The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1888.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1764, 11 February 1888, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1888.

Though i ui«y h«> doubted w othor ke other pnrni ont men the late n-ember for WaitMara i- n<>t more 1 honored »« « pain " Air *' tliati hu won d be 86 a " " yet, it mtpt hi* ndmitied that lis non-inclnKion among the number of those wlioru " the Queen deliithteth to lionor " is sufficiently re ma kable to suggest that some adverse influence has had operation iv the quarter from which Her Majesty r^cives advice m euch matters The Wellington " Press " openly avows its beiief that this is so— nay, more, plainly asserts it, and the nason therefor as follows : — " The reaaon why Mr Bryce'a eminent public Bervices has been ignored is perfectly well known, and exceedingly discreditable to the Imperial Government. He was shamefully maligned by tbe worst Governor New Zealand ever had. He vindicated his fair fame m the moat conspicuous mariner possible m an Fnglißh Court of Justice, at the risk or all he possessed . It is a scandal that there should still b ■ a black mark against him at the Coionial Office, and until that injustice i§ remedied any appointments to the Order of St Michael and fe*t George m this colony must neccs■arily be attended by some irritation and disfavour." Whether, or not, onr contemporary be right m attributing tbe excision of Mr Pryeo fas knightly

lonors to a studied and predeterminato Hnission under tho influence referred to, t is at least suggestive of a feeling on the part of Mr Bryce himself that this is really the case to learn, as we do from the "Kangitikei Advocate" lhathe (Hon J Bryce) '• has written a letter to the Stcretarj ot Maie, complaining, m the most uncompromising language, oi the conduct of ."-ir Arthur Gordon, whilst] Governor of New Zealand." In the coarse of that letter, Bays our contemporary, Mr Bryce after referring to the Bryce-Rusden trial Bays : — " During his examination m the witness box, Mr Kusden stated that he derived < his information from which he wrote thej gravest of his libels against me from Sir Arthur Gordon, at a time when that gentleman was Governor of New Zealand, and while I was one of his Ministers, and, as such, m frequent communication with him. In support of this statement he read three letters, with enclosures, purporting to have been written by Sir Arthur Gordon t$ himself ; copies of these letters and enclosures are hereto oppended." Tho libel mostly complained of is that m which Mr Kusden accused Mr Bryce while a lieutenant m the Eai Iwi cavalry of cutting down women and children m cold blood " gleefully and with ease," and described him as having earned thereby the title of " Kohttru" (the murderer). The data for this story were alleged by Mr Husden to have been furnished by Bir Arthur Gordon, who, says Mr Bryce, " well knew that Mr 1 (<UBden was engaged m writing a history of New Zealand, and presumably intend the information to be need m that work." Undoubtedly so grave a scandal as this ought to have been enquired into Ion? ago, and unless Sir Arthur Gordon can clear himself (and if he can be should have done so many months before now) certainly he deserves a severe reprimand from the Colonial Office, for it is intolerable that colonial Governors should • c libellers of their responsible advisers. And if it be really true that honors have been withheld from Mr Bryce which, but for this disgraceful story, would have been conferred upon him, then it is a gross injustice that those honors should be longer delayed, since Mr Bryce has fully and completely vindicated himself before all the world m an tnglieh Court of law.