THE GLOBE. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1880. SIR ARTHUR GORDON.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2059, 29 September 1880, Page 2

THE GLOBE. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1880. SIR ARTHUR GORDON.

The adyent of a new Governor is a matter of considerable importance in the annals of any colony. Although our government is constitutional, and the power of the Queen’s representative limited, yet both politically and socially the Governor may do much gopd or harm. Crises may arise when his firtpness, oven temper, and knowledge of constitutional law may save' the-people; many vexations. He should, indeed, be rather a| lucubrator of the political machinery;—ijo use Lord Duffer in’s simile—than an active agent, but it requires great tact to watch successfully the working jof such a complicated machine as is a constitutional Government, and, from the social aspect of tho question, the Governor !should be a worthy representative of that lady whose virtues and general high character have rendered the name' of Queen Victoria synonymous with all that a monarch should be in those latter days. Now we have received various reports of the character of Sir A. Gordon. The Home authorities evidently thoroughly believe in him, and have supported him through thick and thin. Sir Hercules Robinson has vouched for his character, and declares New Zealand to bo fortunate in thfe possession of such a man. On the other hand, the settlers in Fiji hate him with an intensity of hatred that can hardly he exaggerated. The reception given, hy the residents to the intelligence of Sir Arthur’s removal to New Zealand is amusingly described by the well known Australian writer, “tho Vagabond,” in a letter to* A contemporary. He says, “ the intelligence first brought by sailing vessel from Auckland on tho 20th ultimo caused the highest excitement in Lovuka. Flags were hoisted, champagne flowed at the bars, dinner parties wore inaugurated, and a monster bonfire was proposed.” But a damper was cast over the festivities when it was reported that; the future ef New Zealand j would still retain a supervising administration over the group. It does not fall' to the lot of every man to be so thoroughly disliked as this shews Sir Arthur has been. It is natural .to suppose that where there is so much smoko there must be some fire. But still the surroundings of tho case must be taken into consideration. The circumstances of the young colony de- ■ manded that tho Governor should possess very -extensive', powers. Those powers placed Tii tlip hauds of a man with a strong will, of his own, and possessing his own views of the manner in which the Native population should be treated, would, almost to a certainty, Involve him, in tho long run, in disputes with those whose interests lay in the direction of minimising the authority of the Native Fijians. It is possible, nay, very probable, that Sir Arthur'Gordon was not always wise in tho plans which he formed for the control of the colony. He appears i to have had a strong belief in the Native chiefs and in the plan of ruling their people, through them, by means of a description of feudal system. It; tis not so long ago that a deputation of planters was sent to England with a view of protesting: against the schemes of the Governor, but Sir Arthur had tho eat; . and the sympathies of the then Government, .and tho • planters returned home unsuccessful. Ho was accused, ■ by this deputation, of gross duplicity and of ignoring the interests of the white population. Since the failure of that expedition tho Governor has had it much his own way, and the hatred of tho settlors has been growing like a rolling snow - ball. While so much has been written and said on both sides, it is impossible to get at the true merits of the case, without the most careful investigations taken on tho spot, hut thus much may confidently be said iu favour of the planters. They have all along laboured under the disadvantage of being considered more or less disreputable' Characters. Fiji has been looked upon by many who ought to know better as tho Alsatia of the l Australasian colonies. It was thought that when a man was thoroughly broke, commercially and morally, he would immediately convey his impecuuiosity aud his vices to Levuka. That such was too often the case under the old regime there cannot bo any doubt, but the same and more might be said of many a colony that now stands high in the roll of respectability. But these bad characters by no means represent the present race of settlors. Their faults and, follies soon sent tho vauriens once more to the wall, a better cla»s took their place, and the Fiji settlers that have objected to -Sir Arthur Gordon will compare favourably with any colonists on this side tho line. The bad name, however, has clung to them, and has, no doubt, much injured them in tho eyes of the Home Government, and iu those of that powerful section, tho Exeter Hall clique. The wisest plan with regard to our now Governor is to prejudge him in no way whatsoever, but to take him as wo find him. It would be entirely, unfair to damn him because of his antecedents. He has never yet been placed in a position such as that of the Governorship of Now

Zealand. Ho has been Governor of New Brunswick, and when there dismissed his Ministers, but was supported by the people in the general elections that followed. He has been Governor of Trinadad and of the Mauritius, and at the latter place quarrelled with the commander of the force s—hut all Governors do that. Ho has boon Governor of the Fijis, but his power there was almost autocratic. But his metier for the next few years will be a new one, and we may well trust and expect that ho will verify the dictum of fcir Hercules Robinson, and will justify the confidence placed in him by the Home Government, who above everything dislike to be bothered by colonial squabbles, and look upon any Governor as more or less of a failure who cannot get on with his constitutional advisers.

MT NEPHEW. Mr. Seymour George, alias “My Nephew,” has been delighting the residents of Warkworth by giving them his views of the general situation. His constituents wore apparently quite satisfied with his explanations, and a vote of confidence was carried. Parliamentary experience is developing “My Nephew.” Time was when a post-sessional address could not be had out of him for love or money. When first standing for Hokitika he developed certain ideas on political economy that were received with such a shout of laughter that ho retired within his shell, and no efforts on the part of his constituents could over draw him out of it. His Hokitika friends endeavoured to lure him from the sunny North; but no—like the guest invited to the wedding feast, business of a varying nature always kept him from accepting the invitation, and to the end of his connection with the West Coast, the diggers who first elected him never managed to “ pan ” any more gold out of his fertile brains than the one or two roughish nuggets of political economy that were taken when the first prospect was made. But time changes all things, and now Mr Seymour George is generally quite prepared to give an of his stewardship. He apparently thinks that the last session of Parliament was the most successful one that has eventuated since he came into the House. That is not saying much for the sessions when his party were in power, but the expression of opinion is at all events candid. The beauties of the great work of financial reform have seized upon his imagination. Ho will determinedly resist any further borrowing, but in three years’ time there would be more borrowing or a smash. This is puzzling and not cheerful. He has discovered that £2,000,000 of the last loan is not touched. Further particulars on this sub j ec t are'oagerly looked for. The difficulty with the Natives on the West Coast is annoying and costs money, therefore the whole of the unoccupied lands on that coast should be given back to them. There might be danger in this, as the Waikatos would expect to have their ? lands given back also. This is another conumdrum, but “my nephew” abounds in such. However, his constituents are perfectly satisfied with him, and that is the great point. Possibly this confidence may have been developed by the fact of Mr George holding strong views on the claims of the North Island on the general purse. There is a world of satisfaction in the knowledge that one’s representative will labour to direct a steady stream of gold into the pockets of oneself and friends.