The Dominion. THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 1910. THE GOVERNOR.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 832, 2 June 1910, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 1910. THE GOVERNOR.

s . There are not in the Empire many posts more thankless or less fruitful in opportunities for spectacular achievement than the Governorship of New Zealand. Many years have elapsed since we had conditions that allowed his Majesty's representative to come into contact with the political life of the people as an active force for good or for evil. The freedom of this country from profound political crises, and the development in late years of the new Imperial doctrine of truly absolute autonomy for the self-govern-ing colonies, has restricted the official activities of the Governor to the formal representation of the Crown. l It is not unnatural, therefore, that thoughtless people have been ready to ask why we should .require a Governor at all. The mere fact that the Crown must have its representative is a sufficient reproof of that provincial attitude; but our present esteemed Governor has not been dependent upon that consideration for the popularisation of his office. He has supplied in his own •person many extra good reasons, why tho Governorship must be considered a good institution. Six years have passed since he came to our shores—six years of perfect peace from. the. point of view of Government House—six ' years in which his Excellency could, if he had chosen, have become a mere name without injury to tho discharge of his official duties. Yet he has made himself a very popular' Governor; and, while always a model of discretion, he has done a great deal more than most individuals can do in influencing tho thought of the nation. Everybody will agree very heartily with the admirable speech of the Prime Minister at the farewell gathering in the Town Hall last night; we must all feel obliged to Sib Joseph Ward for his acute and happy exposition of the reasons why Lord Plunket is, and will be, nold in high esteem by the people of New Zealand.

The esteem in which our soondeparting Governor is held by the public, and especially by that smaller public which reads with care the speeches of public men, is derived, not only from the things which his Excellency abstained from saying, but from the things which ho did say. His repute is not merely .a result of negative discretion. He has spoken frequently and freely, but ho has never taken up a subject, however threadbare it might be, or addressed an occasion, however commonplace and fornlal it might be, without managing to make life appear where there seemed to be nothing but dry bones to be mumbled. In his brief speech last night, for example, he contrived, in two short sentences, to show as a great national issue a question that has hitherto been a subject for the dreariest kind of political debate. The slow growth ■of population in this country, he said, is "the one ever-looming danger in a prospect otherwise without a cloud. Your status among the rising nations, your value in the Empire's general defence, and, above all, your very existence.as a free land depend, under God's Providence, upon .this question being resolutely faced." The lofty eloquence and rare political insight of this passage of his Excellency's speech should stir the public's leaders to give their most sincere attention to the big problem which his Excellency warns them to face and to solve. We believe that Lord Plunket will in after years be better remembered than most of the Governors of this country, for he has seized the chance to get into touch, and kept in touch, with the school children from end to end of New Zealand, whom, by treating as follow citizens of the Empire, he has undoubtedly done more than anyone else to inspire with a friendly and intelligent regard for the Crown and the Imperial connection. In his speech nt Christchurch on Monday his Excellency asked his audience to think of him "as going Home to join Lords Onslow, Glasand Ranfurly as an enthusiastic, if unofficial, member for New Zealand in the Parliament of the United Kingdom." Events in New Zealand march faster than the hours, and a handful of years may antiquate a present-day expert's knowledge of our affairs and our aspirations. For this reason we see no great present promise in the idea of an Imperial Parliament. But if in that Parliament we could have representatives with the insight and the long view of Lord Plunket we should be fortunate indeed. We have not referred to the excellent work of Lady Pluotcet during her residence here, but that work will be gratefully remembered as the natural complement of his Excellency's good services to this country.