THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1881. THE LYTTELTON TIMES" AND SIR G. GREY.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2325, 16 September 1881, Page 2

THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1881. THE LYTTELTON TIMES " AND SIR G. GREY.

Has Sir George Grey changed, or has the “ Lyttelton Times ” changed ? One or other must have takou place, for there no longer appears to bo any affinity between these quondam allies. Our contemporary, of course, assorts that Sir George has changed. “ The fallen spirit in the political world,” it says, “ is Sir George Grey.” And it has of late been endeavoring to impress on its readers that tho mental tissues of its former chief idol have boon lately in a state of rapid

deterioration. As long as there was any chance of Sir George heading a powerful party it is a singular fact that tho process above alluded to was never hinted at, but as tho eyes of tho country became opened to tho ex-Premior’s real character, and as be began to decline in popularity, tho “ Lyttelton Times ” came to tho conclusion that ho was what the Americans call a “ gone coon,” and it finally wound np with the sentence quoted above—- “ The fallen spirit in tho political world is Sir George Grey.” This climax too, it must bo noted, was reached on

the occasion of tho Knight of Kawau opposing the Representation Bill, which gives to Canterbury seven additional members, so it would appear that two factors are required to make a really firstclass fallen spirit, namely, want of success and opposition to one’s own local interests. Wo feel certain that all will grieve at the revulsion of feeling on tho part of the "Lyttelton Times.” Broken idols are bad enough in early youth, but as years pass and a man’s opinions become more fixed, it is harder and harder to see anyone in whom one’s confidence has bean placed turn out a failure. Our contemporary is no chicken, and tho process of being disillusionized must be a somewhat bitter one. Two short years ago tho “ Lyttelton Times ” hailed its chief, on the occasion of his being chosen by the electors of Christchurch, in a very fervid and somewhat poetic strain. It said, or perhaps rather chanted, the following :—" There is beginning at last to bo some hope that a great, happy, and prosperous nation is destined to inhabit these splendid islands. That nation will inscribe on the brightest page of its history tho name of Sir George Grey.” And now he is merely a‘‘ fallen spirit!” Then ho was at the top of tho tree and had friends in abundance, now he is presumably at the bottom and has none. Verily it may be said of him in tho words of the poet:— Since he misnamed the Morning Star, Nor man nor fiend hath fallen so far. Many, however, will take leave to doubt whether it is Sir George Grey who has in reality changed, or whether it is not rather the ‘‘ Lyttelton Times.” These people will refuse to see that Sir George’s character has in any way altered since i the time when he was championed by onr ■ volatile contemporary. To most people who look into the matter ho is much the 1 same as he ever was. He is just as full 1 of promises and as chary of performance j as ho was in the days of yore. His elo- ■ qaenco has apparently not been impaired • in the last two years. He can make as j good a speech to tho gallery now as ho j could then. His ideas on finance are . just as delightfully vague as of yore. He i in reality hates Canterbury just as much £ as he did when ho was Governor of New J Zealand and sent down Colonel Campbell t for the express purpose of bothering the < lives out of tho early settlers. There is no 1 alteration in his fixed determination to run counter, at any sacrifice, to anybody or anything that may be opposed to his own views on any subject, or to his own 1 autocratic power. In point of fact many 1 will hold that ho is, and has been at all j times, a wonderfully consistent man, and : these same people will be bold enough to ' imagine that tho “ Lyttelton Times” was ! all along either ogregiously taken in or | wilfully shut its eyes to the real character , of the man. And they will be strength- ' ened in either supposition by the fact 1 that directly his success and prestige E are on the wane, overboard bo goes B sans ceremonie. While Sir George Grey’s wings are intact, and he is soaring t in tho political sky his name is, according i to tho “ Lyttelton Timos,” to be inscribed 8 on the brightest page of the history of j New Zealand, When he lies on tho t gronnd with broken wing bo is merely 1 “ a fallen spirit.” Tho story of tho course 1 of the friendship of Gloucester street for - the great pro consul might prove very ! amusing to tho cynical man, and might ' serve as a valuable lesson to any politician anxious to be patronised in that quarter. The change in tho opinions of our contemporary has not been done under a . bushel, and curious things aro said of it —indeed, very curious things. The “ Southland Times,” for instance, suggests that an association has been formed to 1 suborn the Opposition Press, and it gives statistics as to tho formation by the Duke of Buccleugh and other Scottish Dukes of a society to strengthen the papers on their side and buy over those on the other side. The operations of this society are indeed stated not to have “ come off,” simply because the necessary money was not procured, but it is hinted * in a cheerful manner that vast sums have -i been paid to the “ Lyttelton Times ” for the purpose of buy ing it over. That is the r_ only explanation that can bo suggested by a devoted admirer of Sir George I Grey, as is the “ Southland Times,” with regard to the conduct of the “ Lyttelton Times.” W e feel quite safe in saying that tho Southern paper has discovered a j mare’s nest. The “ Southland Times ” t appears to bo an unsophisticated print, r and seems to think that nothing but 0 hard cash will cause a paper to desert a 3 man. It has yet to learn that want of 3 success is a crime in many persons’ t eyes, and that a man without changing in g tho slightest may lose his friends simply because he is going downhill. The difference between a man whose name ought to be inscribed on a nation’s brightest c page and a fallen spirit is that the former is in luck and the latter is out of it. That, at least, is the creed of the “ Lyttelton Times.”