SIR GEORGE GREY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2395, 6 September 1892, Page 2

SIR GEORGE GREY.

In the discussion with regard to the apsppointinonta to the Legislative Council last Wednesday evening Sir George Grey made two assertions which will not rebound to his credit. The first was that the Government ought to have resigned when the Governor refused to make the appointments to the Legislative Council; the second that' the Governor was in an awkward position in as much as that he had no one to consult. With regard to the first statement in 1878 Sir George Grey recommended the then Governor the Marquis of Normanby to appoint Mr Wilson to the Legislative Council. Lord Normanby refused to do so on the ground that a " no confidence motion " was under discussion in Parliament at the time. Sir George Grey did not resign then and yet he turns round now and tells the present Government they ought to resign for just exactly the same thing. The fact is they ought not to resign, but the Governor could have dismissed them and called on the Opposition to appoint other ministers. As regards the second statement the Governor ought not to have any one to consult except his ministers. It is absolutely wrong for him to consult any one else. All the mischief has arisen through the Governor receiving advice from other sources, and this has led him astray. A certain member of the Legislative Council is the cause of all the trouble. Last year Sir George Grey stated in one of his speeches that it was neessary to appoint twenty members to the Legislative Council, yet he will not now support the present Government in their honest efforts to appoint a reasonable member. It would have been well for Sir George Grey's reputation that he had not sufficiently recovered to attend the present session of Parliament.