The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 1882.

Temuka Leader, Issue 901, 7 January 1882, Page 2

The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 1882.

A\recrns. telegram. from Wellington,,, i&formed> up that His Excellency the,. Gpvenjpr intended visiting England shortly, and, that it was not likely he would, eve^agaju,return to New Zealand, We> do, not Relieve every word\ that special co-respondents from W,el-. lington, but in this instance it appears to us that these is something in the,, rumor. From, the first it was not ex,-. peqted, that Sir, Arthur Gordon, would/ get oil well in, New. Z.eajand-. During the many years he has. represented hex, Majesty i% various dependencies ofthe,. British Empire, he has been accus-r tomed to do exactly w.hat accorded mpst 5 with his own feelings, and it is possible' that now he finds it irksome to take* counsel from, his.responsible advisers. He has neyer before been Governor, of 4 any colony blessed wilh a constitutional form of t Government, and it is not a matter for wonder, that he finds it djffir cult to his owji opinion and give his sanction, to whatever the Ministry of the day recommend; Ijt has been reported that frequent altercations occurred between the Governor and the. Government, in fact it was said that if he had; been, in. New Zealand at the time he would have never sanctioned the raid on. Parihaka. On two occasions while speaking at banquets in Christchurch he has gone to great pains in defining the duties of, a Governor of a colony under a Constitutional Government, and from his. utterances it could be inferred that he feels it incumbent upon, him to exercise discretion in accepting the recommendations of bis Ministers. There i-; no douht that the Governor possesses discretionary powers but the question 16 does be understand where to draw the line ? He mu.-t not refuse his sanction to laws passed by the Legislature and so long as the Government possesses tho ' confidence of the majority of the people ! he must not ieject their recommendation, so long as they are not at variance with the spirit of the Constitution Act. The two principles then for a Governor to observe is, do his responsible advisers [ possess the confidence of the majority of

tlie people ? And are their recommendations constitutional ? Hip discretionary powers appear to us to be limited to these two considerations, and if he looks beyond these and tries to carry out his own views instead of those of the Government he certainly errors. No doubt, Sir Arthur Gordon must find it difficult to stifle his own feelings and if he has had to do so it is probably the cause of his contemplated relinquishment of the Governorship of this Colony. If this is his season for leaving New Zealand it is a matter of little nionvnt. Tli re are many men as able and as suitable for the position ready to accept it with the willingness o$ a Barkis. But, there is another reason which may have something to do with Sir Aithur Gordon's action, and if that has influenced him in his decision, it is a matter which all reasonable men must regret. For the last few years a radical element is developing itself m this Colony, which demands that the GoY rnor should be elected by the people, and: is indelicate enough to speak ot reducing his. 6alary as well as any other civil servant, i Now we do not admit, that there is one sentiment of conservatism,in our nature. We are entirely in favor of progress andreform, wherever it is possible t" 1 improve on existing systems. But we think more respect should be paid to her Majesty's re, resentative than to put him. on an equal footing with other civil, servants, and have the amount of.salary he. receiy.es sppken, of as if the people begrudged it to him, As regards the Governor being elected by the people, that is an utter ab urd'ty so long. as. this Colony is a British dependency. If thit w,er,e done w« shoul.l cease to. be a British Colony, as a Governor appointed by the Crown is all that binds u$ to, the Mother Country. The next step we should take would?be to proclaim. New Zealand a Republic, and we question vexy much whether that would be to our advantage. We are as. free now, to make good-la as we would under a Republican form of Government, while we have the ad vantage, .of .the protection, and sympathy of the. most powerful empire in the woild, which we should,, lose if we to disconnect, ourselves, wit!) it. The idea of electing.our own Governor is simply o,u,t»of the question under the present Constitution Act, and consequently it is useless to talk abput i£ while it is humiliating to a great many eo.lon.Uts. It not be plea--Bam) to a "gentleman like Sir Aithur, Gordon to feel that he is amongst British . subjects, who hold such disloyal views, he iuu&t feel humiliated at;, finding his salary the, topic, of, so much comment. If these considerations have, influenced the actions of His Excellency, it i^a.,n^aJLter f o£{ graver > .im,p,Qr,tance than his disagreement with .Ministers, and the fact that he ; asked, the Governnieufc; to make the 10 per cent reduction apply, to his own salary, seem,s to us strongly, in, favor, of, our supposition. If so jt ; is to be. regretted as it reflects upon, the loyalty, of>c.olon,ists, and as, no good can be do,ne by discussing such, matters in future, it is to bo hope,d. th<at,w,e have heard the end abput electing our, Governors.