OUR COMMONS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1058, 10 September 1879, Page 2

OUR COMMONS.

Mr. C. 0. Bowen, who has' again been returned for Kaiapoi, is a politician whom Sir Julius Yogel brought to the front immediately upon entering Parliament by giving him a seat in his Ministry as Minister for Justice, on the retirement of Sir. Bathgate, for whom the portfolio was first created. Mr. Bo wen is a man possessed of some knowledge of men and the laws of the land—a knowledge acquired during a long period of service as a Resident Magistrate. He is a politician of more than ordinary ability, and may be classed amongst the leading men of the House. He is a very good speaker, and upon some subjects must be admitted to be one of the best posted men in Parliament. His one great hobby—the one topic to which he has devoted his attention—is gaol reform, and often has he endeavored to devise some means of initiating a proper system of classification of the inmates of our prisons. If we arc not mistaken —and hero we may remark that the whole of these short sketches are written without the aid of any means of reference —it was Mr. Bo wen who first mooted the proposal to have a central penal establishment erected, for which New Plymouth was selected ; but the matter was successfully opposed on the ground of the unsuitability of New Flymouth as the place for the erection of an establishment to receive the worst criminals of the Colony. Mr. Bowen, it is said, was also the parent of the present Education Act—an Act which, though containing mauy defects, is calculated to confer lasting good upon the Colony ; but we think that he was only nominally so, and that Mr. Hislop, head of the department, had more to do with it. Though an opponent of the present Ministry, Mr. Bowen is not one of that class of bitter enemies which includes Sir William Fox, Messrs. M'Lean, Ormond, and others. He is a man endowed with some good sense, and we are pleased to see him once more elected to the House of Representatives. Mr. Masters, although entering the Senate Chamber for the first time, is not, we believe, new to public life, having taken an active part in the affairs of the old County of Westland, prior to the Abolition of Provinces. Although not what may be termed a speaker in the ordinary acceptation of the term, he possesses a -very fair power of making known his views upon public questions. He will take more than the average amount of plain practical common sense into the House, and will add to the respectability of the Chamber to an appreciable extent. Mr. R. C. Reid is another of the tolerably long list of gentlemen who will be novices in the House, but he has, if we are not mistaken, seen some amount of active service as a public representative in the days of Provincialism. Mr. Reid belongs to a profession that has provided many of the best men in Parliament—the Press —having for many years been proprietor of newspapers on the West Coast, and being now proprietor of the New Zealander, a Wellington daily journal. Mr. Reid can wield a forcible pen, but whether his organ of speech is as effective a weapon when used against his opponents we are not aware. We are, however, informed that he can make a decpnt speech upon occasions. For many reasons he is preferable to Mr. Barff, whose place in the House he has been elected to occupy. Poor Barff! he was twice elected to the House, but though he made a great noise, his absence from the Legislative Hall will not be felt.

Mr. Sedoon, Mr. Heid's colleague in the representation of Hokitika, is another new man. Of him we cannot speak with any degree of certainty, for ho is unknown to us. From what we can gather, we believe that Mr. Seddon will make a very good member, though he will not take into the House the ability of Mr. Button, who formerly represented the constituency. -Hokitika has no reason to be ashamed of her representatives. Mr. A. Pitt, who, after unsuccessfully contesting the seat for Kelson some shoit time since, has been returned at the head of the poll for " Sleepy Hollow," is another untried politician. He is one of the " black brigade," being, like his colleague, Mr. Adams, a lawyer. He is one of those men who are best designated by the term moderate moderate in

ability, and moderate iu views. He enters the House unpledged to either parry ; admiring some members of the Ministry, but disliking others. How lie will vote remains yet to be seen. These independent members as a rule degenerate into active partisans, and the only question to be settled is : Is Mr. Pitt sufficiently independent to be independent of both parties ] "We fear that he will ill-supply the place of the man he has displaced—fussy little Oswald Curtis, for many years Superintendent of Nelson, and a representative of the somnolent city in Parliament. Many will miss Mr. Curtis from the House, for though somewhat erratic as a voter, he was a highly respectable member, and a man who could make a decent speech. Mr. Acton" Adams had only just tasted of the sweets of Parliamentary life when the dissolution took place, having been returned during the recess to till the vacancy occasioned by the retirement of Mi - . Sharpe. He is a man of only ordinary ability as a legislator, whatever he may be as a lawyer. He has shown a readiness to reverse his coat rather remarkable in so young a politician, having been elected to support the Ministry and followed it up with a vote for the Opposition when the division on the no confidence motion was taken. However, to some notoriety is as pleasant and acceptable as fame. The House does not gain much either in ability or consistency by the return of Mr. Adams.

Mr. Thomas Kelly, the member for New Plymouth, has sat in Parliament for many years, and though he has not succeeded in coming to the front in the race for political honors, he has throughout held a very respectable position. Ho is a man of average ability, and as Chairman of the Public Petitions Committee—a committee of great importance, as being empowered to inquire into all manner of private grievances beforo they are discussed by the House —Mr. Kelly has done a vast amount of public good. Always painstaking and just, ho gained the confidence of the House and the petitioners, and few would say that he neglected to inquire fully and fairly into any grievance brought under his notice. He is a man of fair ability, and one who would not disgrace any Colonial Parliament. Mr. Walter Johnston has represented Manawatu ever since the seat was created, and though when asked the other day to point to anything he had ever done for his constituents he was unable to comply with the mild request, ho has once moro succeeded in wooing the smiles of the electors in the rich centre of the West Coast of the Wellington Provincial District. He is a tolerably good public sneaker, and can hit out freely, though, owing to the fact that he has never yet fought desperately in any battle, lie has not come to the front as rapidly as ho might have done. He is independent of office and its emoluments, and iihat may account in some measure for his not having become a " red hot " partizan. His name was brought prominently before the public lately by a statement being wired throughout the length and breadth of the Colony that Mr. Johnston was to lead the Opposition. Well, there are more un likely things, but, then, few of them will ever come to pass. Mr. J. C. Brown, who has once more been returned to the House for Tuapeka, which he has represented for 14 years, is not celebrated for anything, save tho fact that he generally manages to bo on the Ministerial side, no matter which party is in power. Though he is not an orator, Mr. Brown, from a sleek and somewhat obese " anatomy," emits oleaginous language, containing nothing in particular. He has proved that he can do some good for his party ; but it is in the lobbies that he exercises his power. Hero he button-holes wavering members, and many a vote has his persistency, if not eloquence, gained for his party. Mr. Brown evidently feels that he is never likely to be a Minister, and therefore contents himself with acting the part of a must lu .1. ."-" s.il every sphere in political as well as social iile, and Mr. Brown is to be complimented upon the happy facility with which he adapts himself to peculiar position. Mr. P. M'Caughan, the elect of tho Riverton electors, is another member of the independent or doubtful division. Ho goes to Parliament for the first time, and awaits his entry into the hall of wisdom, honor, and truth before definitely making up his mind as to which side ho will follow. His young political ideas have yet to be moulded into definite form. Ha must be a popular man down South, judging from the ease with which he defeated the other four candidates for tho seat, including the late member, Dr. Hodskinson ; but he has yet to acquiro colonial fame, and until he ha 3 done so wo must content ourselves with this brief notice of the " coming man." Mr. R. Tuknbull, who has again been returned for Timaru, and who succeeded Sir E. W. Stafford in the representation of that constituency, is undoubtedly ono of the few politicians who have, unaided by circumstances, speedily worked their way to the front. Ho is a man of ability, and endowed with more than the average amount of intelligence, combined with an independence of spirit that is rarely met with in so young a politician. He is, wo believe, a very good speaker, and though we have not heard him speak, we must say his published speeches contain a vast amount of good sense and sound argument. If we are not greatly mistaken, Mr. Turnbull will yet be heard of as one of the foremost men in the House, to which he is a valuable addition. Dr. Wallis, one of the chosen representatives of Auckland City West, has previously represented that constituency for four years. He is a forcible, if not elegant, public speaker, and may fairly bo termed one of the "comic" members of the House. A doctor by profession, a minister of the Gospel by ordination, and a politician from choice, he mixes up the three characters in his speeches in a manner that never fails to create amusement for his brother legislators. His speeches are always racy and full of anecdote, and thus tend to relievo the dull monotony of a heavy and wearisome debate. For this, if for no other reason, Dr. Wallis' presence in the House is welcome, especially to those who are compelled to listen to the studied and heavy orations of some and tho empty nonsensq of other members. Mr. W. J. Hurst, the second member for Auckland City West, is another novico, having been returned to Parliament for the first time. He formerly occupied the position of Mayor of the Northern Capital, but like many new members ho has yet to make himself known beyond the boundaries of his Provinco. He i 3 endowed >Vith a fair amount of ability, and should make a useful member of the I House.

Mr. George M'Lean, who lias onco more been honored by being selected to represent "YYaikouaiti, is one of the leaders of the Opposition, through the force of circumstances, and not owing to any extraordinary ability. Until he became a member of the Vogel Ministry he was never looked upon as likely to occupy any other than a second rate position m the Parliament of the country. Sir Julius Vogel found it necessary to obtain a colleague from Otago, and as no one else could be obtained, the mantle of office fell upon the shoulders of Mr. M'Leaii, who, to the surprise of everyone, probably himself included, became a full* blown Minister. In that position he was decidedly not a brilliant success ; his presence 011 the Treasury Bunches did not shed a lustre o'er his colleagues, for ho was confessedly the weakest member of the Cabinet. The position advanced hiu>» and not he the position. But having onca

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