THE GLOBE. MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 1879.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1714, 18 August 1879, Page 2

THE GLOBE. MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 1879.

Sir, George Grey has started on the warpath by addressing the members o£ the so-called Liberal Association at the Arcade, Wellington. As was to bo expected, the address was one of those peculiar productions which could only be delivered by an individual possessing one of those mental twists which lucidly are as rare are two headed puppies and eightlogged lambs in the physical world. Pew men, for instance, having read the various addresses delivered by candidates all over New Zealand, would calmly state that one of the tenets held by the Opposition was to prevent the country having triennial Parliaments. Few men who had acted as Sir G. Grey did in 1878 would have had the assurance to mate a grievance of the present state of the franchise. Few men who had hitherto been utterly callous to the redistribution of seats question, would have dared tohintthat the present state of affairs was a species of “ plant” made by certain families with a view of securing enormous power in their own hands. And so on right through the address. But, in some people’s eyes. Sir George Grey is a privilgod individual. Ho reminds one somewhat of the wag who took up a position opposite Northumberland House, and, declaring that the stono lion over tho gateway was wagging its tail, collected an enormous crowd, a largo proportion of whom were persuaded into the belief that there was some movement observable in the caudal appendage of the king of beasts. Sir George Grey has the same happy audacity that this joker possessed, and probably enjoys his hoax as thoroughly as did the latter. And really there must bo considerable excitement is watching tho effect of the discharge of a barefaced assertion such as one of those we have alluded to. Most of those present would have read the papers sufficiently to know, for instance, that Triennial Parliaments are accepted as desirable by all parties, and wore advocated long before Sir George came into power; that tho Government, when they had an overwhelming majority in tho House, never made the slightest exertion to amend the inequalities of tho electorates; and that Sir George himself was the man who deprived a largo section of the public of their franchise. But what of this. Tho listeners to tho Premier were eager to be hoaxed, and whore there is a will there is a way. Indeed, it is quite possible that Sir George may, like tho Indian statesman, end by being astonished at his own moderation. Like Mr. Pecksniff he has discovered the power of words as words—Mr. Pecksniff, of whom it will bo remembered that “ho was in tho frequent habit of using any word that occurred to him as having a good sound and rounding a sentence well, without much care for its moaning. And ho did this so boldly, and in such an imposing manner, that he would sometimes stagger tho wisest people with his eloquence and make them gasp again. His enemies asserted, by tho way, that a strong trustfulness in sounds and forms was tho master-key to Mr. Pecksniff’s character.” Sir George is indeed a species of political Pecksniff. He professes tho same radiant love for the human race at largo, tho same determination to monopolise all good intentions, tho same trust in the gullahility of his follow-creatures. And the effect is much tho same—ho successfully hoodwinks those who are not careful to distinguish a man’s words from his deeds.

In tho address to which wo have alluded another rein of high-sounding phrases is struck which will probably he well worked during Sir George Grey’s progress South. Like most of his thoughts it is shallow, but clothed in rotund periods that hide that defect. Tho disadvantage of capital is tho Premier’s latest platform. There is such a thing, he says, “ as having too much foreign capital.” “Many poor men have been induced to buy laud with borrowed money, and tho result has been that very few of them have over recovered themselves.” "Was ever greater twaddle talked. Because certain people are foolish enough to abuse a good thing, therefore that good thing is an evil. It simply amounts to that. Foreign capital raises the price of labor, it gives to every poor man a chance by honest industry of amassing a considerable sum of money in a comparatively short time. It is, along with extended immigration, the life blood of a now colony, and yet because certain people are fools enough to “ outrun the constable,” therefore tho introduction of capital is a misfortune! According to

tins a poverty stricken community is always the happiest, because no man ■will then over bo able to borrow in bis attempt to raise himself in the scale of life. A naked simplicity is evidently what Sir George is struggling after. No borrowing, no lending will bo permitted in bis model Arcadia. Securely possessed of extensive domains at Kawau, and in no want of money whatever, Sir George Grey will henceforth launch forth in abuse of that capital which must over bo the poor man’s greatest friend, looked at from whatever point of view one pleases. Monopoly by capitalists is one thing; capital that can be utilised by the poor man is another. It is against the latter that Sir George inveighed at the Arcade. Verily, it is hard to credit that the speaker thoroughly believed in the principles ho was enunciating. “ His enemies asserted, by the way, that a strong trustfulness in sounds and forms was the master-key to Mr. Pecksniff’s character.”