THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 1878.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2920, 25 June 1878, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 1878.

The correspondence which has lately been published in the New Zealand Gazette as having taken place between the Governor, the Secretary, of State,- for the Colonies, and Sir George Grey as Premier, may not have any pretentious political significance, but there are many thinking persons who would like to know

wlmfc it rodlly portends. There be somo, perhaps, who imagine thai the Marquis of Ncr&mnby lias been placed in Uie position of Governor to keep clown thaidemocracy of which Sir Goorge Grey is the apostle and prophet. That the Colonial Office, having been forewarned of tho coming of this apostle, purposely nominated the Marquis as an old and tried servant to circumvent the efforts of Sir George to see the "constitution"' worked out as it never had been before. Others again are simple enough and loyal enough lo believe, that the present Governor '.s anxious to preserve the just balance between the Colony and. the Mother Country, as the representative of the Queen end the administrator of the government of the Colony under the advice of its responsible ministers. Also; that on questions where a difference of opinion arises between Governor and Ministers, or between Governor and Ministers and the Parliament, such ques. tions should bo referred to the Colonial Office for a disinterested opinion. It may be all wrong to refer matters in dispute I o the Colonial Office, but in most instances the people of the Colony would, we fancy, prefer this course to leaving them to the tpse dixit of the Premier, or the law officers holding office unde;* him. The Premier may be, and no doubt is, a good authority on constitutional questions. He acquired o\e knowledge which makes him anaathority while acting asaconsliiut'onal governor under the Colonial Office. Wi>o shall say, therefore, that lie is more competent than the Colonial Office to pronounce an opinion on constitutional questions ; to say that the Governor is wrong and he is right; or to dispute with the Imperial Government when they say the Governor is right and he is wrong j* This late correspondence has brought out again the bellicose proclivities of the Premier, and made it more than ever apparent that he has a grievance against the Colonial Office and all its appointees. Why, the very circumstances connected with the subjects dealt with in the correspondence show that the Governor was acting constitutionally. Is it not a fact that Sir George Grey signed the recommendation for the Governor's assent to the Land Bill under pressure from his own colleagues ? Let his friends answer. Would not the people of this Colony prefer to have any great regarding the interpretation of ?the Constitution Act debated ard sell.led at home to .being relegated to the great Pro-Con-sul, even with all Irs lorg expedience? We are sure .hat teey would if they were not blinded by prejudice and led away by pariy feeling. This latest phase of Greyism, as developd in his part of the correspondence, will like'y form the subject of debate in the next Parliamentary session. Wiih ihe large majority tbe pariy in power can count npo ard ibe dummies that probably will be elected, the Premier mry expect to come off wiih flying colors, especially as some features of the policy he bats propounded— divesi ed of ihead capfandum and cft-il^ra-cd platitudes of tbe people having entrusted to them the " power and great privilege of working out their own future destiny;" " are prepared to build up institutions under which their descendants may have assured to them liberty, equal laws, and equal rights and advantages," —commend themselves to many who do not approve of the way the present pariy have attained fo office. But when these professions come to be examined there may be some in the House independent enough to ask what promise there is of a brilliant future destiny if the principle of manhood suffrage is to be thrust upon the Colony just now; what guarantee of liberty and equal laws and equal rights while a public scandal exists like that of the Government abandoning the Proudfoot prosecution in Dunedin after two trials by special jury, all because the accused was a man of wealtii and had friends who could exercise a power behind the Government ? There are points and principles involved in the correspondence just published which are intricate enough to puzzle the r blest lawyers. We leave them to be discussed as occasion may offer. Cut let not the Government or the Premier preach of equal rights in the face of the scandals—-tho mockeries of justice, which have characterised the period since the session of Parliament closed, and which will, no doubt, be opened up again—we believe to the disgrace of the paity in power. _ The recent administration of, the Government has been characteris: d by a disposition to conciliate parties and evade the mistakes of their predecessors"; but it cannot be said that the Government of Sir George Grey has been free from those errors which contributed more than anything else to the downfall' of the Atkinson. Ministry, while some acts of h's party are more to be deprecated than tnything we can call to mind in the old regime.