A Tour in New Zealand.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume IX, Issue 974, 31 August 1881, Page 2 (Supplement)

A Tour in New Zealand.

Sib Geob&e Gbey at Kawau. (Continued from our last). [From the Melbourne Leader}. " Here’s Sir George coming down to meet us,” says one of the party as we draw up to the stone pier, and so it was. Ihe house is only about ten chains from the wharf, and by the lime we gut to the garden gate we were met by the hospitable owner of the island. Having introduced ourselves, and received a cordial welcome we were taken into the house, and introduced to Sir George’s niece, Mrs. Seymour George. We afterwards met Mr. Seymour George, who is a member of the House of Representatives ; and it was evident from the attention which we received from all the members of the family that the entertaining of visitors was a duty frequently imposed upon the residents of Kawau, a duty which seemed to be considered a pleasure. After resting awhile, Sir George showed us over his museum of Maori curiosities in the hall, and then up-stairs to get a view’ from his bedroom w’indows. Plain furniture and an absence of carpets were the main features of the rooms. The library, which was the next object of interest, is not large, but exceedingly valuable, consisting of rare editions of old w’orks ancient manuscripts ; and the wall is hung with a few old pictures, the most striking of which w'as aNetcher (1634) being a portrait of a young girl, a member of Sir George’s family, displaying w’onderful purity of coloring. This library serves to show its owner’s love of books, when it is remembered that he also gave a very fine library to the Cape Colony. The members of our party having gone out to wander over the grounds, 1 was enabled to

have a sample of those conversational powers of which I had heard so much. Returning to the sitting room, and entering into political subjects, I soon realised the fact that I was in the presence of no ordinary man. Sir George Grey is 69 years old, but he does not look to be 60. He is tall and slim, with only a very slight stoop, while his sharp eyes and active habits, as well as his vivacious conversation, give the impression of a man in the prime of life. He has the smartness and general bearing of a military gentleman, but his contemplative cast of countenance and the pleasant expression of his face denote the enthusiastic thinker rather than the commander. His manner is natural and easy, and one is not long in his presence until the openhearted frankness of the man is made evident. However much you may be impressed with the depth of his knowledge, and the vastness of his experience, the reflection forces itself upon you that he is too honestly outspoken to be highly successful in the field of active politics. A man with less information and duller perceptions, but having more of the quality which is attributed to the fox, would be likely to be more successful in dealing with men in the great game of politics. While Sir George has done much to educate his party, he has not been very successful in leading that party in the House of Representatives, and I am inclined to think that the frankness of his nature has had a good deal to do with this result. I have said that he is not only much loved, but much hated. He is hated by those who are opposed to him because of the power which he is known to possess. He frankly tells what his opinions are, concealing nothing because it is unpalatable to a certain class. The avowal of such principles as he holds is particularly obnoxious to his opponents, because they know the calibre of the man who utters them They know not only his abilities, but his character, and they are vexed because he is above the power of calumny, He has an independent income, and cannot be charged with seeking money. He has been the Governor of New Zealand and other Colonies, and having a world-w’ide fame he cannot be charged with seeking the honors of office. All this is truly exasperating to those who disagree with his views. It is bad enough to nave distasteful doctrines propounded by men of ordinary ability, and men who can easily be slandered as seeking office for money and honor ; hut to have to fight against a man of known ability, at whom it is hopeless to hurl any charges of self-seeking, is i j t olerable, and hence Sir George Grey is the most sincerely hated politician in New Zealand, while I have no doqbt tgc £>ame feeling in regard to him ex-

tends to every Tory throughout the world who knows him. Sir George is an advanced Liberal, so advanced indeed that there never has been a Liberal Government in Victoria which would have had the courage to adopt his programme. He is a Liberal from conviction, and is not only sincere in his principles, but enthusiastic in his enunciation of them. One is inclined to get disgusted with those who are Liberal when they are poor, and Conservative when they are rich, after a visit to the sage of Kawau. A powerful intellect stored with reading and long experience, it may be concluded does not arrive at unreasonable views, and when the holder of strong opinions has the gift of eloquence it may be imagined that he states them with force. What a power experience is, and, other things being equal, what an advantage an old man possesses over his junior. How much history has a man of 69 not seen made? “ When I was Governor of Cape Colony some years before you were born,” Sir George began one sentence, for I had told him my age. Observing, thinking, reading and acting since “ years before I was born ” has given him that wide information, breadth of view and clearness of insight which you cannot be in his presence long without feeling. You don’t feel your smallness, however, for he is not dogmatic, and has the rare and pleasant art of making you believe that he thinks you as wise as himself. His theories are not laid down as conclusions to be accepted or controverted, but as opinions submitted for your consideration. There were throughout his whole conversation so many such sentences pleasantly spoken as “You remember,” “You will have observed,” “It has no doubt occurred to you,” “ Don’t you agree with me,” and “ Don’t youthink that is a reasonable conclusion,” that I began to feel that “ what I know about farming ” was nothing to what I was supposed to know of what had occurred “ some years before I was born.” In expressing my opinion of Sir George’s agreeableness of manner to one of his opponents, he said, “ That is his art, his power. You should hear him on the stump. He can almost make his hearers w r eep, and seems to nearly weep himself, over some imaginary wrong or some supposed disaster that is to overtake the country though the formation of large landed properties.” I got a glimpse of his eloquence once, when he was dealing with the Transvaal question. Sir George is acknowledged to be one of the very few men who really understand this subject, his experience while Governor of Cape Colony having been turned to good account. He is strongly of opinion that a great national wrong was committed in forcibly annexing the Transvaal, and he believed that Mr. Gladstone would do right in undoing what had been done as soon as possible. In giving a graphic history of the question, he described how kindly the Boers were disposed towards England, and how surprised they were at the arbitrary action of Lord Carnarvon and Sir Michael Hicks-Beach. He described the deputation which went to England to explain their grievance, and how sanguine they were that an explanation was all that would be required with such an upright and justly doing nation. Sir George warmed with his subject as he proceeded, and w T hen he came to the part where the deputation was coldly bowed out of the secretary’s room, “ rough honest men as they were,” his style w r as more like that of the platform than of conversation. “ What a subject for a poet or a painter,” he said. “ They knew that England was all powerful, but a wrong had been committed, and they left that room resolved to defend their country, or at least to die in the attempt.” The words flowed smoothly, and there was a touch of pathos in the tone which made me wish I could hear the orator speak in public, and which explained the reason he is regarded with such fear by his opponents.

“ The New Crusade ; or, the Land for the People,” is Sir George’s favorite theme. He looks upon the alienation of the land in large blocks as a great evil, and he introduced a laud tax believing that those who had been made wealthy by the “ unearned increment of value ” were best able to bear taxation. His land tax has been repealed by the Hall Government, and a property tax substituted. Dummyism, “ gridironing,” and other means of acquiring lands in a manner not intended by the State he designates by the term “ fraud.” It is admitted by his friends that he did in one pf hie

speeches say something about “breaking up large estates,” and to me he said that he would “ take back land which had been acquired by fraud.” “ Don’t you think that would be quite reasonable ?” he asked, after delivering this sentence, and when I suggested that such a course would be “ interfering with the rights of property,” he confessed that he could not see how a man had a right to anything which he did not honestly come by. No one after reading this paragraph will have any difficulty in understanding the feeling with which Sir George Grey is regarded by wealthy land owners, and especially those of them who have acquired lands from Maoris, and by the “ gridironing ” system. The Irish question is regarded as not only Irish but also an English question, and one that must come to the front sooner or later in all countries. Sir George seems to like the name, “The New Crusade,” and is glad to observe that it has been adopted by the land reformers in America. He has an extensive correspondence with land reformers in all parts of the world, and seems to watch keenly from his island home the progress of this question in all civilised countries. The weekly mail brings him upon an average about 40 letters, so that he has quite a busy life, although apparently in such a quiet retreat. His recreation seems to be walking about the gardens and plantations with his little grand nieces and grand nephews, who are his constant companions. His attention to his visitors when we spent a day at Kawau did not make him forget the children, but perhaps they jogged his memory, and should receive the credit for this.

Legislation by one chamber is another of Sir George’s ideas, which brings him many enemies. The will of the people, he considers, should be the only power, and in regard to the necessity of a check upon hasty legislation, he believes legislation would not be so hasty if it were known that it was not to be revised by anothei* House ; while if the people made a mistake they could alter it. Why should the Colonies, Sir George asks, not also have local men chosen by the people as governors, instead of being a field for noblemen with encumbered estates to practise economy and reconstruct their fortunes in? He states that the constitution of New Zealand provides for the election of a Governor if they feel disposed to act upon it. His holding this opinion accounts for the fact that his opponents charge him with wishing to be elected Governor. I do not think, however, he has any such ambition, but he seems to dislike the theory evidently held by Disraeli, that the Colonies are governed best by a real live nobleman. Sir G-eorge appears to have no reverence for hereditary rank, and his opinions of some Colonial Governors were very interesting. It was particularly interesting to me as a Victorian to interview one who was intimately acquainted with our own Governor,’ the Marquis of Normanby. The personal qualifications of the noble Marquis, his Colonial career, and even his ancestral history, seem to be well known to Sir George Grey; and from what I learned at Kawau I think our Governor must hold decidedly’ Conservative opinions. A local Governor, Sir George believes, would be likely to act in harmony with the wishes of the people, while an English one’s first consideration is to please his master’s at home. Sir Charles Darling’s recall was referred to as showing the fate of a Governor, who did not make pleasing Downingstreet his first duty. The pernicious principle of giving a vote to property instead of to manhood, Sir George pointed out, was copied into the New Zealand constitution from Victoria ; and while he admires much in Victoria, he condemns our plural voting. It mattered not upon what subject he conversed, Sir George Grey appeared to be a sincere believer in, and fearless advocate of, the most advanced Liberal views.

The wind sprang up towards the evening, and as the sea was rough cur host wished us to stay all night, but we resolved to return. “ You will have to come back,” said Sir George, as we pulled off from the pier, and he stood watching for our return until we turned round the point, and were out of sight. We had a rough voyage back to Waiwera, but after tacking, shipping seas and baling for four or five hours, we arrived in safety some time after dark. We all enjoyed ourselves, however, and even the most rheumatic of the party was delighted with the trip to the Island of Kawau.