The Globe. THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 1876.

Globe, Volume VI, Issue 680, 24 August 1876, Page 2

The Globe. THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 1876.

“ A capital lithograph of Mr. J. G-. “ S.Graut, hawking the Delphic Oracle “ about the streets of Dunedin, has been “ obtained from a special photograph “ taken for the purpose, but of course “ without the subject’s knowledge. The “ likeness is excellent, and the circula- “ tion of copies in England will pro- “ bably be an amply sufficient reply to “ his slanders on the colony.” So writes a Wellington contemporary, which has the credit of being to some extent in the confidence of the Government. Is this then the step which it was announced Ministers were going to take to counteract the ill-effects of Mr. Grant’s letter to the Belfast News Letter, regarding which there has been such a fuss lately ? Our readers may remember that Mr. Grant succeeded in obtaining publicity, through that journal, to a number of slanders against the colony, and additional importance was secured to them, by the anxiety displayed to have them refuted. Instead of treating the whole affair with the contempt which it deserved, an officer in the AgentGeneral’s department rushed to the defence of the colony, set gravely to work to refute the various charges, and thus elevated their author from his local obscurity, to a New Zealand reputation. Anxious that Mr. Grant should not have the honor all to himself, a member of the Upper House, the Honorable Mr. Scotland, next appeared upon the scene from the rural obscurity of Taranaki, and found little difficulty in making himself quite as notorious as Mr. Grant. The position, however, does not appear to have been quite so pleasant as he thought it was, and so he has partly — as far as bis dignity would permit — apologised for his unguarded statements.

Now we cannot help thinking that far too much attention has been paid to the remarks of those two gentlemen, and that the colony has suffered a great deal more, on this occasion, by its friends than by its enemies. Surely New Zealand can afford to treat with contempt the slanderous statements of those two nobodies, even though one of them is an “ honorable,” and has a seat in the Upper House. The idea of photogranhing the venerable detainer of his country, without his knowledge, is certainly original. But it was hardly fair to Mr Grant. He might have been allowed an opportunity of giving his hair an extra brush, and of putting on a more melodramatic expression than is natural to him. We are told the likeness is excellent, and are led to infer that in consequence the circulation of copies of it in England, would be a sufficient reply to his slanders on the colony. Why Mr Grant’s photograph should be a sufficient answer to his statements, we are not told; nor do we care to enter upon this interesting inquiry ourselves. In the meantime we warn Ministers, that this new weapon of warfare, if they are to have the credit of introducing it, may be turned against some of themselves with telling effect.