New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, JUNE 5, 1875.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4434, 5 June 1875, Page 2

New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, JUNE 5, 1875.

What is it all about ? The Wairarapa Standard of Thursday last, contains a letter from Sir George Grey to the Editor, occupying two columns and a half of space. Our contemporary, while publishing this letter, was unable to hit upon a descriptive heading, and therefore contented himself with parading the fact that ho had, as a correspondent, so distinguished a person as Sir George Grey. Having perused this letter carefully, we readily admit the difficulty of our contemporary’s position, for unless he had adopted the caption, ‘ ‘ Sir George “ Grey in mortal terror,” he could not have hit upon anything apposite. We had serious thoughts of reprinting this remarkable production in full; but on_ consideration, our respect for the writer .induced us to refrain. One thing,

however, is certain : that any politician who may chance to read, it, will come to the conclusion, that, for all practical purposes, Sir George Geey’s day is past and gone. That this is the opinion of our Wairarapa contemporary we have not the least doubt, inasmuch as the letter from

Sir George is printed without note or comment. Perhaps it is best so. The exhibition is a melancholy one ; and were it not that a strict sense of duty impels us, we should keep silence also. But Sir George Grey has been elected Superintendent of Auckland, he is the acknowledged leader of the Superintendental party, and, as such, his public statements challenge criticism. And what does Sir George Grey say in two and a half columns of solid type ! He tells the colony that a deadly class antagonism exists in England, as the direct consequence of the working of the British Constitution; that that antagonism has resulted in the legal murder of poor men in England and the colonies, while rich men convicted of murder, have been reprieved. His illustrations are unfortunate; and his attack upon his successor, Sir George Bowen, was in singularly bad taste. Sir George Grey anticipates the direst consequences to New Zealand from “ the system into “ which we have been gradually drawn “ by the action of the General Govern- “ men!;, and from the appointment of “ Governors for party objects, or as a “ reward for party services. We may be “ led,”, he adds, “in consequence of this “ system of Government, into the class “ feelings which disturb the order of “ society in the Mother Country. Nothing “ could be more hurtful to our interests “ than that this should happen. The “ whole future of this young country in “ all its aspects—life, property, social “ relations—would be sacrificed to class “ feelings which should have no existence “ here. It would not be too much to ‘ 1 say that the lives of very many people “ in New Zealand might for generations “ be hereafter embittered by our allowing “ such a state of things to take a firm “ hold in this country. I will illustrate “my meaning,” he continues, “by in- “ stances in relation to the disposal of ,“ human life which have taken place “ under such a system as I am alluding “to; and I think great surprise will be “ created in finding the institutions which “ have from this part of the world been “ seriously proposed to the Home Go- “ vemment as models worthy of imita- “ tation, without the people at large “ being in the least aware that such sub- “ jects were under discussion.” These instances are the well-known cases of the uufjjoides Townlsy and Weight —- land, Onb Reprieved and the other exe-

cuted ; arid a case in Brisbane, reported by Sir George Bowen, as Governor, where, by the help of blackfellows, an unhappy wretch was carried to the scaffold. Although these incidents are entirely foreign to the subject of constitutional reform, on which Sir Georgs Grey professes to write, he endeavors to identify them with the proposal to abolish Provincial Government, and if he really means anything, and is not “ squander- “ i n g himself,” his argument is to this effect : that without provincial institutions “ the poor man ” would be in danger of being done to death under color of law, and in accord with English precedent ; or by secret murder, after the "Venetian pattern. That the Superintendent of Auckland is in mortal terror for his own life we must reasonably conclude from the quotations which close his long and painful letter. Ho says : For the third time in this shocking case in Brisbane gaol, the poorer classes appear again to have been worsted ; but probably from this case will spring this advantage, which will ultimately produce great effects, and that is, that in many minds a stern resolve will be formed that, no matter what may be the risks or difficulties encountered, persistent efforts shall be made to prevent the establishment in New Zealand of a system by which such class feelings can be engendered hero, and to insist that money taken by taxation from the people of New Zealand shall be no longer applied to assist in maintaining such a system in Great Britain. The nature of the proceedings in the Tower of London, the Bastile, and the Inquisition arc probably sufficiently known ; but for the numerous persons who know little about the mode of action of the Council of Ten nt Venice, I quote a few extracts from a recent number of the Quarterly Review. This is one of the maxims for their^ guidance ;—‘'Lastly, if any party leaders are found in the provinces they must be exterminated under some pretext or another, but there must be no recourse to ordinary justice. Let poison do the work of the executioner. This is less odious and more profitable."

Our readers will note the Italics. These are in the text, and doubtless were in the original manuscript also. This italicised passage is an indication of the state of mind of “the great pro-consul” when he wrote to the editor of the Wairarapa Standard his ghastly epistle. He may make his mind easy, however. Our “ Council of Ten,” [we really forget the Ministerial number,] are not plotting against the lives of “ the party leaders in “ the provinces.” May they all live long and flourish ; and although it may be quite true that “so late as 3767 a packet “ of poison was sent from the Council “ of Ten, with directions for its cautious “ use in ridding them and the world of a “ personreported dangerous,’’(with which quotation Sir George closes his letter,) we are satisfied he has nothing to fear on his own account. But have his party and allies nothing to fear 1 Is this letter in the Wairarapa Standard the result of calm reflection and unclouded thought 1 Let any man read it, and judge for himself. We judge not.