THE Manawatu Times. THURSPAY, JAN. 11, 1883. A TITLED SLANDERER.

Manawatu Times, Volume VIII, Issue 158, 11 January 1883, Page 2

THE Manawatu Times.

THURSPAY, JAN. 11, 1883. A TITLED SLANDERER.

a Words are things, and a drop of ink tal'iug like dew upon a thought. produces thi.t which jaalce3 thousands, perhaps millions think."

During his term of office m New * Zealand Sir Arthur Gordon's conduct was not of a 'kind calculated to raise him m the estimation of the Colonists, or to improve the prospei*ity of the country. We were m hope that his removal would be attended with a cessation of his evil deeds so far as they affected this ce-. lony, but it appears that he has since been engaged m the congenial task of slandering our public men who held opinion? at variance with his somewhat peculiar and narrow- ideas. The lions Messrs Bryee and MajorAtkinson appear to be the special objects cf his hatred, as disclosed m a voluminous report he has furnished to the Imperial Parliament upon the subject- of recent native affairs. Alluding te this the N.Z. Times says : — " We had hoped even to the last that some excuse might have been found for the almost ineon* ceivable meanness and folly of Sir Arthur Gordon, and we even held back the te'egram Aye received for j 24 hours befcro publishing* it m the expectation that something might be found. in the text of his despatches to Lord Kimberley which would palliate the offences of the slander and falsehood published by him, and reflecting on his own responsible advisers. Unhappily for his reputation, there is literally nothing whatever to excuse his conduct." After recounting* the circumstances the Times asks, "What can be (oncluded from these facts but that. Sir Arthur Gordon, a Governer of an impprtant colony, the Queen's, representative, a person belonging to one of the noblest families m the kingdom, has not hesitated to stoop so low as to become, from party and personal spito a slanderer and a perverter of the truth ? The voluminous Blue Bojlc of 291 pages,tkrough which we have laboriously waded, and which lias been placed before the Imperial Parliament on the sub"

I ject of Sir Arthur ' Gordon, his Ministry, and the more recent native affairs of this cclony, contains ample : proof to shpw him unfit ever again ,to . be. recogniaed as her Majes- . ty's representative, or even to • associate with, gentlemen." The i New Zealand Herald is even : more explicit m its condemnation of .Sir Arthur, as thp following quota- ' tion will shew : — On a recent occa- ■ sion Mr- Sheehan exclaimed, ' Measureless liar, thou hast made my heart too great for. what contains it;' and if the quotation were not ' a little hackneyed by this time, and if the person to whom it was applied were npt a representative of HerMajesty, we might point to what we | published yesterday, and to w 7 hat we publish to-day, aa reason for ; quoting- Shakespeare's plain English to Sir Arthur Gordon. That q/licial ( we ought to say ' that gentleman, but do not find it possible ') is evidently determined to do all the. harm he can to New Zealand, and to •represent its public men, placed m the position they occupy by the people and supported by the people, as unprincipled, heartless scound- ' rels, and wo clo not see m these circumstances why wo should' be mealy mouthed m referring to him. Sir Arthur Gordon, Governor of New Zealand, stands convicted of garbling a. despatch of one of his. Ministers, by omitting certain phrases so as to make it appear that the only object cf' the Ministry was tp seize land. Worse than this, if pessiule, he actually, m his despatch to the Ilome Government — a despatch which would be officially published to the whole world — pens tho following statement : — ' Major Atkinson is reported to have expressed a hope that the Maoris would be exterminated.' It is *iz months after his Excellencypenned the above that Major Atkinson has a chance to contradict it, The Major-is said to be somewhat choleric, but we think if he had not been the most calm and patient of men that he would, when he saw the above-quoted fal»ie and cowardly insinuation, have gone straight for Government House to .kick "sir Arthur Gordon. His Excellency knew when ho was sending Horn,**' bis statement tp the Privy Council of Her Majesty (offering it, indeed, to. the Queen herself) tliat he was. insinuating, a mean falsehood. He was bound not to make such a statement rashly about one of his Ministers, and at any time he could m five minutes have ascertained its truth or falsehood, ii he had desired to do so; but he sent it Home