions .m the path. Moreover, ho saw much iurtuer than his associates. It thus hap?Q7o d measures which he projected in fo7B, such as the imposition of a land and" inco me tax, did not become the accepted ™ lln ]? p . ealabl c law of the colony until ZT y n ™ sters had arisen and fallen. Dur'"g ail that time he neglected no opportunity or attaining his purpose. He supported or overumed governments, irrespective of personal predilections, until his ends were achieved ; and let thfs justice be done to his memory, those ends were ever on the side of popular rights and to effect tlie limitation of class privileges. Those who deny this eitner know nothing of his career or are too Pl Ti l C ,!t to un <terstand it" jj lle Herald " says :— " The character and career of Sir George Grey mark him as one of tl, e greatest men of the century. -\he services which he rendered to the Empire have never been adequately appreciated, tor they belong to a period in the history of coiomal expansion which already seems to oe part of the l ong pas fc The whole conditions of social and political organism have undergone a revolution since the day when Sir George Grey first went forth on his colonial Hussion, and it is now almost impossible to reahse the difficulties and dangers which ■B^™£LJ£2L»nd overcome Bnti ifaiißJit

abundantly equipped by nature and training for his task. Sincerely religious, animated by the loftiest and noblest ideals, possessing great courage, resource and strcngly marked individuality, he was peculiarly fitted for the distinguished role he was destined^ to play with such commanding success. In all he did or strove to do Sir George Grey may" be said to have always aimed at the betterment of the people as a whole, and the solidification of the Empire. His fife is a noble object lessen, and we in New Zealand, in particular, are not likely to soon forget either the greatness of his character or the greatness cf the services lie rendered to the colony." WELLINGTON, Sept. 21. The "Post," referring to the death of Sir George Grey, says:— "His was one of those strong imperious natures that gain devoted friends and determined -enemies. But when the hand of death has been laid upon him at the end of a long and full life, friends arid foes cannot but unite in paying tribute to his genius and acknowledging his great services to the Empire. As a farseeing servant of the Empire, the great Pro-consul of the Motherland, he ranked among the greatest, of her sons, but as a local politician he dulled in his later years the exceptional renown he gained in early manhood. It was not ■so much that there was a seeming inconsistency between his membership of a colonial Parliament and his governorship of the colony, as that he was an able commander of men, but an unsuccessful political leader. Although, perhaps, the greatest orator who has sat in our Assembly, and an eloquent pleader for the cause of the oppressed, his nature and career unfitted him lor the subordinate and hampering work of a parliamentary ■ tactician. His name will be honoured in New Zealand for what lie effected as Pro-consul, and not for what he did as- d politician. The truth seems lo have been that Sir Goorge Grey was c:ist in too large a mould and dowered with too imperious a will to succeed in the crcm of political compromise, where lesser personalities gain more lasting triumphs. He was too independent and fearless, also, for the timid officials of the Colonial Oifice, and his periods of pro-consular power had a practice of ending in something alcin to disgrace, so far as the Home authorities were concerned. Time has proved that this was to his credit rather than not, for in almost every instance Sir George's views have ultimately carried the day, and the Colonial Office has had to reoa'nt its errors." DUNEDIN, Sept. 21. . The "Star" says: — "Devoted to the Crown and to the people, Sir George Grey's record in history will be that of the most distinguished man of the Victorian era in Greater. Britain. England lost One of her worthiest sons, and the fact that he was not appreciated at his true value, but kept in comparative obscurity at the very zenith of his powers, must ever be held to be a disgrace to those political cabals that succeeded^ in excluding him from. thg public life iri r the Hoine'jGouritry which - : hV was so eminently- qualified "to adorn.. ' His ,great gifts, joined to his indomitable energy, must have raised him to the highest eminence, had they not, unfortunately, been alloyed by constitutional defects , which the surroundings of his public career tended to aggravate and which frustrated his achievement of the highest positions of public usefulness. Over these phases of his character to draw the veil of criticism would be unbecoming under the circumstances, and in New Zealand, for which Sir George first and last did so nuich, there can be no other feeling just now but of universal regret that his face will be seen no more, that in the last period of his life in the colony he was hardly estimated at his true worth, and his reputation allowed to be blurred through the eccentricities of his policy as a party leader. New Zealand has to mourn her most eminent citizen, and the people a true, warm-hearted friend, who demonstrated his sympathy with the masses by deeds, not words." The "Otago Daily Times says: — "That his personal career is almost co-extensive in point of time with what is really the history of New Zealand as a quasi-State would alone be sufficient to make him a visible figure in that history, while the part he played in the movements which preceded the recent extensions of the Empire in Africa was alone sufficient to build up a remarkable reputation. It is, in truth, under the mark to describe him as the most commanding figure in the whole extent of the notable story of New Zealand. . . . Like Mr Gladstone in the eyes of the English people the Right Honourable Sir George Grey — as he became when recently her Majesty honoured him with a call to her Privy Council — has occupied the minds of the people of . New Zealand virtually during the whole of the lives of the existing population. His personal imperfections were such as to forbid him even the degree of admiration accorded by friends and opponents among the people oi Victoria to their great Chief Justice— a man of really loftier character and greater Usefulness. Sh* George was, we must in truth say, largely dominated by vanity, by a sort of jealousy of men anii institutions, and by other human failings; but his powerful personality, his masterful character, his restless and resistless forward energy were characteristics which for good or ill made him one of the most striking characters of the generation which preceded cur own. Who shall say whether on the whole the influence of men of this stamp tends to the good of a country or the reverse? While ' awaiting the discussion and speculating on the answer, none can deny that New Zealand has in Sir George Grey possessed and now, through the operation of time alone, has lost one of the most remarkable figures in modern colonial history."

INVERCARGILL, Sept. 21. The "Southland News" writes:— "Of the man as a man it seems almost presumptuous to speak. Perhaps of no other who ever lived were more opposite opinions entertained.^ He had hosts of devoted friends who would have followed him to the death, and cliques of enemies whose hostility,- secret than rather overt, amounted to nothing less than bitter malignity. By the' former he was held to be — and we venture to think justly — imbued with the enthusiasm of humanity in its widest sense; by the latter to be impelled by motives such as those conveyed in the expression that it is better to reign in regions of darkness than serve in the domains of light. It is alleged that he- was autocratic, even domineering, bat he could be also gentle and persuasive, and to 1 none was ever vouchsafed in a higher degree the gift of what, in modem phrase, .is termed personal iriagnetism. Whatever the 1 verdict history may pronounce upon' him', he was undoubtedly one of the most remarkable men and successful reformers- of his time."