PARLIAMENTARY PERSONALITIES No. VIII.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5449, 13 September 1878, Page 5

PARLIAMENTARY PERSONALITIES No. VIII.

(By a Stranger is the Gallery.)

It is rather hard to say for how long fche writer may, be allowed to retain his uom de plume. In a Parliamentary sense, we believe that all persons except members and officials are strangers, therefore in that limited * degree the title of stranger may be applied to the most regular habitue of the House, The list of members whose personal attributes as such it has been the impertinent critic’s duty to sketch for the benefit of his readers, and for the amusement of those members whose silence shields them with a golden armor against such criticism, keeps growing longer. It has hitherto excluded some of fche hardest fighting warriors in the wordy warefa.’o of debate.

Mr. Rees may claim to be one of the moat voluble and readiest tongued supporters of the Ministry. But it may very fairly be questioned whether the tone of debate cultivated in a Court of Law is really so valuable a training as might at first sight appear. The skill to make the worse appear the better cause is one perhaps rather to be dreaded tharf desired. : Who can always resist the temptation such a power at times gives him to argue against hi* own convictions in favor of his party or his place ? A character for sincerity and truth once lost can never be regained ; a lawyer comes into the House heavily weighted with bis profession as an advocate and a parti--san by training to disavow, before he can hope to command attention as an independent, impartial thinker, Mr. Barton, Mr. Rees, Mr. Stout, and the Native Minister have all the argumentative, not to say disputations, manner of the Bar. Ability no man would deny them, and the House would indeed suffer severely if some of these trained orators were excluded from its benches. Nevertheless the writer is inclined to believe that each and all of fche great minds of those referred to has been a little bit warped by legal controversy. It is against a lawyer’s instincts to admit that a position is impregnable, and if the statement made appears to be indisputable in its original form, a slight' twist is given to it, and tho whole argument is apparently demolished. Mr. Rees is responsible for tins digression, and perhaps most deserves criticism for a controversial stylo. He disputes rather than debates/and has the misfortune to convey the impression that he Is trying to talk Jiis opponents down, and to bully them into submission. On the other band, he appears to be a front-rank man, giving careful attention to all that passes, and one whom one would wish rather to see enlisted on, the right side than on tho wrong, whichever that might be in the oyo of the chooser. Mr. Bowen might bo offended if ouo said that ho* generally leaves one at fche conclusion of his speeches iu the unfortunate and unsatisfactory frame of mind delineated iu Scripture as 41 almost thou perduadest me to be ”—whatever he desires. With words and accents that betray more cultivated powers than many colonists are able to acquire, he has a ready flow of speech and considerable critical powers. He fulls to please, not so much from any want of power in his treatment of a subject, as from a monotonous, somewhat lifeless style, and what appears to be an affected intonation of certain words. Your captious critic may be hard to please, but inasmuch as the whole force of any criticism lies in its truth and applicability, where his judgment is in error his remarks may be disregarded with equanimity, like arrows that have missed their mark. Mr. Gisborne demands more than a line or two from our pen. For extensive knowledge of Parliamentary procedure, next to the Speaker he is probably the Nestor of the House. To rise and address tho Assembly'is, apparently, quite os much a mere matter of ordinary routino with him as eatiug a meal is with most mortals ; and occasionally, it must be admitted

that he fails to commapd the strict attention of hia hearers. When he himself is really impressed with the importance of what he hasuto say he also succeeds in impressing his audience. At such times ha throws off' a certain sleepy sort-of pulpit style'that has many a time marred the effectiveness of arguments which, brought forward in a better form, would have fallen far more effectively. In a review of the Parliamentary forces, Mr. Gisborne won 1 d take his place as a superior non-commissioned officer, expecting some day to receive his commission as adjutant in, reward for long and careful service. -Long-service men contract certain habits of stiffness and military precision that are a little ridiculous in a civiliaa’fl eye, which is quick to detect pipeclay or redtape. Traces of a similar effect, produced by a long Parliamentary service, might be detected in Mr. Gisborne by a severely critical eye.