THE WAIRAU REPRESENTATION

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume III, Issue 250, 27 June 1881, Page 2

THE WAIRAU REPRESENTATION

To the Editor. Sir, —In Saturday’s issue of your local contemporary I observed a remarkable statement, the authorship of which was credited to its Wellington correspondent, -whose wonderful deliverances, I may remark, remind one irresistibly of that famous romancer Croumbie-Brown. So long as this worthy correspondent devoted himself to chronicling the various moves of the Opposition lie did not acquit himself badly, considering the opinions he was hound to give prominence to, but now that he has ventured to express one or two of his own he simply succeeds in proving his own stupidity and incapacity. He gravely informs us that Mr Seymour has so far taken no part in any debate, “even where the interests of Blenheim were clearly at stake, as in the question of wine making from fruit other than grapes.” The sapient correspondent then proceeds to draw a moral to the effect that the fact of Mr Seymour being Chairman of Committees lessens his usefulness to the electorate he represents, which to a great extent becomes disenfranchised.” Could anything lie iporc utterly absurd? The correspondent)evidently believes in that blatant class of legislators who practice “speaking for bunkum” and swell the columns of Hansard for no other earthly reason than that of seeing their precious dcliverauces appear in print at the public expense. It is more than doubtful whether any speech made in our Colonial Legislature has ever had the effect of influencing a vote, and anyone acquainted with Parliamentary procedure would he able to inform this ty'ro that tho speeches are chiefly made to impress the outside public with a due sense of the ability and importance of their represent;!* tive. Bearing this in mind, and remom* bering that the cost of Hansard has to be borne by the Colony of which Marlborough is a part, and also that the more speeches made the longer and more expensive the session is likely to prove, I for one heartily approve of the action taken by Mr Sejmour in contenting himself with recording his vote conscientiously. As regards tho district being practically unrepresented, that is clearly absurd, for although a man may speak by the yard yet he cannot increase his voting power, and the minds of members are fully made up before they enter the House. For what Mr Seymour has done for Marlborough since he became representative we have not to look very far for instances ; in fact even now some L4OOO is being spent in tilthstriet which would not have been the case had it not been for his active exertions. The correspondent is evidently writing under Hendersonian, or Greyite, inspiration, and therefore, is not to lie trusted too far. If a very improbable occurrence took place and Mr Henderson did succeed in getting into tlie House, I have no doubt whatever he would speak and speak upon every conceivable subject “in one weak, washy, everlasting flood” of hypocritical gush until he became a nuisance to {the House, and his rising a signal for all who valued their time to leave. In the local bodies with which he is connected, we have had fair examples of his power to weary his hearers by uttering lengthy tirades in the hope of being reported in the public prints, lmt, strange to say, none of these vocal efforts have been successful in doing anything else but giving offence, and the voting was invariably against tlie opinions he maintained. One may fairly wonder what lie would have said upon this question of making wine. Surely he could not have supported a local industry of this nature ? A man who seeks to curry favor with Good Templars, and delivers careful non-committal platform speeches would hardly dare to support anything of although in this case under considißjatioii some allowance would have to be maclp for the individual’s well-known capacity for “ adapting himself to circumstances” or in homelier language “turning his coat.” I shall not be surprised to see him figuring as “Bro.” Henderson before next election, though I would not recommend anyone else to descend to such paltry and transparent devices.-—I am, <fcc. Consistency.