THE Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 28, 1881. LAST SCENE OF ALL.

Manawatu Times, Volume V, Issue 163, 28 September 1881, Page 2

THE Manawatu Times.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 28, 1881. LAST SCENE OF ALL.

" Words m Wrings, Md a, drop of Ink falling lota iUw »p»n *, tb»nshi, prodnon 6h»t which makes thou.?aais, irarhajKi mlllioca thiak."

The curtain has fallen ; the lights are turned down ; the Speaker's chair is empty, and the cushioned lounges fail to sustain the graceful forms of wearied statesmen, posed m graceful attitudes of ease and elegance. The Senate Chamber no longer re-echoes the ornate eloquence of a Seddojt, and the witticisms of the genial Pykje, are golden treasures stored ■with the memories of the past. The M.s and the O.s have all alike joined m the general stampede, and the order has been, " Heigh, for home, and the Devil take the hindmoßt." Could we but convey to paper the feelings which filled the breast of each departing senator, ai he turned to gaze upon his seat, mayhap for the last time, it might be that our readers would have m their mind's eye the picture of Adam turning his back upon Edeu, or Ishmael going forth to banishment, and they would unconsciously apostrophise th» exiles m the language of the great Cardinal : — Farewell, a long farewell to all my greatness ! This is the state of man. To-day lie puts forth The tender leaves of hope ; to-movvow blossoms And bears his blushing honors thick upon him. The third day comes a frost, a killing 1 frost ; And when he thinks, good easy mac, full surely His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root j And then he falls, as I do. If we alter the text of Shakespeabe, and substitute "the third teab comes a frost," the Chancellor's soliloquy will aptly apply to twothirds of the representatives m the third session of the seventh Parliament of New Zealand. That Ministertal pillar, the . aristocratic Bban--dost will share the fate of the Stonewallers he sought to crush, and if the Nelson Victims will no longer "catch the Speaker's eye" they will have the consolation of knowing that they are out iv the cold m good company. " Coining events cast their shadows before," and it is now the prevailing opinion thatthe Dove of V estoe, when once sent forth from the ark at Eangitikei, w ill have to seek elsewhere for a resting place. The jaunty, smirking air and defiant swagger with which the aged Knight quitted the chamber of debate at the close of the Session, was provocative of much comment, and gave warrant for credence of the very general report that when, like Jonah, he should be thrown overboard by his constituency, his political saviour, the Hon. John, would rescue him as he did the pre•ent A.tt«rney-Greneral and send him to keep company with the fossils of i the Upper House. But it is not alone those hon. member* whose constituencies have baen swallowed up, who have entered St. Stephen's for the last time. To a great many a day of reckoning is at hand, and those who have proved recreant to the trust reposed m them, have good reason to fe*r that the affix to their names has been written for the last time. In this category stands fto

miniature member for Grey Valley, Mr. Thomas Weston, ■who may now be Baid to have passed through the Valley of Political Death, and to be numbered with the Outs. Hi« career m the ."Senate has been a particularly short but a not particularly bright one, and will be remembered alone as an instance of how false successful candidates can be after election to the pledges made before it. Then there is the Rodent Triumvirate, Messrs. Wood, Swanson, and Huest, whose political corruption will for ever cast a dark shadow of shame over the people of Auckland West, "Waifcemata, and Newton; and may possibly form the indictment which will for ever relegate them to obscurity. Looking back upon the work of the Ses•ions and considering that the labors and eloquence of the House of Representatives have cost the couutry some £25,000, we ask what measures of importance have been passed, and what hat the colony gained m return for such an outlay. The followingg ia the list of Acts passed : — Social.— Adoption of Children, Chinese Immigrants, Divorce and Matrimonial Causea Amendment; Epmloyment of Females aad others, Gaming and Lotteries, Licdn* sing, Neglected and Criminal Children Acts Amendment, Public Health Acts Amendment. Judical. — Animals Protection Act Amendment, Crown Scuts, Prisons Act Amendment, Supreme Coir.t Practice and Procedure Amendment. Temto:ia\ Drainage, Fencing, Public Domains, Public Reserves, Rabbit Nuisance yhe<-p Act Amendment, lueimal Springs. Native. — Native L?nd Act Amendment, Natives Lands Fiaud Prevention, Native Succession. Financial. — Appropriation, Imprest Bills (3), New Zealand Consolidated Stock Act Amendment, Public Revenues. Fiscal.— Customs Excise, Property Assessment Act Amendment, Pioperty Tax, Sam() Act, 1875, Amendment, Deceased Persons Estates Duties. Public Works. Immigiation aod Public Works, Bail way Authorisation, Bailvvay Construction and Land. Electoial — ovrnpt: Piacfices Pteventian, Regulation of Elections, Representation. i-pecifcl, — Chatham Isk-nd, Diseased Cauie, Dog Registration Act Amendment, Hawke'-i Hay and Ma>l'o Rivers Act Ame:idm>.nt, Post Office, Pa' ent Act Aineuiimeut, Town Disttictß Voiunte-iis. If we except the Fencing, Eailways Construction and Land, Eailways xluthorisation, and Drainage Acts, there is not a useful measure or one of local importance amongst the long catalogue here presented. The Gaming and Lotteries Act is a fat ce, and the Licensing Act a fraud, while the Eepresentation Act is a monstrous injustice forced upon the masses by unwarrantable coercion. We. shall watch with keen, eyes the result of the appeal to the country, and note with interest the fate of those who m the last Session bore the name of a tyranical majority.