The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 1884. SIR GEORGE GREY NO MORE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1232, 28 August 1884, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 1884. SIR GEORGE GREY NO MORE.

Sir George Grey has. failed in his attempt to form a Cabinet, He tried the old material and the new with equal success—he could never get the various parts to fit, and so, after having spent.four days, and a Sunday, hard at work, he had to give it up as a bad job. Poor Sir George ! This will completely annihilate him ; he ;an never again raise bis head above water as a leader. It is one of the best things that could possibly have happened for th« colony, for, without a question of doubt, he has been a stumbling block in the way of legislation ever since he entered the House. His irascibility of temper 1 and autocratic disposition render it impossible for men to agree with him, and consequently those who are ambitious to‘obtain a seat in the Ministry do not feel disposed to follow bis lead. In 1879, when in power, he fell out one by one with his colleagues, and they almost all had to resign through the extraordinary way in which he treated them. He at one time quarrelled with Mr Ballance, and is said lo have been on the point of striking him only that Mr Sheehan interfered. In consequence of this, the men who had any hopes of a seat on the Ireasury Benches have since shunned him, knowing that even if they got into power under him their tenure of office would be short and unpleasant. These men, and those who sympathised with them, looked out for another leader ; they at first selected Mr Macandrew, but finding him not generally acceptable, their choice ultimately fell on Mr Montgomery, and thus it was that the two Liberal partita arose. It is this division in the camp that kept them out of office all along, fu the strict sense of the word the Atkinson Ministry had not a majority in the late Parliament, and they have kept their seats because of the split Liberal ranks. Thus it was that Sir George Grey kept the Liberal party out of power in the last Parliament, and it was he who destroyed the Stout-Yogel Ministry also. According to reports, efforts were made to get him to take a portfolio in the Stcut-Yogel Cabinet, but he declined because he felt slighted in not having had the formation of the Ministry himself, and because he was jealous of the power of Sir Julius Vogel. Had K ir George Grey thrown iu the weight of his influence ’ with the late Ministry they would have been able to carry on, and would probably have formed a very strong party, but his capricious temperament and inordinate vanity prevailed, ‘with the result that now he has neither money nor marbles, and that he will henceforth have to siuk into the position of a leader without a following. He has had the opportunity of forming a Ministry and failed ; he can never again hope to get the same ch»nce ; his prestige is gone, his influence is at an end ; and it is a good thing for the colony that it is so, because be has been tjie disturbing element in the House for a long time. We hope-now that he has failed his followers will see the mischievousness of attaching themselves to him any longer. It is now clear that under existing circumstances there must be two parties, and ifone of these parities is split up into factions, whose differences consist of squabbles for seats on the Treasury Benches, the other party must always remain inpower. Sir George Grey has spoken a good deal about the continuous Ministry, but no man living .has done so much to keep them in power as he has. And now he has brought them back to power again, and there they will remain until their opponents realise that they , cannot all get portfolios and be Ministeis of the Crown. The present crisis is scandalous ; never before in the history of Parliamentry Institutions have such extraordinary circumstances arisen. Let us see now how the matter stands. The Atkinson Ministry were defeated and appealed to the country, with the result that they found them-' selves' greatly in the minority after the,elections. This led to their resignation, and since then four different leaders have tried their hand ■at forming a Ministry; and failed, with the result that the Ministry pronounced against have to go back again to carry on the business of the country. 80 humiliating a position never did men occupy before. There is is no doubt but there are much abler men in the ranks .of the. so-called Liberals than in the Atkinson party, but owing to their selfishness and uncontrollable lust tor power, they are useless. Perhaps it is as well so, for men who have no higher aim than self are pot safe to be entrusted with the * 'government of the colony.