THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, JULY 28, 1882. THE MEMBER FOR STANMORE.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2592, 28 July 1882, Page 2

THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, JULY 28, 1882. THE MEMBER FOR STANMORE.

"The gentlemen from beyond the Mountain " are apparently completely nonplussed at the action of the member for Stan more. That gentleman was, as is well known, elected on the Liberal ticket. He went up to "Wellington prepared, no dcmbt, to endeavor to oust the present Ministry, and to seat in their places a Ministry formed from members of his own way of thinking. Arrived there, he finds the Opposition in tho greatest possible confusion. Sir George Grey has his own knot of devoted followers; Mr. Macandrew has bis. And finally there is po»r Mr. Montgomery, who is elected leader at frequent intervals, only to be deposed with equal regularity. There are no settled plans, no arrangements for the future, no hope of keeping office, even if the present holders of powers are beaten. The next step in the drama is for Sir George Grey to move an outrageous motion which no one except himself believes in, and which would, if carried, cause a complete bouleversement of our political status. Mr. Pilliet, like a sensible man, refuses to be a party to the placing ef such a measure on our statute book. He sees that it would do the Opposition no possible good, and that a grave slur would be thrown on our Legislature if it were passed. He votes according to his conviction on this particular point. But this does not suit the sanscullotic section of his supporters. With them it is a case of seizing every possible opportunity to turn the Government out of office by means good, bad, or indifferent. After they have done this they care little whether the deluge comes or not. Theirs is a policy of vengeance pure and simple, and they expect their representative to descend to their level. Their late attempts to show their anger against Mr. Pilliet have let the world into some of the lower levels of their political life. They wish

for 8 representative bound hand and foot to their own type of what ia politically advisable and right. Now we have no possible wish to see the member for Stanmore foreswear the pledges he took at election time. Bat this we do say, that the nltra section of Stanmore electors are altogether unreasonable. If they wish to see their representative act as a blind beater of the air in his hatred

to things as they are, they should have chosen a gentleman from Sunnysido, and given him strict instructions to listen to nothing, observe nothing, and act with an unreasonable ferocity on all possible occasions. The Government, we feel sure, have no burning desire to count Mr. Pilliet as a supporter if their existence is at stake, and there is some reasonable chance of an administration being formed out of their opponents. They have managed to get along very well so far without him, and can no doubt succeed in doing so for some time longer. But, in the name of common sense and all that is fair, let us hear no more of this absurd attempt to coerce the opinions of a gentleman who has no wish to turn our constitution upside down for the mere sake of bringing about the deluge. If the Stanmore electors had wanted that sort of man they should, as already suggested, have chosen a man from Sannyside, or should have advertised for a thorough-going Nihilist.

A SUGGESTION. The sensational remarks made by Mr. George last night in the House as to the sanitary state of the building, cannot fail to attract attention. Not only, remarked that gentleman, were the arrangements for ventilation so defective, that only one reporter had been found to be sufficiently strong to resist the malign influences of the bad air, but there was another matter of even more pressing importance. " A few days ago," said Mr, George, " a 'gentleman belonging to. the Reporting

Gallery has been taken suddenly, unwell. Bis medical attendant stated that he was suffering from arsenical poisoning, and, on investigating the matter, it was found that the green damask hangings, with which the chamber were surrounded, were impregnated with arsenic, and to that cause the illness was attributed." The previous night, too, a. member of the House was attacked in precisely the same way, and was at the time very unwell. Major Atkinson, of course, at once said that the affair should, be gone thoroughly into, and it would b» endeavored to improve the ventilation, and the hangings would be removed, if they were found, on inquiry, to be dangerous. There can be no doubt that, if the state of things is as bad as represented, immediate precautions must be taken. If the House is not in a healthy state it is useless to expect that our representatives can give that attention to the affairs of the country that must be expected of them. A mens sana in corpore sano is a sine qua non for everybody who has to work as hard as have the gentlemen whomanage the nation's affairs in Wellington. "With regard to the arsenical poisoning which Mr. Goorge says is one of the dangers which members have to face, it may be well to consider if it has not something to answer for beyond the of the two gentlemen to whom he referred, 'lhe symptoms of poisoning by arsenic are described as being at first a feeling o£ irritation, and a quickening of the pulse. Next comes nausea, and after that depression and faintness. Now all this is precisely what has happened to the Opposition. At frequent intervals of late there has been found to exist in its ranks a quickening of the pulse, a feeling of irritation, and a wish to fly out in any direction with no observable reason. Spasmodic attempts to do something regardless of consequences, and an entire disregard of what is to come next, have shown that a serious derangement of their political systems has supervened. Next, immediately following defeat, comes nausea, and finally a deep depression, and faintness. These after - symptoms follow the previous ones with great certainly, and one has had occasion to wonder both at the misdirected attempts and the subsequent dejection. If, however, Mr. George is right in his conjectures, physical reasons may account for these mental phenomena. If the Opposition are suffering from arsenical poisoning they are more to be pitied than blamed. A change in the hangings of the Chamber may have a most salutary effect on their future actions. The irritation and the consequent depression may disappear, and they may have to thank one of their own adherents for a return to that placid and reasonable frame of mind which is so desirable in a body of men carrying out one of the greatest of the functions of political life.