PARLIAMENTARY PERSONALITIES. No. IX.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5456, 21 September 1878, Page 1 (Supplement)

PARLIAMENTARY PERSONALITIES. No. IX.

(By a Stranger in the Gallery.) For a member whose style is far from commanding probably there is none who is better worth listening to than Mr. Bryce, I believe that his speeches if extracted from Hansard would bear condensation as little as any that are delivered. His speech on the X*and Tax BUI was loudly applauded, and it was a distinct contribution to the subject. In perfectly clear language he pointed out the defects of the Bill, and probably to a great extent convinced his hearers. Even at last, when he declared that he should vote for the Bill, it was evidently a resolution that he had arrived at with difficulty, based apparently upon a sufficient ground, viz., that taxation on the land was justly demanded. This Bill was the only measure proposed to grapple with the subject, and if not altogether bad it deserved support, even while it required amendment. A supporter of the Go* vernraent as far as his convictions will allow him, his criticisms upon any abandonment of principle are to be dreaded. When in committee on the Electoral Bill he appealed to the Attorney-General to give him some reason why the two years’ residence should be Abandoned in favor of a half-yearly term, and upon this being refused voted against the amendment. He showed his independence. His critical powers were manifested a little later, when he remarked that though he had voted against the Minister in charge of the BUI yet be had really voted for the Bill in the form in which it had been presented to the House, and praised it as a moderate measure. Without any oratorical effort, by the sheer force of good common sense Bryce commands a patient hearing; for criticism there is very little room, except perhaps on his utterance, which is at times noj very clear. Mr. Pyke is decidedly a leading Parliamentary man. Gifted with some considerable powers of eloquence, apowerful voice, and having a very strong impression that his own views are correct, he is always worth listening to. Only a few nights ago, while in committee, he kept the House in roars of laughter by his pertistent argument on the wrong subsection of a clause, in spite of repeated assurances that it was not the one under discussion. He even read the sub-section, and in the accents of an injured party appealed to the House to know if he had got a correct copy of the Bill in his hand, Mr, Pyke’s extensive experience of the conduct of public business renders him, like most veterans, impatient of rebuke. The Chairman of Committees, however, proved equal to the occasion when he declined to argue a point of order with the member for Dunsfcan, and at last commanded him to sit down. Though Mr. Fyke is not quite beyond the range of criticism, his comprehensive grasp of a whole subject in its details as well as in its entirety is hardly equalled by any other member in the House. His manner as a rule is genial, though I would rather ask a favor at his hands after dinner than before. Probably this would be wise in the case of all but the most dyspeptic members of the House ; but in this instauce the good things of this life seem to agree so well with his constitution and his temper that one would expect even a refusal to be so very courteously worded that it would seem to be almost a compliment. A very sensitive ear might object to a slightly grating voice, and at times any man might cavil at a tendency on the part of Mr. Pyke to assume - that not only is he completely in the right but that his opponents are utterly in the wrong. The Hon. Mr., Richardson has perhaps hardly found a place in these criticisms as high up in the list as might have been expected. But where a man’s manner leaves very little to be desired the critic’s duties become almost a sinecure. If I were asked privately to give an opinion upon his style I should be inclined to say that I thought him one of the moat quiet and gentlemanly speakers in the‘House. He impresses a hearer with a sense of respect for the thoughtful attention he gives to any subject under debate, and altogether is probably as valuable a member of a legislative body as could be pointed to in the House. “A Stranger” cannot tell how a man may have borne himself in the past, but during this session there can be no doubt that Mr, Richardson has said much to secure him friends, but hardly a word that could create an enemy. Your critic has perhaps been considered captious by some readers in his previous chapters, but the above remarks ought to convince them that his ink is not always very plentifully supplied with gall.