WHAT ARE SIR G. GREY'S MOTIVES?

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1715, 19 August 1879, Page 3

WHAT ARE SIR G. GREY'S MOTIVES?

The following letter appeared in this morning's issue of the " Press ": •TO THK BDITOB OP THE PBESS. grs A great deal has been said respecting Sir George Grey in your columns lately, but I have not observed that there has been any allusion to the motives that, to my mind, xeally actuate Sir George Grey, or of the end that be keeps steadily in view, while manifesting this extraordinary interest in the welfare of a section of the people of New Zealand. , , Let us look at the motives that he appeals to when addressing a number of his fellowmen. Henries to excite feelings of envy and dislike of this imaginary upper class, said by him to be bent on oppressing and ill-using this equally imaginary lower class, and urges them to work for their revenge on these oppressors of the human race. These are the motives to whioh he appeals. Perhaps we Bhall not be very far wrong in supposing that he is actuated by similar motives himselfj that he has a spite to gratify, a revenge to accomplish, and finds the credulity of the publio of New Zealand the most convenient mode that has yet presented itself for accomplishing his end. ►« Sir George Grey never forgets and never forgives. He has had to nuree his grievances and wrongs at the hands of the Colonial office for many years, without any hope of revenge. He is firmly convinced that the authorities at home are bent on oppressing and ill-using him. He believes that the Governors who are sent to thiß colony come with a special animus against him. And now at last he sees before him the grand possibility of severing our connection with the mother country, by getting rid of this odious Queen's representative and all check and control from the hated Colonial Office, and reigning perhaps as elected Governor of New Zealand. This is a revenge worth living for, and no means that would help to bring about such a coveted end are too unworthy for his use. This, oh credulous working men ! is Sir G. Grey's craze and monomania. _ Do not imagine that this wonderful fit of philanthropy that has come upon him in his old age—and which, like all diseases taken late in life, is apt to assume an exaggerated form —means anything else. There are obstacles to be overcome. A sufficiently blind and servile following must be seoured in the Lower House, then the Upper House, which threw out his pet Maori TOte, must be got rid of, or so constituted that he would be able to secure a following there. Meanwhile, the poor down-trodden serf must be made to believe that his interests are paramount. So we have the cry of a free breakfast table, and the.duty is taken off tea and sugar. What does this mean ? That £IOO,OOO of revenue is lost to the country. And who is relieved by this reduction ? Certainly not the working man, who is comparatively a small consumer of suoh articles, but the merchants, the middle men,'the wealthy class, the large establishments of these unrighteous squatters, who Sir G. Grey is alwajs preaching suoh a crusade against. At the same time be proposed to tax your beer, which is as great a necessary and better for you when taken in moderation than tea, not to tax the brewer. It was clearly shown at the time that it was the small consumer who would pay this tax, the then Treasurer himself suggested that the publicans must get smaller glasses, that you should pay your sixpence for a reduced quantity of beer. Then you had the land Tax, and m order to try and punish a few large landholders —you could count them all on your fingers—a gross injustice was done to thousands. Small landholders and struggling farmers, many of whom have had to borrow heavily to find the means for working their land have had to pay their interest with one hand, and their tax on the already heavily burdened land with the other, and capital has been frightened out of the country by the threat oE what is to fellow. No tax on the big merchant, the rioh lawyer, the greedy money lender, but all on the honest tiller of the soil. How was the burning question of the franchise treated ? A vast amount of eloquence was expended on the wrongs of the 68,000 electors unjustly deprived of their privileges. The Bill conferring these privileges was thoroughly approved of by both aides of the House, when suddenly Sir George Grey introduces what was to him the real kernel of the Bill, the monstrous dual Maori vote. The Upper House most properly rejected this clause, but passed the rest of the Bill. Then Sir Georgo Grey's true meaning was seen. If he could not have this iniquitous clause that was to give him the control of several northern constituencies, the 68,000 disfranchised electors and their 68,000 wrongs might go, for all he cared. Fellow electors, is this the man you are going to trust with your liberties ? Do not ■wallow this nauseous dose of Grey powder which the president of the mis-called Liberal Association is tryiug to thrust down your throats, but let your second and better judgment come to your rescue. Believe that the men who have served you in the past, and whom you can judge of by their actions are they who will serve you best in the future, and not the wily sohemer who has only his own ends to serve, while you are simple enough to believe that he is serving yours. Yours, &0., Ohk who Sees the Oioteh Hooir.