OUR PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2389, 28 November 1870, Page 2

OUR PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Driven by the most idle curiosity, I strayed into the Provincial Council Chambers to see what sort of animals the night electors of Otago thought fit and proper to represent them; and, “Sir,” as the honorable members in that House are in the habit of saying, I was so much charmed, amused, and in-* structed —perhaps I should add fascinated—by what I saw and heard, that I have been forced to return nightly to see them carry on the—let me be charitable, and say—business of the country; though by some malicious and snarling persons 1 have heard it called a pantomime, got up among honorable members for their own pecuniary benefit, the delectation of the country, but more especially for the mental and moral well-being, both now and hereafter, of their constituents, whose intellectual faculties they are desirous of educating to the highest possible pinnacle of political clearsightedness before the coming elections. These snarling ones likewise say that it is their firmly-rooted conviction that the Councillors mean not to do any harm, but do not know rightly how to set about it. These snarlers, however, are wrong when they call the doings of the Provincial Council a pantomime. Ido not mean to say that there is not a very great amount of the essential features of a pantomime, and several very supple, lithe, übiquitous, and well-trained harlequins within the Council walls ; still, according to my idea of the word “pantomime,” the impression which harlequin aud his colleagues wish to convey is convoyed by means of action, mimicry, not by words : whereas—and in this I feel sure snarlers will agree with me—the main feature in the Council is words, words, words !

From morn till night, from night till startled morn. And consequently the performance cannot, with propriety of language, bo called a pantomime, although the performers be harlequins and clowns. After the performance and utterances of Thursday, 1 would be more inclined to look on the whole affair as burlesque. lam referring to the —I suppose I must call it—speech, Heaven forgive me, of Dunedin’s latest darling. I know nothing of the gentleman privately, but if his mother had been a Billiusgate fishwife, he would not have disgraced bis training. To think of the spectacle he made of himself makes me sad, and when I am sad I am inclined to be in earnest, and say that surely the Provincial Council of Otago saw that night the lowest abyss of degradation possible. I am entirety ignorant of the doings in former councils, but I cannot conceive of any display more unworthy a legislative body. Had I been Mr Driver, I do not think I could have refrained from kicking his Worship the Mayor. Would Mr Fish dare to use the same language on the street that he made use of in the Council? Mr Driver, too, asked for the protection of the House. Out upon the men—honorable men, forsooth—who had so little respect for their own dignity as not only to allow Mr Fish to proceed, but actually to encourage him by clapping their hands. The Council has no respect for itself, neither have I. Mr Driver must be raised iu the estimation of every man (whatever his idea of the Hundreds Act may be) who saw him during Mr Fish’s display, and heard the few calm words he spoke when Mr Fish was done. I have a proposal to make, one which, if carried into effect, would be of great value to hon. members individually, with one or two exceptions (it is open to every humble as well as honorable gentleman to feel quite satisfied that I am referring to him) to the Council as a body, to their constituents, and others who have to listen to them and to those young people amongst us to whom the English of M. P.C.’s is pointed out as a model as regards purity, fitness, strength, pronunciation, grammar, tone and emphasis. Though doubtless hon. members think themselves reproachless—unapproachable I might say—on these points, none of them will oppose the following resolution when brought down by his Hoxim’s Government :—lst, That when we consider the state of education in this Council—our grrmmar, our pronunciation (the Government may amend the resolution at this point, and insert spelling), our utterance and our style, our (in) ability tp comprehend the meaning of the words we use ourselves, far less what honorable members mean us to understand from the words they use—when we consider the fact that when w’c stand up to speak we do not know what we want to say, and when we sit that we do not know what we have been saying—it is bigb time we set about securing to oui selves some benefit from that system of education, of which we boast so much as b dug oar best of workmanship. 2nd. That in order to secure to ourselves these benefits, the want of which on our part the whole of New Zc; land has had so much reason to deplore, the fodowing plan should be adopted, viz., to set apart our LI per day, except in those cases where the withdrawal of the whole 20s would entail actual starvation ; in such cases only 12s Gd to be taken—for the purpose of paying a qualified staff of teachers to be engaged for our instruction ; and so our education w r ould be no tax upon the country, and we should be lifted to fulfil onr duties as legislators worthily. Sir, this resolution will be the moans'of cementing the broken, factions, and “objective” House in the bonds of good fellowship. I will uot take it upon me to dictate to hon. members what the exact nature of their curriculum ought to be. still this hint may be of use to them—and they have it ungrudgingly—avoid ! avoid Adam Smith and J, V, Mill —“arcades amho" (Byrouic) “ft hoc genu* omnr." A few Latin quotations mieht be useful to them as sure to bring down the applause of members, because they do not know what is said or meant, and wish it to Ibo thought that they do. Good, useful books they would find the “ Imperial Dictionary,” “ Lindley Murray,” and “ Morell,” “ VVhately’s Logic,” and Locke on “The Conduct of the Understanding.” The present sitting shows that they understand perfectly the “conduct of a debate.” PiIVETTER.