THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 1881. AN EXHAUSTED LEGISLATOR.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2302, 19 August 1881, Page 2

THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 1881. AN EXHAUSTED LEGISLATOR.

Mr. Pike's gigantic labors as a legislator are beginning to tell on him. Ho bas given notice that he will move : " That as the House has now been in session for a period o£ ten weeks, and as the business of the session is just commencing, the House should prorogue for a sufficient interval as would enable the Governor to pay bis projected visit to the Western Pacific, and also for enabling members to recruit their wasted energies of body and mind." It must be presumed that the motion is made in all seriousness, because, if looked upon as a mere joke, the affair is so very ponderous that we can scarcely imagine even Mr. Pyke venturing to perpetrate it. And, indeed, the supposition that the motion is made in good faith is strengthened by the fact that the Opposition are constantly bringing forward motions of a serio-comic nature with the full intention that they shall bo carrier', if possible. For instance, in to-dav's report of the Parliamentary proceedings is to be found a proposal, of a Greyite member, that Parliaments shall be annual, and another proposal, from the same side, that New Zealand shall be separated into two provinces. Mr. Pyke, therefore, is keeping up the traditions of his party when he brings forward a motion whicb, to the ordinary observer, appears to be nothing more than a somewhat heavy jest. Our only surprise is that Mr. Pyke bas not fixed the time for the temporary adjournment of proceedings for an ealier date. The Governor is to proceed in the " Emerald" to Fiji about the middle of next month, when it is to be presumed that Parliamentary work will be very nearly completed, so that the member for Dunstan proposes that another three weeks of hard work shall still be gone through before the holidays commence. Judging by his longing for political and physical rest, it is difficult to estimate, even if bis motion is carried, the amount of annoyance Mr. Pyke will endure during these same throe weeks. He will be dreaming of the rural bliss he might be enjoying with his constituents among the breezy hills of Otago; of the otium cum dignitate which is the birthright of all celebrated politicians when not on the war path. Whether growing cabbages as the retired Roman Emperor, or driving the plough as a second Cincinnatus, or telling his beads like the abdicated Charles V., or whether delighting the mining population of Vincent County by working with the shovel and cradle, we may feel sure that there would be a simple dignity about Mr. Pyke that would ensure his losing no prestige as a legislator. A. "jumper" cannot ceuceal a leading Liberal any more than a smock frock can hide one of Nature's noblemen. Sir George Grey entertaining travelling aristocrats at Kawau, Mr. Sheehan enjoying himself in a Maori pah, Mr. Macandrew mopping up porridge to the strains of a bagpipe, are all examples of the simple grace which is inherent in a Liberal—3 grace quite independent of time, vocation, or place. The picture of Mr. Pyke panning out a dish or two "for the fun of the thing," surrounded at a respectful distance by a circle of picturesque diggers, and relating, while at intervals he wipes hisheatedbrow, the simple anecdotes for which ho is so celebrated—this picture will at once strike the imagina- ■ tion as the ne plus ultra of what a true legislator should be in vacation time. It must be impossible for a man to do a thing so thoroughly and so well as Mr. Pyke is sure to do " the ruralizing politician," without thoroughly enjoying his part; so that, quite apart from the fatigues he, along with his party, has gone through, there seems ample reason why the member for Dunstan should bring forward his motion for a temporary respite even three weeks hence. But, perhaps Mr. Pyke'a labors have been of a particularly exhausting and harrowing nature, giving him a peculiar claim for repose. One thing is certain, namely, that ho began the session with a disappointment. His special and pet platform was ruthlessly broken up before ho bad time to open his mouth on the subject. Ho went up to Wellington filled with a noble thirst on the subject of tbo Otago runs. He chose to take it for granted that the Government were not going to move in the matter, or that, if they wore, their proposals would be eminently favorable to the " bloated squatter." Ho found, however, that the Ministry had taken the matter into consideration, and were making proposals which, when the present leases fell in, would ensure that the largest possible number of persons would be settled on these pastoral lauds. The despair of Mr. Pyke at seeing that the ground was cut from under his feet may be gauged by his subsequent conduct. He did not cease to agitato; the platform he considered his own; and it was no more nor less than an impertinence for the Government to meddle in the matter. He got up a mooting of Otago and Sutherland members, interviewed Mr. Rolloston, and suggested a special committee. But tho bitter fact remained that his grievance was destroyed before he had tho power to claim it in public as his own. A session began so inauspicionsly has not made amends for so unfortunate an opening. Mr. Pyke has found the Greyite party to be disorganised and distrusted by tho country. Ono passing triumph he certainly had, namely, that of forcing the House to wait for his return from tho South on tho occasion of tho vote on tho Want of Confidence motion. But the result of tho division must, to a certain extent, have dashed his joy on this occasion. The affairs of his party have not mended as the session has gone on. They have succeeded in wasting the time of tho representatives and a largo amount of money, by moving questions of no practical value. The party, as a whole, bus boon drifting steadily to leoward. Hence Mr. Pyke is sick of it all, and wishes for ie.t. Tho endless talk of his •vn political associates disttr' s his slumbers on tho benches of the House.

Ho longs for tlio breezy downs of V : nc nt County Hiul tlio Arcadian simplicity of a country life.