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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5095, 23 July 1877, Page 2

For once expectation has not been disappointed. The hon. member for Auckland, Dr. Wallis, has realised the fondest anticipations of those who said he would be “an immense acquisition to the talking power of the House.” The rev.—no we beg his pardon—the hon. member, evidently felt on Friday afternoon that something was expected from him—and did his best his level—very level—best to satisfy those who would have been sorrowful if he had remained silent. He talked a good deal. He sermonised largely. He did the orthodox firstly, secondly, and thirdly. He spoke of the opening address as ‘ full of sins of omission and commission.’ He dwelt on the subject until everybody was in the exact state of mind to say “Amen” with fervor, aye, and even gratitude. It was to us a pleasure of no ordinary kind to hear him characterise the address as a “ sinfully small document.” Not quite in these words it is true. Anything so concise would not suit Dr. Wallis. No. He possesses, let us say it at once, and without reserve, the power of amplification in the highest degree. Had he been possessed to the same extent of the spirit of Christian charity, he would have let the address pass —sinful and all as it was—on the same principle as Maeryai’s young lady excused the, result of her indiscretion—that, after all, “it was only a little one.” That the Ministerial, or Gubernatorial address was short, that it contained little or nothing to lay hold of, may be at once admitted. Would it have, been better to have told more ? Who does not know that the address is but a purely formal affair—that it is part of the ceremonial which custom has made imperative on the opening of Parliament. Is there any one of the crowd that listened in the “ Hall of Peers” to his Excellency as he read his address that would have honestly wished for a more elaborate statement 1 It would have been the easiest thing in life for Ministers to have placed in his hands a thrilling history of the past, and a grand scheme of the future. But cui hono ? Parliament does not sit to discuss addresses. Its functions are to deal with measures. The Rev. ; no, the Hon. Mr. Wallis may have thought that he was doing the correct thing by meandering over the whole field of New Zealand politics; but he will livedo find that such exercises are even more wearisome to the House than to the reporters whom ill-fate placed in the gallery on the occasion of his “maiden speech.” We are not as a rule lavish of advice, but for once may give just a little bit to the hon. member whose advent was heralded as that of a new and double-Reesian Power:—“Re sure before you begin that you have something to say. Next, try to say it as tersely as possible. If you do not attend to these simple rules, be sure that the fact of your rising to ‘make a few remarks,’ will be the signal for an exodus that will leave you, like Robinson Oetjsoe, monarch of all you survey and Controller-General of the ‘ Department of Sleep.’”