The Evening Star FRIDAY, APRIL 16, 1875.

Evening Star, Issue 3789, 16 April 1875, Page 2

The Evening Star FRIDAY, APRIL 16, 1875.

The telegraphic notes of the speeches of Sir George Grey at Auckland did not do justice to him. In fact, they appear to have misrepresented much that fell from his lips. The full report sincA received by us creates, on many points, , a widely different impression from that given by the wires. There is more of the Sir George Grey of former years in them, and less leading to the suspicion of their being the utterances of a soured and disappointed statesman. The historical reminiscences brought forward to illustrate his arguments in favor of certain constitutional reforms are very amusing, as well as instructive, through throwing much light upon how matters are managed at Home. That they do not apply so immediately to present relations with the Mother Country as to those of some dozen years ago is owing to the more independent position of the Colony; although this strengthens Sir George’s theory of the Governor being selected by the colonists and recommended by them to Her Majesty for appointment. This seems to us a very different affair from that which was telegraphed-^—that he was of opinion the Colony should elect its own Governor—although some may not be able to distinguish between a recommendation and an election. His views as to a reform of the Upper House deserve earnest consideration, and will meet the ideas of most of the Ministry of the day. They are based upon what we believe to be sound opinions of the evils of the present system. Every session latterly has shown how little sympathy this Chamber has with measures calculated to benefit the Colony; how little knowledge of principles leads to their decisions j how narrowed are their ideas to the interests of a particular class; and how reckless they are of the consequences of their acts, through being utterly irresponsible to any constituency whatever for. their votes. Most people will agree with Sir George Grey in his condemnation of the system, and he expresses it so happily that we prefer giving his words to any condensation of them : Well, then, the next thing that I would call your attention to is the constitution of the Legislative Council. Now, I have shown you that, in one instance—that of the Governor—you positively have no control whatever, and that you can exercise no influence upon him except such as his geod nature may lead him to recognise, without your having a right to exercise upon him. But in the next—the Legislative Council—in point of fact you are still worse off. do not say a word against anybody, or is abusing the power. I have many friends there, and believe they have done their duty; but such, a thing was never seen in the world before as that a Minas it is here, should have power to call men into the Upper House and give them salaries to last for life. I only ask those who recollect the old rotten-borough system. Is it right that the Ministry should he able to take a man chosen by no constituency, representing no one but the Ministry that put him into the Council, and thenmaka him Governor of

this great country, which is done nowf—because the Governor is nebody here, he is under the advice of his Ministers. And, I say, it is not respectable to the community that an individual, representing, as I say only the Ministry, should be chosen and at once made Governor of this great community with absolute power over us all. With all my heart and soul I object to that, and think the whole of that institution is in point of fact a gigantic and most expensive sham. In illustration of what I have said before, and of what 1 mean, it is in point of fact not created for our good or for our own interest or for the interest of the people of Great Britain, for their interest is the same as ours, but in the interest of a class at Home.. I will give you one instance which will show this. A Minister in England agreed with me that there should be an elective upper House. I was promised this should be po, and the whole Constitution was drawn with that view; but the question arose, “If they have an elective Upper House, all the ras i °.t *ke other empires would want them, and, if the rest of the empires were governed under the said elective Houses—often governed, perhaps, better than by the hereditary Upper House of Great Britain how can it stand in Great Britain? It won’t do. I say, if you entertain that view, do not give ns snch an institution as you have, and do not cloy it with conditions hurtful to my mind. Now, their reasoning upon the subject, when they are not personally interested, is absolutely beautiful They say,' if the Upper House is necessary, then the members must always be present in the Upper Chamber to do their duty, and they therefore make this law, “That any member of the Upper House absent for two years forfeits his seat.” But what do they say of their own Upper House? If there they meant to reward a man who has voted for them, or punish one who has voted against them, they send him out hero for seven or fourteen years. I give that one instance of the way in which that most beautiful reasoning in regard to other persons is so often applied and practised by the individuals with regard to themselves. You all know I must be stating what has been done in all these Colonies lately. I think that is altogether a most objectionable system, and I think it is terrible that Bill after Bill may be passed in the Lower House of this country, and then sent to be refused by the Upper House, who represent nobody. Many of .the members, I think, do not even represent Ministers now in the country. They were put in by Ministers who have made fortunes and fone Home, and they represent absentees in logland.