The Western Star. (PUBLISHED WEEKLY.) SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1879.

Western Star, Issue 282, 1 February 1879, Page 5

The Western Star. (PUBLISHED WEEKLY.) SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1879.

It is the present rule that Colonial Governors, police officers, and Methodist ministers shall not be permanently stationed at any one place, but that they shall be frequently transferred from one neighbourhood to another. The mle is one more honoured in the breach than in the observance. The governing of men, police control, and preaching are all of them adaptations of means to certain practical ends, and the most important of means to any end is obviously a specific knowledge of men and things in any one given place of action. However, the custom of changing has been preferred to that of permanent settlement, and his Excellency the Marquis of Hormanby is about to relinquish the government of Hew Zealand for that of Victoria. If this is a s'ep in the road to advancement we. in common with most other persons, must congratulate his Excellency on his well earned promotion. All through his official life here he has Worthily represented the Queen of Great Britain, and

has proved himself bv mingled firmness and courtesy,, conscientiousness and disv cretion, the right man in the right place. He has always been a genuine British gentleman on whom we could specially rely that he would not be in the least likely to make a fool of himself. It is quite true that once or twice he has come more or less into collision with one 'or two of our most vehement politicians, * as for instance Sir George Grey and Mr Macandrew, but all candid and intelli-

gent men have long arrived at the conclusion that the course adopted by the Marquis on the occasion* referred to was the onlv one consis'ent with his duty to his sovereign and to the colony he was sent to govern. That this is a sound conclusi n may be fairly inferred from the fact that his conduct has gained the entire approbation of the British Government with regard to matters in which the people of the old country have neither interests nor prejudices to r< nder them partial judges AH his best qualities will, however, be required in the exercise of his duties under his new appointment. Politics are sometimes warm with us ' they are often at white heat in Victoria. It is more difficult there even than here for people to understand that constitutional government in a British colony is not a pure democracy, and that in consequence a

governor has no right to be a mere dummy under all circumstances. He has. if he is a wise man, to keep the golden mean between two extremes ; be must neither set at defiance enlightened publiS opinion like Mr Latrobe and Sir Charles Hotham, nor bow down obsequiously to the mob like Sir Charles Darling and Sir George Bowen. He should understand and appreciate the great needs and aspirations of the people he governs, but should also bear in mind that he represents one power in the realm, the Queen, and that he. is limited in the exercise of his functions by the written instructions of her Majesty’s Secretary of State. We have every reason to believe from the Marquis of Normanby’s previous history that he will discharge both duties in his new sphere of official life well and ably. Of his successor as Governor of New Zealand, Sir’ Hercules Robinson, not m'ich is known here. It is perhaps not greatly in his- favour that Sir Hercules Robinson has been extensively known as

an enthusiastic racing man. Of course there are many highly honourable men connected with the turf, but still there is also so much matal pitch in the neighbourhood of racecourses that it is difficult to avoid being more Or less defiled. Sir Hercules says that he never bets but only runs his own horses and attends races ; so much the better. "We have known some men of sufficient strength of mind to be interested personally in race horses and yet thoroughly to maintain the integrity and straightforwardness of gentlemen. Very probably our new Governor is one of these; ’He comes to us from New South •Wales with a reputation for firmness and capacity. His despatches are considered in England statesmanlike productions, and for our own part we prefer on this subject the opinion of the London press and the British Colonial Office to that of the New South Wales Parliament. Altogether, he deserves a friendly reception bene, not alone as the Queen’s representative, but at least as one who h >s governed an important sister colony without discredit.