THE MOORHOUSE MEDAL AND ITS ORIGIN.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 159, 5 July 1880, Page 4

THE MOORHOUSE MEDAL AND ITS ORIGIN.

[Veto Zealand. Times.] : The I<egislative Council have thrown ( out ,the Moorhouee Recognition Bill by a ia'fge majority, ond have thereby gained the approval of all sensible men. There never ' was a greater piece of npb'^ense than thßt Bill, and yet it had Bom'ething in it much worse than non- . aense. It wns a Bham, beoause it pretended to confer a distinction on Mr Mqprhou.se,: which was : not really a; diatinction but ,a mark of rjdicule. ' 'TfcM'^M^rioV'Blli^lioiiKifaV that, was r . r hijden.,^ehind,that abam. • ,The jreal '■' J object of the Bill was to throw a-flliir on the.distiaotions nprninaUy. conferred on "her colonial subjeVts by the Qpeen by creating a precedent for the issue of hereditary honors frond i a source other than the Queen. Now that waß;tho- ?. rbaghiy^di^hbnesti E No one, perhaps, has a "greater contempt than we have for . the , trumpery decorations that: are' Bcattered /rqm time to time among eolonista at tne in.BtancQ of t^ha General or of Borne eub6r,di,Q>te in the Colonial Office,. The only Vondef to our mind is that any colonist of real standing condescends to be tickled by such rubbish, or submit to bear what is. really a brand rather 'than a badge, but this is a matter of individual feeling. The fact remains that colonists are British subjects, and that as long as they choose to accept honors of : any kind, they must emanate from the solo fountain of honor, namely, the Sovereign, whom all British subjects loyally and cheerfully acknowledge. If Sir George Grey could persuade his fellowcolonists, one and all, to respectfully decline to be C.M.G.'d for the future, he iyould do some good, and we should heartily applaud hie action. But to go to work in this trick r wny to ca,st a slight on an Order which' he dare not attack openly is to our mind a jvery paltry job. The House, if they! bad done their, duty, should have put their; foot on the thing at the ou.iset. TheiV : reasons for not doing co were probably somewhat mixed, ; Not a single member, we venture to say, approved of the ; BilK i. Some of them,.thougb, supported itfjbecauee Sir George Grey proposed it. Others supported it because 'they. ...thought Sir George Grey expected them i to i oppose it. Some supported it because they wished to make Mr Moor- ; .house ridiculous. Others supported it because they did not wish to have^ Mr •- Moorbouee's - services -wrangled ,over ' by ; peopleJwho were quite incapable of appreciating-them. The thing \ waa a '}'[ riasty'^ awkward thing ip \ (deal •'-'wiihi*- It "was , ike m~ odtopus, renching a good long distance from its mere corpus, and (likely to spread i a "" good deal . of foul slime if bandied too freely. Members were —precious. glad to give it a 4j wide berth,

and to let it slip into another place as soon ao possible. There it got speared through and through in no time, and a certain celebrated' doctor diseeoted .^ifr 1 with great skill. We are glad that the Bill has been thrown out, and not the less so beoause we are' convinced Uhat not 8 single member who opposed it had., any other feeliDfiihon that of kindness and respect for 3\lr Moorhouß.e. iThat gentleman'a servicep.arle euch : that! the tender of a paltry railway medal, comi ing from ;the hands of Sir .George Grey, could only be ! regarded as a grotesque insult. : It Mr Moor house is to re^i^y.a'pU.blic reward, let it coitfe • from the public, who r^fllly fepnor him, and not from a crafty pQliucal "foe jwbo | only wants to make a oatspaw of him.