The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1882.

Thames Star, Volume XIII, Issue 4274, 12 September 1882, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1882.

- "4, The .Honorable John Bryce combines porcine obstinacy with- but small intellectual calibre. . He is not a, person for whom, anyone can muster a great degree of admiration. It is a point of pride with him that once he takes action, or makes up his naind, never to retrace his steps. A. flood of fresh light shed by all the'angel hosts of heaven would \ not induce him to reverse his decision. " Perish justice, rather than that I should admit error," is; his motto. Never was there a more over-rated man than this same-Mr Bryce. ' He has been the child of fortune, and his fellow men credit him with brain-power. If he' were to retire to his bucolic home at Wanganui, the country would be a gainer. If anything were required to demonstrate his incapacity, his treatment of the Thames Volunteers is a thousand times more than ample to 'fill the gap. If any private person'were to treat others as,the Government dealt with the Thames Volunteers, he would be deemed by all men guilty of sharp practice, and a dishonorable man ; not a few would style him aroguo. How much more, therefore;' is it incumbent on a nation, or the representatives of a nation, \o be clean-handed. What an example the Government has set the community ! For Mr Bryce 1 to state that the engagement of the Volunteers was only for; a fortnight was a downright untruth. The engagement, as under* stood' by the men, and as represented t& tliem to so understand, and that through the. assurance of Major Murray, who enrolled them,- was two months. If the local officer and the Commissioner bungled matters between , them, or if either of them did it, are these men, to suffer for, that ? Is not the Government responsible for the action of its subordinates ? The Volunteers, because they ask what was promised them, are mercenary, according to Mr Bryce. Mr Bryce talks about being the custodian of the public purse, and hints that it is his duty to make the best bargain he can. Just so, but it js not his duty to cheat people, and try to back out. of,a bargain, even though it were agajnst Government, which we do not for a moment admit. The .country -doe* not ask that of him. Two months' service was as litjtlp as it could be expected any considerably body of men would accept. Mr Bryce should .remember that the only laws which a

I Statesman ought to recognise arc honor's laws, and his first consideration should be j to be above suspicion—" Do right, and | fear'Sbt.'* should be his motto. Does any ' ';pßTsbn; ■ not an inmate of a lunatic | asylum; think that the Government sup- ! posed they could get any body of men to volunteer for a fortnight's service?. If Mr Bryce expected the eaibroglio to end • in a fortnight, he did not anticipate any fighting, therefore there is not much glory attaching to his action. He expected to be what he was, the hero of a bloodless field. . If a mistake was made the men should have had the benefit of j the doubt. As for the compromise Mr . Bryce referred to, that was forced upon the Volunteers. At the instance of this Minister the House has perpetrated an act of injustice, discreditable to the colony, and disgraceful to its originator. It has repudiated a debt both honorable and legal. But this is not.the first time the Government of New Zealand has denied the promises made to Volunteers at the time of their engagement in the colony's hour of need. It is as clear as the summer sun that Col. Nixon promised the men of the defence force certain grants of land while engaging them about twenty years ago. The >ar: over, the fine old Colonel; killed, the Government turn round and s.ay that he was never authorised to make- the offer. The Commission appointed' to inquire into the claims! of Volunteers, under the Presidency of that man of Government odd jobs, Colonel Haultain, when/ they could not ignore the Coloßel'B assurance, denied his authority. Anything is promised to gain the purpose in view, and afterwards no shuffle is too mean to evade the previous engagements. And this is how New Zealand is governed.