SIR GEORGE GREY AND THE TIMES.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3847, 28 April 1881, Page 2

SIR GEORGE GREY AND THE TIMES.

The Saturday Advertiser writes as follows upon the leader in the Otago Daily Times criticising Sir George Grey Il^- "

The Daily Times has taken to mudflinging, and the victim selected by it for the display of its ill-temper and bad taste is Sir George Grey, The veteran states--man is its bete noir, or rather the hete noir of those who pull its strings. This is only natural, for Sir George Grey is the -unflinching champion of •democracy, and "the people who advocate the Daily Times are those who are anxious! to establish a plutocracy in the country. Taking thil fact into account^ it is only to be er« pected that the Daily Times should use j every opportunity in order to: bring ■nSfr' George's political views into discredit with the public. In pursuing this course it is ouly fulfilling its legitimate.fuoctions, and no possible fault could be found' with it, if it confined its efforts in this direction, within the bounds of fair criticism!; but when it oversteps the limits of decency and indulges in coarse personalities in a vain endeavor to blacken the the character of an eminent man, it forfeits all claim to respect. Now, it has been guilty of this disgraceful conduct last week, and we are sorry that a paper of its standing should have lowered itself in this manner. In its issue' of Saturday last our morning contemporary commences a leading article with the following choice remarks: —

The news telegraphed jfrom Auckland yes« terday, that Sir George Grey has suffered a relapse, will not probably give rise to any serious apprehensions, for the venerable politician's health. Sir George Grey is always liable to relapses about this time of the year. For some reason: best known to bimself, he invariably preludes his annual speechifying tour by a series of false alarms about his bad leg, and his general state of prostration and debility. He always reminds us of the old lady one meets at evening parties sometimes, who is dying to sing some of her antiquated songs, but, findiDg that no one asks her, hei to fall back upon coughing and fainting, and protesting that she will never be able to sing unless, she gets better. Of course ererybody at once avows a deep anxiety id her speedy recovery, and the dear old soul is perfectly well as soon as she Beds he l- chance to gratify her harmless vanity at the expense of her hearers-ears and patience. Sir George has been trying ail sorts of little innocent dodges to attract attention lately, but as nobody has taken the slightest notice of'him, or afforded him a shadow of excuse for emerging from his retirement, he has had, as usual, to suffer a relapse, and to maka a fuss about his leg. The public know this little-bit of gammon so well now, however, that they are scarcety affected by it at all. .

It would be putting too fine a point oa the subject to state that the foregoing observations are written in execrable taste, and it is not stretching the matter too far to assert that they are offensively personal and vulgar. * -