IDIOSYNCRASIES.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 388, 18 August 1876, Page 3

IDIOSYNCRASIES.

JR«t every de*pe*afe blockhead dares to write ; Why not 1- 'Art of Poetry.' • There are some respects in which the Member for Auckland City East (Mr. Rees) lias a good deal of the instinct of the bloodhound in him. With the sole exception of r George Grey he lias a nose for scenting •out corruption and bribery in every shapo and form such as is not possessed by anyone else in the country, ludeed, in this particular line, lie may be regarded as an independent discoverer, or co-discoverer with Sir George ; and as the latter rerehed his climax, So to speak, when he discovered that Sir Julius was going to bombard Auckland, so Mr. lieee has secured his reputation by detecting bribery and corruption in that gentleman's balls and supper parties. Such things, however, were not going to get the better of him, whatever effect they might have on other hon. members. He was above such baits, and ordered them, satan like, to get behind him : he at least, like Julius C;esar, was "not going to be By that which mclteth fools." There is a little satisfaction in observing that the remark of Mr. Uees called forth sounds of disapprobation from all sides of the Houpe, which seemed a little to stagger the hon. member, who is evidently not accustomed to bo kept within the bounds of common decency. Aud probably most people will feel disposed to differ with him when he declared that, for whatever he said that was wrong, he alone was responsible. [f the responsibility does riot. certainly the stain of his foolish utterances will, in some measure, rest with his co-u orkers in the cause of Separation ; with the eonstituences by which these are returned ; and last, but not least, with the particular constituency of Auckland City East, which foigoi itself so far as to choose this most vulgar and intemperate spirit to represent it. + I was not. aware that the few innocent remarks I made a couple of weeks ago re the Local Option Bill were calculated to give offence ; hut, from a letter which I subjoin, it is quite clear that such is really the ease. The letter is as follows :—■ " Naseby, August. " Mn, Parthian, — "Sir,—There are some people in this world (and not a hundred miles from Naseby too) who think they know everything, and all the time they don't Icnoiv nothing. I won't mention names, —there's no necessity ; A nod's as good as a wink to a blind horse. And so you don't like local option, forsooth ! You don't approve of power being in the hands of the people ! on don't believe in " vox poipori, vox diddledi," that grand old maxim for which Wallace was gloriously hanged and Abraham Lincoln poisoned. But allow me to inform you of three things : Jst, That there is such a thing as a British Lion ; 2nd, '1 hat that lion has got corns, and, 3rd, That he he don't like his corns trod upon. And now, to descend to personal matters, you think you're not known I suppose. But allow rne to inform you that / know you, and that, a good many more besides me know you, and that we knew you 1"> years ago in Beucligo when jjoii collared the hoot and sliddered.

" Yours, &c., "John Smith." I really don't know who Mr. Smith is, although I might, make a stale joke by saying that I had heard the name, before somewhere. Perhaps I would i ot be fur off the mark if I Were to exclaim with hhylock ■' How liko a fawning publican ho looks." However, it is quite clear to tne that, when I expressed my disapproval of taking a vote upon the question of licenses (which t really would regard r;i a tremendous evil) I ran counter to the feeling of that portion of the New Zealand public, which is made up of John Smiths. * The custom of cheering and otherwise encouraging a young member who has just delivered his uiaii.tn speech, is un excellent 'fne. It incites or to incite to better tilings on ilie prut c.f thu speaker, anditconfirrrn in tbo House of ipunero&ity, 19

tho instinct of which an individual member may perhaps be wanting. Mr. Hislop's maiden speech was an undoubtedly-creditable one, but it might have been eveu belter were it not for the fact that he has come out under the auspices of very bad patrons. The tone throughout of the,present Opposition betrays such a depth of virulent personal as well as political animosity—an animosity of which Mr. Stout, with his good sense and tolerant nature, seems now to be a little ashamed—that it would be a wonder indeed if a young man, of strong party tendencies, were to remain entirely untainted by such example and such precept. Thus it was that, in an attempt to follow the lino of battle prescribed by his chiefs, Mr. Hislop was led into a manifest inconsistency when he declared that " all the Premier had to say in answer to Kir George Grey's resolutions was an ad m'ttericordiam appeal," and then, in the same breath, accused him of treating the Houss with a " supercilious arrogance which was not calculated to soiten the intensity of the Opposition." Now, let Sir Julius Vogcl bo what he may, most people—even Mr. Rees probably—will admit that he is not an absolute fool, that in fact he is one of the last men in New Zealand to take the trouble to make an ad misericordiam appeal, the object of which would of course be to '• lessen the intensity of the Opposition," while at same time he was deliberately pursuing a line of conduct which was calculated in the highest degree to increase that intensity. Sir Julius is a year or two older than Mr. Hislop, and knows better the value of time. Of course its trying to the -vanity of the Opposition to tinvl that all their thunderbolts can scarcely provoke an arrow in return : that their deadliest shafts have not even the success which attended the half pike of the Lilliputian guardsman, a vigorous thrust of which oil the inside of Gulliver's left nostril tickled him into a gentle sneeze. Thi3 is the nature of the supercilious arrogance " for which the Government are censured, but to which the country ought to bo grateful, if it has the effect of making Opposition arguments—such as those to which we have been rec«ntly accustomed—perish of inanition. •*. .. —, It is generally considered the correct thing to restrain from attacking an absent man, or one who is prohibited from returning the compliment. But I confess that 1 never could see the force of this sentiment. I love to deal my blows in security, and like the " dainty Ariel" to keep very quiet indeed in the presence of the enemy " In the cowslip's bell I lie, There I couch when owls arc nigh."

All of which means that I am going to have a shot at our own worthy representative, Mr. de Lautour, the more readily as I will probably have cleared out of Naseby before he returns. Well, the hon. member made use of an ingenious argument the other day, which does not, however, deceive me. "Separation resolutions," said lie, " are not an attempt to pull down the Constitution, because the Constitution is already a wreck. Was not Provincialism a part of the Constitution, and where ia it now ?" Where, indeed ! say 1. But let us try the test of analogy to this argument. Mr. de Lautour meets an enemy fresh from the hospital, after a successful operation. *' We can't possibly do anything to injure this man," says the member for Mount Ida, "he is already a wreck. Had he not originally a polypus on his nose, and a carbuncle on his neck ; where are those things now ?" So that there really was no reason why lie should not annihilate him outright.

Mk. Stafford hit the nail on the head when he said there was no more extravagant people than the people of New Zealand ; and probably Mr. Bowen spoke the literal truth when ho declared that half the time of Government is taken up in repelling pressure from frovincialists. Of course it is the people that are at fault ; they want to eat their cake and have it at the same time : to sell their lands and yet preserve intact the public estate ; to do away with public servants, but to retain at all hazards the particular friends of each member of the community in offioe. A curious instance of this extravagance is given in the spoech of Mr. John M'Kenzie, M.P.C , at Palmerston, the other day. Mr M'Kenzie has a good deal of the " people's man " about him, and takes an evident pride in the amount of money hehas squandered where it was not required. •' Every session I got sums placed on the Supplementary Estimates, and not only that but I ensured their being spent." The Shftg Valley bridge it appears cost £:' 852, thanks to Mr. M'Kenzie who got the money for it, although, as he naively remarks, " the river is very apt to get dry " pretty often. .Of course it is apt to get dry. If the bridge were really wanted there would be ho credit to Mr. M'Kenzie for getting the money. Is he not a Provincial Councillor ? Paethiak.