OUR COMMONS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1055, 6 September 1879, Page 2

OUR COMMONS.

Mr. Henry Bunky is one of those members, who, like Mr. Vincent Pyke, cannot be firmly relied upon by either part}-. He lias represented Wairarapa for many years, about 15 we think, and has during that time turned his coat oftener than 'any other man in the House of Representatives. He is a smart speaker, and can hit out very freely, saying at times bitter things in a stinging manner. But his strong point is a capacity for scenting out very quickly the safe wheiein the good things are secreted, and he more often follows the dictates of his nasal organ than those of any other sense. In Mr. Bunny the Government gaiu an uncertain supporter. He has had considerable practice in the manoeuvres that go on in the lobbies, having, in addition to his long service in the House of Representatives, occupied for many years a seat in the Provincial Council of Wellington. He was also Provincial Secretary for some years, and after Sir William Fitzherbert was elected Speaker of the House he was acting Superintendent, and was entrusted with°the winding up of the Province when Abolition took effect. Mx. Bunny will never become a Cabinet Minister, but lie may secure a comfortable billet. Mr. R. Beetham, the other member for Wairarapa, is a strong opponent of the Ministry. He has not had much experience in Parliamentary business, and reI quires a good deal more training before he will ever rise to any higher position than that accorded to a follower of a party. At the same time, he is a tolerably shrewd man, and a useful member of his party. The Hon. James Macandbew may, we think, be fairly termed the parent of the House. He is now the oldest member of the popular Chamber, having occupied a seat within its portals almost continuously from the initiation of representative o-overnment in the House. Ho is in our way of thinking, only a moderate speaker, for he lacks the fire and eloquence necessary to successful oratory; but he is shrewd and " canny" to an eminent degree, and we doubt if the Colony ever possessed a Minister who could handle a body of men—a deputation of refractory or hungry electors—-with such consummate skill as can the Minister for Public Works. He is a perfect master of the art, as those who have had dealings with him know full well. He possesses a large amount of common sense, and is a man°of progression, always having some new idea to promulgate. As Superintendent of Otago, to which position he was several times elected, he did good service, and his greatest aim in the House has always been to push Otago ahead. No matter what question cropped up he invariably looked at it from an Otago point of view, until it has been asserted that he looked upon " Otago as New Zealand and Dunedin as Otago." Two years in office as a Colonial Minister, and the importunities of scores of deputations from all manrer of places, have apparently convinced him that the interests of the Colony are not solely centred in fthat part of it included within the boundaries of Otago. We do not think that any man in the Colony has represented a greater number of constituencies than has Mr. Macandrew, for he has a will of his own, and on some point or other generally gives offence to his constituents because he will not acknowledge that they know everything and that he knows very little. But notwithstanding this, it is not too much to say that Mr. Macandrew will always be able to find a constituency to elect him, if he desires to be elected. Mr. He>"T,y Dkivexi has been, on and oft', a member of the House of Representatives for many years, but he has not yet attained a prominent position. _ In the old days of Provincialism Mr. Driver went up to Wellington session after session to aid in the fight over the Otago Land Bill—a question upon which the Otago members had a grand field day as regularly as the session came round. This was in the days when the land question was the subject upon which there was more discussion than upon anything else, and it is not necessary to say on which side Mr. Driver ranged himself. He is a shrewd man of business, with clear powers of perception, and though he cannot be called a good speaker, he exercises greater influence in the House than many members possessed of far larger powers of speech. He served the Province for some years as a member of the Provincial Council, and is therefore no novice in Parliamentary tactics, though he appears to lack the energy necessary to turn his knowledge to full account.

Mr. Allan M'Donald's election adds another political novice to the roll of members of the House of Representatives. Whatever his local fame may be, he has yet to create for himself a colonial repuj tation. Whether he will succeed in doing so, or whether, like his predecessors in,the representation of the East Coast of Auckland, he will retire from Parliament unknown and umourned, remains to be seen. Mr. Joseph Tole is a young man who is onlv just germinating into a politician, but in whose budding there is as much as there is in the withered full blossom of numbers of his grey-headed opponents. He graduated in the Auckland Road Board, of which he became a .member by ousting those who had been adjudged guilty of gross mismanagement —an operation not easy of performance for such a mere youth. We well remember his maiden speeches, containing the impeachment —how ho looked at every word before he uttered it, and yet impressed the ratepayers so favorably that he was returned by a large majority to the Board. Here he gradually developed his ability to convey his views to others in a quiet, y.et forcible manner ; and when the Abolition of Provinces was mooted, and an appeal was made to the country on that question, he was returned to Parliament as representative for Eden. His Parliamentary career has been marked by . a consistent support of Sir George Grey and his measures. He has not spoken often, apparently feeling that his time for full activity as a member has not yet come. Now he has gained a victory over one of the oldest, most influential, and wily politicians in the Colony, Mr. F. Whitaker, by beating him in a contest for the seat for Eden, which he (Mr. Tole) has occupied since his entry into Parliament four years ago. This affords another evidence of the decay of the old influences and the springing up of new ones. If Mr. Tole was not born in the Colony, ho arrived here in his infancy, and finished his education in the Sydney College. He is clever, active, and generous, and, in addition to other accomplishments, " he plays the fiddle like an angel."