THE PREMIER AND MR. MACANDREW.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 201, 23 August 1879, Page 5

THE PREMIER AND MR. MACANDREW.

TO THE EDIIOE OF THE "N.Z TIME." Sir, — The enclosed sketch of Sir George Grey's character as Governor of New Zealand, written in 1873 by a gentleman not unfriendly to him in the main appears to be so correct as to deBer?e further publication. It has struck many with surprise that Mr. Macan- , drew, whose will is pretty strong, should have been able to hold his own in a Cabinet with Sir George Grey at its head But the solution is simple enough. He never interfered with Sir George Grey, being content to submit to the views of his chief, however absurd and however repugnant to his own sense of what was due the to colony, so long as he was permitted to do as he pleased in Otago. He has done as he pleased in Otago, and the people of that provincial district bless the day that saw him appointed Minister of Public "Works without caring for the fact that he had only secured their interests by subordinating his will in other respects to that of one whose whole career has been marked by a strong tendency to the exercise of arbitrary power. — I am, &c, Spectator. Wellington, August 7.

"After having acted for 9ome time as Governor of South Australia, he was selected to occupy the important post of administrating the affairs of New Zealand, in a period of difficulty and emergency, and a ship of war was despatched from India to take him as early as possible to his destination. Sir George Grey is a man with abilities of a high order, his capacity for administration is undoubted, and if he had devoted his energies, faithfully and fearlessly, with justice and magnanimity, to the adjudication of the conflicting claims and affairs of the two races which he was sent to govern, he would have retired, after his long and eventful service in New Zealand, with the character of a great man, and the reputation of an enlightened statesman, instead of being viewed as merely successful in achieving personal distinction in an ambitious career. "The measures of his government in New Zealand were in many ways statesmanlike, but shaped and shaded with such strong tendencies to arbitrary power that their practical importance was impaired, and they failed to inspire confidence in either the Maoris or the colonists. " Homer narrates that tbe God Apollo fell in love with Cassandra, the beautiful daughter of Priam, King of Troy, and in order to conciliate her favor, offered to confer upon her any gift worthy of a god to bestow, The beautiful girl, proud of having captivated the great Apollo, and conscious of her powers of fascination, asked her lover to bestow upon her the gift of prophesy, which he, to gratify her, accordingly bestowed. Having obtained this gift, the youthful and lovely girl, like a petted beauty presuming on her attractions, displayed her caprice by jilting the amorous god, who, in revenge, and as a punishment for her perfidy, rendered her gift of prophecy worthless, by adding to it the condition, that everything she said should be disbelieved, "In such like manner Sir George Grey must have offended in some way or other, the deity who had bestowed such a high order of gifts upon him, and in order to punish him for his transgressions, then rendered them comparatively ineffective, by casting over all his acts a shadow of suspicion, and raising the spectre of distrust, which haunted all his policy and measures, and caused that want of confidence with which they were regarded by the people of both races, Still he was an accomplished statesman, a man of mark, whose mind, Whose fires True genius kindles and fair fame inspires ; Blest with each talent and each art to please, And bora to write, converse, and live with ease. Should such a man, too fond to rule alone, Bear, like tbe Turk, no rival near his throne, Like Cato, give his little senate laws, And sit attentive to hia own applause ? " These lines will characterise Sir George Grey's long and eventful administration in New Zealand. Like Cardinal Woleey, io the famous char-

acter drawn of him by Shakeepeare, he was in the habit of 'making his own opioion hia law,' and to such an extent was this mental idiosyncrasy sometimes displayed, that it bordered on cbsurdity, reminding some i f us forcibly of Lord Lauderdale'a well known maxim, 'Show roe the man and I'll show you the law.' While hia great abilities as a writer of despatches and State papers imparted n fascinating charaoter, aud a rose-colored hue, to hia proceedings, in a depeodrncy lying at that distance ' which lends eochantmeut to the view.' * * * * " The Government then was as complexly despotic aa can be imagined, and the Governor was in tlie habit of quoting, much to the umuacment of some of ue, drive's theory of n pure despotism, 63 the best of all systems of colonial government. He therefore held in his hands for a time, for gooJ or evil, the destiny of the colony ; but he was not a believer in the maxim thit nothing is p'itically right that is morally wrong, and trusted to cleverness and expediency, instead of ereeliog his system of policy on die principle aud basis of fair I pl«y and justice to both races. Hia policy laid the foundation for the subsfqueut wars in New Zsaluud, although during his first tenure of office he rnadd everything pleasant to the Government, the compauy, and the naiives. It was, however, a policy which could not laal, as it was simply founded ou expediency and personal influence, and was of the 'Aprea moi le deluge' character,"