The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1900-12-29
Grattan Grey is Victim of Intolerance Antpodes
at the Hands of the English.
He sympahized with the Beers and Opposed Sending
of Colonial Troops into africa.
Dismissed from the Splendid Position Of Staff
of the Parliamentary Reporters.

Mr.. J. Grattan Grey, who is at pres
ent in Dublin, left Ireland forty years
ago and won an honorable and promi-
nent position for himself by hard work
and sheer ability on the New Zealand
press. Twenty-Five years ago he Joined
the Hansard staff of the New Zealand
parliament, and eventually became
chief of that staff at a salary of E4O0
a year-it being specifically stated in
his agreement with the government
that he was ut liberty to exercise his
profession as journalist outside the
time devoted to his duties as the re-
sponsible chief of the official parlia-
mentary staff. Thus, Mr.. Grattan
Grey's position was not that of Il civil
servant He contracted to perform
certain work, and for many years he
discharged his duties so satisfactorily
that his bitterest enemies could not
find fault. And that the successful
Irishman had malignant enemies the
event showed.
When the war broke out in South
Africa. Mr.. Grattan Grey refused to
drift with the tide of jingoism set in
motion by title-hunting premiers in
the colonies. Mr.. Seddon, the premier
Of Australia, aims high. He might
have been Il knight-but he wants to
be baronet-and he saw in the war
his opportunity of earning the higher
dignity at no expense at all to him.
self, no matter what it might cost the
New Zealanders in blood and treasure.
So he set about organizing Il contin-
gent of volunteers, and other persons
who stood to gain in one way or anoth-
er, helped him to create a semblancc
of jingo enthusiasm, which was not
shared in by the sensible people Of the
colony. All the colonial ''loyalty'
Dragged of by Mr.. Chamberlain is ar
tificfal Gentlemen like Mr.. Seldom,
who wanted titles and recognition,
were helped by spectators and con-
tractors who profted by the expedi-
tions sent from Australia and New
Zealand; and the volunteers were
mainly young men out Of work who
believed they were on the high road to
fortune under the pleasantest condi-
tons. A free passage to South Africa
"a picnic on the way to Johannesburg
and then gold galore out of the mines
these were the prospects that tempt
ed the Australians and New Zealand
ers who gaily embarked on the service
of Mother England to the huge de-
light of Mr. Joseph Chamberlain.
The hollowness, the cruelty, and the
injustice of it all were evident to Mr..
Grattan Grey. He had written for the
New York Times on various subjects
previously; and, soon after the out
break of the war he contributed an
able article on the War Question to the
American paper. He wrote as colon
ial:-,
"Victoria, New South Wales, and
Queensland have voted 100000 each,
and New Zealand $4,000 in excess Of
that amount; but if the war lasts for
six months they will require to make
calls upon their respective treasures
which will bring each colony's contri-
button up to at least 100000. When
enthusiasm cools down, no doubt peo-
pie will begin to think that the money
would have been spent to better pur-
pose on public works within the col
onies, themselves; but they cannot help
remembering the fact that a precedent
has now been established, and that the
colonies will have to take similar ac-
ton upon any future occasion, even
without any justification for the belief
(as in the present instance) that the
safety of the empire is endangered.'
This was the moderate and sensible
view of an enlightened and truly pa
triOtic citizen. The article was pub
lished in the New York Times on No
vember Goth, 1899. Onthe Goth of jan
uary it was reproduced in the Dune
din Star-a paper controlled by parties
who had long cherished bitter hostil-
ity to Mr.. Grattan Grey. in one of the
trenchant pamphlets against the war
published by the plucky Irish journal
list, he writes:-
"Not content with reproducing my
article from the New York Times the
Dunedin Star man assailed me in the
coarsest and most vindictive terms
In language which one might expect
from some ignorant and infuriated
nsh-fag, or from that Dublin virago
whom the late Daniel O'Connell once