THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, JULY 11, 1873.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1540, 11 July 1873, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, JULY 11, 1873.

In the political firmament a new constellation hath appeared. Only through the media of powerful telescopes adapted to peculiar sights is its brilliancy distinguishable, so far removed is it from this mundane sphere— "up above the world so high"— but there can be no question about it being a constellation. Its resemblance to the ursa minor of the celestial system is too well marked to be mistaken. It distinctly presents its tail to the pole-star of politics. To come down from the canopy and from metaphor to common narrative, we may say that we refer to the recent appearance on the political platform, of the representative of Reefton in the Nelson Council, Mr Joseph Ivess. Like many of our most worthy politicians, the bearer of this name, found as he was, not in a pit, but in a printing-office, is rising to be a " ruler in Egypt." There are no external reasons why he should not do so ; though it may be the. alpha and the omega of all ambition, it is sufficiently laudable to be excusable ; but it must be done by divination, after the fashion of his great prototype, not over the necks of other men, and at the sacrifice of their sensibilities, their reputation, and the truth. In consideration only of the belief that that is what is being done, and that the representatives of our own district deserve to be defended, we notice the speech of Mr Ivess at Reefton on Saturday night last, and we do so desiring to " nothing extenuate, or set down aught in malice." The representative referred to, as a representative, may be more deserving of commiseration than condemnation; his youth politically, his ignorance socially, and his activity personally, may all go to furnish excuse for him ; but, if it is within him, he must be taught to extend to others equal courtesy. Though he may be a member of a Council, it is neither his mission nor his privilege to attribute base motives, as he has done, to his seniors his superiors, and his colleagues. There is. a peculiar mixture of melancholy and amusement provoked by a perusal of Mr lvess's speech, the melancholy, we are sorry to say, predominating; This will be best illustrated by a few extracts, taken in the order of their delivery. He is an easily pleased good fellow withal. He begins by saying — "Since I had the pleasure of addressing the electors . . . I have had the pleasure of attending the session of the Council." Happy temperament to be, in such a situation, so readily capable of the reception of pleasurable sensations ! For a moment, and but .for a moment, he is modest also. ''Being a novice, I entertained serious forebodings." "But" - and the "but" comes all too quickly - - I soon found out the character of those with whom I had to deal." Did he ? And, if he did, what did he find ? In the absence of Dr Carr, it would, doubtless, be interesting, and as cheap as interesting, for the gentlemen in question to be provided with a diagnosis of their mental and moral peculiarities, and it is a pity that Mr lvess leaves so much to supposition as to what he means. Suppose we suppose that there were others spending part of their time in the study of character, how would this supposed solitary student fare? A supercilious scribe, who is more plainspoken than polite, has gone beyond bare insinuation in that particular. Does he like the picture ? Frankly, the men who constitute the Nelson Council are a fair specimen of their fellows, nor, we daresay, do they fear being "found out" even by so skilful an anatomist of "character." Rather, they would say " Amen " to his prayer, if he would " ever pray" - " O, wad some Power the giftie gie us . To see oursels as ithers see us. " Pursuing the perusal of the speech, we find in the following sentences, and notwithstanding the previous avowal of pleasure, a real original aphorism to this effect— ''Representatives are often called upon to discharge disagreeable duties," with the illustration as follows— "And I had some painful arid disagreeable duties to perform." And. who has not ? Who had not in this same session, yet who but Joseph lets it be implied that he was the one Abraham who offered up Isaac ? Our , subject, however, was himself a sacri-

fice. "I have been unjustly attacked by the Evening Mail, which is actuated by motives of malevolence. No doubt my conduct was felt to be disagreeable to the Nelson Government, and I was quite prepared for newspaper censure, but I was not prepared for such gross misrepresentation as has appeared in the columns of that paper." There is a good deal more about the Mail — how he "incurred the displeasure," "became obnoxious," to that journal, and how, from its " presumed reports" all " the poison was extracted, and anything favorable excluded." The facts, we believe, being that the Mail's reports were the most correct that .were published, and that its editor, "actuated" in this great case "by motives of malevolence," is under ordinary circumstances about the best representative of bonhommie that could be met in a long day's walk or in the columns of a sheet of double demy. Strange how the temper of the times gets changed, and things go generally out of joint, when the spirits of great men walk abroad ! As the speech advances, it thickens, and so does the plot-the multitude of plots- which Mr Ivess is there, on the platform, to reveal, with eyes up-turned and bosom bare. "Having," he says, "been behind the scenes, I am in a position to expose" — a privilege which was never accorded to poor Polonius. And, Sairey-Gamp-like, he "expoges" some desperate doings in Committee. It is a simple Committee sitting on a silly Bill, or the question of departmental expenses — "enterprises of no great pith or moment"— yet this is our lively historian's version of the minutes : — "Here the Gold Fields members had to do battle." "The battle. was fought." "This was lost, and a dead-lock ensued." " I was horrified." "I have long seen that we are drifting on to the rock of ruin." And thereupon there appears to have been " applause." Yet no mention of an encore. And still the stage effect must have been excellent. There was, however, something more to follow. " Something wicked this way comes." Observe. " The District Boards Bill was carried by the narrow majority of one, and I believe that had all the members for the West Coast remained true to their trust the Bill would have been rejected by the casting-vote of the Speaker, but I am sorry to. say that one— Mr Alexander Reid, the member for the Buller- shrank from recording his vote, and retired to the coffee-room during tho division. Breach of trust ! Moral cowardice ! Coffee! Confusion !— can it be ? It must be so. Yet, how is it? What a brief year may bring about. How men may be deceived in members. Daggers and dark lanterns ! Pictured and prosecuted last year, with four others, as a deep, dark, desperate, designing conspirator, this same person now "shrinks" from the Council Chamber, on his shaking shanks, and with his craven spirit, before the pitying, withering gaze of a Joseph, seeking refuge — and what he might devour — in a coffee-room. Coffee-and-cream-faced loon ! It is to be hoped, however, that the Reefton commentator upon the conduct of his colleagues has forgotten that, in this particular instance, the member stated openly that he would not act the part of " the dog in the manger" — a sentiment subsequently confirmed in an address to his constituents in which he says : — "While throughout its various stages, in company with other Gold Fields members, but ineffectively, opposing the Bill, I declined to sacrifice the work of the whole session when the repeated resolutions of the majority of the Council came to be confirmed on the third reading, and I justify my having done so by simply asserting my conviction that if it produce no great good it can do no harm, while it distinctly points in the direction in which future and fuller legislation ought to go." Higher game is not free from the far and wide range of our friend's great blunderbuss. He has an opinion on the railway and the Premier, and this is it :— " In my opinion the whole thing is a piece of political clap- trap on the part of Messrs Vogel and Curtis." And he adds— it is to be presumed in a political sense— "No doubt these gentlemen think to profit considerably by this stroke of policy." Thence down again to and upon his colleagues.. Thus :— "Clerk of Works, £250." I moved a recommendation of the committee that this officer be dispensed with. I was thereupon accused by Mr Guinness of having brought forward the motion from motives of malice because that officer had turned me off the Saddle road. (Laughter.) But he never did so. He never had occasion, for when I used the road I was always on foot. I certainly did write a letter to the paper respecting him, for he had been guilty of gross favoritism in regard to some of the packers, and whenever I meet with any case of favoritism I shall always put my foot on it. ( Applause.) As for Mr Pinkerton, he was driving about that day in Mr, Mirfin's buggy. , How could he discharge his duty to his constituents under such circumstances ? But so it will ever be while such representatives are returned by the electors. I regret to have to speak of gentlemen in their absence, and I may be accused of cowardice in attacking them behind their backs. This charge, however, I repudiate, as what I state here in their absence l am prepared; to state in their presence. (Hear, hear.) Noble creature! He will always put his foot in it— we beg his pardon ; "on it " were the words. He repudiates the charge-— which was never made — that he is guilty of cowardice. He will tell Mr John D. Pinkerton in his presence - to his face— that he, the said John D. Pinkerton, did — it may be wilfully, wickedly, and feloniously-drive in Mr Mirfin's buggy ! Shade of Pickwick ! How venial was your offence with Mrs Bardell compared with that of Pinkerton. with Mirtin? What was the simple secret sentiment expressed in "chops and tomato sauce" compared with the open, unconcealed offence of a member driving in a man's buggy ; and the man's name Mirfin ? Where was Mr Weller the elder that he did not warn Mr Pinkerton, as he warned Mr Pickwick of "vidders," to "Beware of buggies." How could the member for the Grey Valley— how possibly could he "discharge his duties to his constituents under such circumstances ?" Impossible. "But so it will ever be"--and, electors of the Grey Valley, pray take heed -"so will it ever be while such representatives are returned." Such representatives ! This, from such a source, is but a step from the sublime. Good natural sense, discreet silence, and modesty of demeanor, when these characteristics befit the circumstances, do not recommend themselves to the ungentle senses of " such representatives " as the member for the Inangahua. "No wonder," as we may say almost in his own words, that Mr Pinkerton should, with such opinions formed of

him, " fraternise with the Provincial Secretary." It cannot conduce to any feeling but to contempt to follow the speaker into the sink in which he sits, and stirs, and stirs again, until it stinks " aloud." The continuation of the speech is one series of personal insinuations which cannot possibly be justified by any plea of public interest or policy. At the cost of facts, he does heinous wrong, not for the first time, to his colleague at Charleston. He does the same to others whom he does not name, but whose names it should be his duty to give, if he could or dare. In what language can the following sentences, for instance, be characterised? — sentences referring to the unquestionably wrongful expenditure by the Government in procuring signatures to petitions against Separation :— "There were four members directly interested in the payments. These I had to contend against. I had to contend against docile supporters of the Government, directly under their patronage and control." This, it is needless to say, is not only a reflection upon, but a very grave charge against, the entire body of the Council— men many of whom held their seats when he was in swaddling clothes, and who are likely to do so, aged as they are, long after he has been laid out in his political shroud. " Motives of malice," he says, have been attributed to him by Mr Guinness. There may be in that assertion as much of the element of romance as there are in others ; but, even if it be not so, no unprejudiced person can peruse this speech without concluding that it exhibits a thoroughly evil spirit — unprovoked, reprehensible, and calculated to retaliate upon no one more than the member himself and his constituents.