 At least one newspaper had a good word for Gribble, saying he might have lost in court, but had won admiration from much of the country, and had stirred government into tightening the laws regarding employment of native labour.The "West Australian" and "Western Mail" were ecstatic, declaring the decision a victory for the Colony, gloating that Gribble had a day or two later "left the colony in a clandestine manner".The Governor of Western Australia, F. Napier Broome, who had earlier been criticised for an un-statesmanlike reference to Gribble's journal, now weighed in on the side of the newspaper, echoing its line that Gribble's attack had been on the whole Colony, and made available for publication detailed defences of his Government and the settlers.