OUR COMMONS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1052, 3 September 1879, Page 2

OUR COMMONS.

Sib George Grey, who lias for the second time been elected to represent the Thames, and who is also contesting one of the seats for Christchurch, is the next member of the new House to claim our attention. What sha.ll we say of him 1 How shall we give an outline of his political career in the brief space allotted to these notes on " Our Commons " ? To do justice to the subject would require more space than we have at our disposal, and we must therefore leave the task to be performed by the future biographer of the present Premier of the Cololl3'. Suffice it therefore to say that, after serving the Imperial Government faithfully and well for many years and in many parts of the Empire—twice as Governor of New Zealand—Sir George Grey retired on a well-earned pension, and sought peace and quiet comfort at his island home. He would probably have quietly ended his days there had it not been for the fact that Sir Julius Yogel and his party, in 1874, laid desperate hands upon the constitution of which Sir George Grey was tlie author, by abolishing the Provinces. Sir George could not remain calmly by and see' his offspring ruthlessly strangled without making an effort to save it from destruction. The promotion of Mr. Gillies to a Judgeship of the Supreme Court opportunely occasioned a va.can.cy ip the House of Representatives and in the Supefiptendency of Auckland, and Sir George Grey, Jit thje solicitation of a few friends, at once threw himself into the breach. He was elected Superintendent of the northern Proyince, and a member of the House of Representatives, amidst great rejoicing, and on taking his seat in the Supreme Legislature of the Colony at he once assumed the lead of the small but compact party determined to resist the destruction of the Provinces. How he carried on that fight need not be recorded here. It is sufficient to say that his defence of the Provinces was an admirable one, though it was attended by many rjdipulous tilings that had better not have begn said ap<J done, and which have greatly lessened Sir George Grey's influence since then. At the Qeneral election of 1875, Sir George Grey was returned for Auckland City West and for the Thames, where he defeafed Sir Julius Yogel by an overwhelming majority. He elected to sit for the Thames, for which constituency he has again been elected. As was tlie case at the last election, Sir George Grey is contesting two seats, carrying the warfare into the camp of the enemy by seeking election to one of the, three seats for Christchurch City. If elected, he fl'ill declare in favor of the Christchurch seat, and a fresh election for the Thames will be necessary. <L)f Sir (jeprg* •rey's career as a Minister we can say but little. So far he has ha.d but small scope for the display of legislative qualities,' for the opposition to him has bjeen so strong in Parliament that, added to the yajjt .of the power of adhesion in

His own party—a party greatly composed of malcontents who deserted from the Atkinson Ministry, and who have again changed their front—it would have been difficult for any man to have carried large measures through Parliament. As a departmental administrator, we fear Sir George Grey cannot- put forth any very great claims to extraordinary ability. He i is unquestionably the finest public speaker in the Colony ; the only exception that we can make being Mr. J. E, FitzGerald, who long since quitted the political battlefield and newspaper life, and sought the comparative ease and much more certain profits of the Comptroller-Generalship. Always speaking in language eloquent but plain, and with an earnestness that of itself begets respect, Sir George Grey must ever command the attentive ear of his auditors. He lacks tact in the management of his forces, and is apt to forget that a very large number of those who go to Parliament do not do so so much with the intention of laboring for the welfare of humanity as for the advancement _ of their own dear selves. Hence the defection during the last session of many powerful supporters of the Ministry. The Hon. John Sheehan, who has been chosen as the second member for the Thames, was the first New Zealand born politician to enter Parliament. He had for several years occupied a seat in the Auckland Provincial Council, and was a member of a Provincial Executive. In these capacities, and as a lawyer, he gave evidence of the possession of a large amount of talent of the kind that makes a successful member of Parliament. Since his entrance into the House he has given still further evidence of being to the manner born. He is a fluent speaker, always ready to do battle, and, as is usually the case with members of the legal fraternity, well fitted to plead a special cause requiring delicacy of manipulation in order to make it appear that the side he is arguing is the right one. He possesses a wonderful capacity for hard work, and seems never to weary. Were it not for the fact that Mr. Sheehan lacks that correctness of demeanour, that severe regard for his personal reputation, which characterises the average run of Ministers, at anyrate, he might very soon occupy the foremost rank in the Parliament of the j country. He still retains too much of the i devil-may-carishness of his youthful days, and lacks a proper amount of ballast to keep him steady. On the accession of Sir George Grey to power, Mr. Sheehan was chosen to fill the responsible position of Native Minister in addition to that of Minister for Justice. How he has fulfilled the duties of his office, we need not pause to inquire, beyond stating that he has ventured to proceed with negotiations and works that his predecessor would never have dared to have undertaken. True, lie has met with reverses and difficulties, but these have arisen in conseouence of the long list of unfulfilled promises to the natives left as a legacy by previous Native Ministers. Mr. Sheehan has been nominated for Clive in opposition to Mr. J. D. Ormond, one of the most bitter opponents of the present Government. Should Mr. Sheehan prove successful here, of which we have some doubt, he also will relinquish his seat for the Thames.

Me. J. W. Bain, who has been returned by a majority of two votes over Mr. Feldwick for Invercargill, enters upon political life for the first time, and has yet to prove that he is possessed of talent either as a legislator or as a debator. He is, however, a very clear and deliberate speaker, and in this respect has the advantage of his predecessor and late opponent, Mr. H. Feldwick. He is proprietor of the Southland Times, and though avowedly an independent Liberal, he will, we think, bo found voting in Parliament as one of the Opposition.