THE TWO KNIGHTS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 98, 12 April 1876, Page 4

THE TWO KNIGHTS.

From, the Wellington Argus we • copy' the final telegrams in the nbw notorious correspondence between Sir ; George and Sir Julius. The former of* the' two is from Sir George Grey, the latter, which Sir George returned \ unopened, from Sir Julius Vogel. The ; comments thereon, with most of which we agree, are those of the Argus. Sir George says:-— •'At' present the Governors of Colonies are nominated by the English ; Minister 1 of the hour for political or . other objects, and the Crown is neces- ; earily required to approve such nomination. Even in my lifetime companies or other bodies have in such manner nominated Governors and Lieutenant- [ Governors for the Crown's approval. Neither you nor I can now say that our Sovereign might not ra(,her have to : approve the appointment of a Governor ! chosen by the entire people here, and : thus'-endear- herself to all. her subjects by allowing them to select the man they deemed most worthy, rather than a Governor perhaps chosen for political or personal objects by a Minister whose policy, she might distrust. Such a 1 cboicV by her people here would open great hopes . and worthy aspirations which' must benefit the entire population. The Queen graciously allows the; elociion of Superintendents to govern Provinces, instead ot nominated Lieutenant-Governors. Her Majestybas also given her subjects here thepower ot determining by a law, to be assented to by herself, the manner in .which her . Governors here should be {nominated for her approval. If you have a right to entertain your opinion a nobleman, nominated by a Minis- ' teg^with' the title of Imperial Governor, is the desirable mode, of this being done, you may surely allow me to hold my opinion on the subject without Buffering unseemly taunts/' Up to this point the Premier had the •best 'of 'this wordy warfare, but he should have stopped here. Such nonsense as we have quoted was not worth serious : answer, and Sir Julius Vogel made a mistake in attempting to argue *the matter. Of course Sir Julius 'Vogel 'utterly demolished his Honor, •'but' it' wets a mistake to reply at all. !,WeV , however, give the reply, which was as-f t dllbwß : — /"Reluctant as I am to continue the correspondence, I deem it my duty to protest most strongly against the charge Jyour.-; telegram points 'to.* Under the garb of profuse loyalty to the Sover- ' eign, your sentiments point to nothing short of a revolution which would separate the Colony from the Empire. f Ybur Honor must be perfectly aware the Sovereign will not act without g'ttie,. advice of responsible Ministers., Equally would it be impossible for par•B'btis elected to hold the positions of _ appointed Governors acting under in- \ j.Btructiona. The case of a Superintendent; is.no more in point than is that of the Lord Mayor of London. It would be an evil day for New Zealand: when it exchanged its position as part of the most powerful Empire in the world for that of a little State exposed to all the troubles and difficulties which would .necessarily attend the attempts of,, a .few people to create a nation. And why are we insidiously asked to do that which would mike union with the Empire impossible ? Your Honor i has notalways considered the Imperial' nominations mischievous. As far as 1 anij&vfrarethe colony does not complain, and has, with perhaps one exception, beea i satisfied with its Governors." It is an ill time to throw put insinuations of corrupt mbtiveß against her Majesty's Ministers, when the Colonies are realising the fact that the old interest of the country in the Colonies is being renewed, and when there presides at the Colonial Office a Minister who has shown alike his desire and his ability. to extend the Colonial possessions and ta draw them to the Mother-country in bonds, of . closest unity. Only one nobleman has been appoiuted to the Go- : veruorship of New Zealand, and, I have ; yet to learn that his experience and •knowledge have been questioned. As. r ' ! tq his. being nominated by a Minister, , Honor should be aware that all appointments and acts of Government are performed by the advice of Minis- : f tefß. The attempt to draw a distinction 1 between the acts of the Sovereign,; with or without advice, has no meaning'; and the rebellion against the acts performed by the advice of Ministers, is rebellion against the acts of the Sove-* reign. The notion tint the Supsrin-' tendent is more a creature of the Sovereign than is -the Governor, is extravagantly amusing. Her Majesty certainly knows she has appointed the Marquis of Normanby to govern N«w Zealand ; but she is probably unaware who is the Superintendent of Aucklund, or (to instance a place with double the population) who is the Mayor of Mslb-urne." -This telegram tho Supeiintendent of; ' Auckland had the supremo impertinence to return unopened to the Premier of the Colony, and yet had the inconsistency, two days after, to forward to tho; Miuisfer whom ho bad insulted, remarks ''of his own and of Mr Reader Wood's on the figures already alluded to. lie also telegraphed to Sir Julius Vogel that he had not opeood or read the telegram. Sir Julius laid himself open to this insult, certuinly, by attempting 'tVargue with a man whom it is only i charitable to suppose must, in Colonial ; phrase, be " u ehingle short," or elso, with his official experience, he would never talk seriously of couimun'cating direct with the Governor on departmental mailers/ There is something

inexpressibly painful in the spectacle Sir George Grey presents to the Colony, Consumed by envy and selfconceit, he. runs a-muek with everyone. He apparently cannot forgive the -fact that he has had' a successor in the Governorship of New Zealand. This and his age, furnish a key to much that would otherwise be inexplicable. . He wents a Royal Commission. We say let him have it by all means, but let its subject be the Superintendent of Auckland, and let the" Commission itself be one of de lunalico inquirehdo . .