HONOUR TO WHOM HONOUR IS DUE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2447, 17 March 1888, Page 2

HONOUR TO WHOM HONOUR IS DUE.

TO THIS EDITOIt, Sir, —In Saturday's paper you say that Sir G. Grey has written to the Town Clerk of Auckland stating how many manuscripts he is getting ready to be given to the Art Gallery. You say these manuscripts arc addresses which have besn presented to him during the long career and many public positions which he has held. So far you have said nothing wrong but in what follows lam at a loss whether you arc in derision or earnest. You say these addresses of which Auckland claims thirty-two will in future be valuable for information. I say in this you are completely wrong, these papers in future will be misleading, for in the future all the surroundings connected with the getting up of these addresses will be forgotten. It will not then be known that the foundation of these addresses were toady laudations to a vain man with the fact, as is always the ease by the wishers and receivers of toadyism, that they will benefit the giver of this toadyism. It is a safe and sure investment to Hatter a vain man ; more especially if the vain man is in a position to pay the toady at the public expense ; look at Rces, for instance, who wrote a book favourable to Sir G. Grey. Now, Mr liditor, I have not the honour of knowing you; I only know you through your paper; I have formed the idea that you are a man who is impressed with the high duties and tremendous responsibilities of the press. The press is a power of such magnitude that woe will happen to mankind if the honest press does not counterbalance the dishonest press. Knowing The Waucato Times, and forming my idea of you from it, I will not, and cannot believe, you werein earnest in saying that about the addresses which a vain man had hoarded up so as to hand down to posterity merely because his name was connected with them ! Vain man ! Yes, I say vain man. Iu these days Governors, Admirals, M.H.Ks., and all those who ore over and above us, arc always receiving addresses. Do you mean to tell me that these Governors and Admirals are hoarding up these papers to hand down to posterity as manuscripts which will be valuable"? Not at all, they take them lor what they are worth and use tlieni as waste-paper. Mr liditor, it is very well to have a little joke now and then ; you have had yours ; but what are we to think of the Auckland tlcrald in connection with the opening of the Art Gallery ? In the Weekly News it had a paragraph, stating that the Art Gallery had been opened, and that through illness, Sir G. Grey had been unable to attend ; that paragraph was a perversion of facts, a perversion with a vengence ; that paragraph was utterly uutrue to a dead man, and was toady fli.ttery to a living man. The paragraph stated that we now had a line gallery, which was a credit. It had high class paintings ; and the paragraph was so worded that by any one who did not know better he would and eould only believe that to Sir G. Grey were we indebted for these high class paintings and Art Gallery. Now, I say if Sir G. Grey had never been born we would have had the Art Gallery and our high-class paintings; but if Mr MoKelvie had not been born we would not havo had the Art Gallery with iti paintings. As far as this Art G.tilery is concerned, Mr McKelvie is a do-ad lion and Sir G. Grey is a living mouse, Mr Editor, I was reading the other day a )out the Jubilee of the greatest newspaper the world has seen. The Times is now a hundred years old, and it is still increasing in vigour. "No wonder. Its great founder laid down honest and great ?ud grand principles, these principles have never been departed from. Will the Auckland Herald live to be a hundred years old. It is to be hoped not. What do we sec of it. Contemptable paper, when iu the bitter past with all ila folly, the bitter past with its wildnessand madness, did it stand up to its responsibilities? No, it ignored the groat responsibilities of a great paper, it was wise in its day, but O, how foolishly wise, it would sit on two stools, poor wretched paper, it was afraid to offend, but would calmly sit still, and when arose burning questions, questions got up by faddists, ad venturers, schemcrs, rogues, fools, and vain ignorance, when those burning questions, burning fires, which are now consuming us, did it speak out boldly and warn us? No, it gave up the functions of the press and diverted us from t'.ie real evils, by trying to turn our attention to tho past insignificant trifles, s .oh as honey culture, forest conservative. New Hebrides, and things whieh are ail very well in their way, but when your house is being consumed to be paying attention to small things is trilling, in fact, the Herald has been fiddling when New Zealand was burning.—Yours very truly, Hakavivi,