IHE APPEAL TO THE COUNTY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 184, 4 August 1879, Page 4

IHE APPEAL TO THE COUNTY.

{NAZ. Times.')

Nothing has -rested *_ strong a feellojf in tbe countrr for years as Sir Georf e G.ev ._ reckless Bdvicfl to Ihe Governor, after being defeated on h\a -dq.in.Btrat.cn by a majority of fourteen. The Governor's memorandum ia in itfelf a^ admirable manifesto for any Oppoaition c.ndidate to address to the •lectori. It euros op (he whole pet. (ion with wonderful distinctness, •nd _tas a racy tote of contemptuous ■Goro aboat it which given its cold conti.eoe.s a delicions zest. It is as much as to say fo the House and the country: " Theee Ministers have made tbe most ftiehtfnlmetsofthioee. They bave been called to account for their tniedo.fce., and tborouehly exposed. Tbe Bouse has eoodemned them by an overwhelming majority. Yet they nek for an appeal to the country. I contsot constitutionally refuse them this, and I think it would be a thousand pities to do so if I could. Here, take tbem; see tbey don't pet mubh money or waste much time; and then, for Heaven's sake, give them their deferts 1" If tbat is not his Excellency's meaning then we do oot under* tand plain English. By tbe bye, wo have omitted fo interpret tbe last clause of the memorandum. It means •imply •* My Premier ia such an artful dodger that he will probably burk ali this, unless I take care. I must insist, then, on my actual words, with all their keen significance, being conveyed to the House, aud through them to the public. I am obliged to be very guarded, but if my message g*ts abroad in all its native wit, every honest msu in the country will know what to do." Of course he will. The general election will be merely on the question of Grey versus Free Government. No policy, no " liber*, alism," will enter into it at b«. The plain isgae to be put to the electors everywhere will be, "Do you wish Sir George Grey to rale New Zealand, or do you wish a Ministry responsible to Parliament fo rule it ?" Can there be a doubt what the answer will be in four constituencies out of five ? Certainly not. The Grey cry ia without exception tho weakest that any party ooold possibly go to the couniry with just now. They might bav* done eomethiog with " Liberalism," they might have done something with Protection, they might have done something with education— they might might bave done something with communism ; but to go to tbe electors %ftth.' nothing in the world but Grey to offer tbem, is really too preposterous * * • • • • * Yet this unfortunate Ministry have nothing to say to the electors, in face of an adverse majority of fourteen votes and of that damning memorandum by the Governor, but only Grey, Grey,

p- , x i . ■ •i■ i. -.rey ! j\ 0 wonder the G-pvernmenfc party are depressed and .OrtoWfui. No wonder they .are tagging and praying Sir Qeor^e Grey to be a rational creature for once in his life, and to perform Hari Kari, or go to Kawau, or do anything else he likes except dissolve. At the first blush of the thing, they cheered and made a great noise, and allowed a good deal of their Dutch courage to fi_ over, because, no doubt, they thought the Opposition would be towed o_ broken up by the threat of dissolution. Now, though, they see that it is not to be a threat, but a reality, pnd that it is, moreover, exactly what the Opposition want, arid -kactly what they themselves do not want. This quiets them. It brings a beautiful calm over their lately too jubilant souls. Jt tranquilises them with the reflection that half of them will never be exposed again to the vicissitudes of political life. It draws them away from scenes of strife and excitement, to visions of domestic retirement and modest obscurity Even to their leaders and to those of them who still have a name in the c'ountry and a future before them, ifc hold- out only the gloomiest prospect. It signifies a defeat in the country as crushing as, and mUch more lasting than, that sustained in the House. It signifies, also, universal reprobation and contempt for that miserable shrinking from duty, which led them to plunge th. country into a whirlpool of political disturbance, at a moment when quiet was essential to the public welfare. And all to gratify the whim of one faithless, perverse old man !