THE MEMBERS OF OUR COLONIAL PARLIAMENT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 266, 27 October 1862, Page 6

THE MEMBERS OF OUR COLONIAL PARLIAMENT.

(From the Ntu>) Zealand Advertiser.) We \nJ\w. it is 'reneraily admitted that tins members oi, the Now Ze thai' Parliament—whether as regards t ductti n, eloquence, intellect, gentlemanly bparinnr, or debating power—avei equal, it' not superior^ tothe members of any other Parliament in tli'U nerawphorc. We are not in a position to dispute tin*, but it struck i:s thai in the last session fhere were really very fe.v effective speakers in the House, and that the <i<<tnmies were in the majority. All thabest things saM t.y the best speakers left the impre sion on tho mid that they had been said and better said before. The most iluent debaters wero decidedly Fitzgerald. Fox, and Stafford ; the most argumentative, Dorn^tt, Gillien, and Carleton ; and the most popular, without any comparison, was Major Riebardr son, the Superintendent of Otago. Of eloquent and eft'-ctive upeakers, Auckland, with fifteen r*nresentatives, sent the least; and Otago, with four representatives, the most. Dr. Featherston seldom ! spoke during the session ; and Mr Fitzgerald, though he 'poke often and at prirat length, could not he classed, during the past session, at all events, as a first class* debater. Most of his speeches gave the impression that they were made against time, and were not, consequently, listened to, even by his supporters, with patience and attention. The most earnest, and consequently one of the most effective speakers, was Mr Weld. He stood at the head of the very lew of our orators who gave, the hearer the impression that he felt and meant what he Paid. Mr Bell is a fluent, ready, and animated speaker, and stands at the head of our pecond-olass orators; and Jollie, Colenso, Williamson, Aloorhoiw, Saunders, Ca»ter, and Carfiill, may be included in this class. Ward. Wood, Wilson, J. 0. Richmond, llenall. Curtis, and Harrison, did not 'frequently occupy the time of the House, but when they spoke—J. C. Richmond excepted -they spoke well and to the purpose. In addition to the want of originality of thought and expressioii manifested in the speeches made during the session, the views enunciated in them were not those of the colonial public, hut of only a small s<ction thereof, if we except those of Weld. Saundeis, Carter,- Richardson, and Domett. The strangers in the gallery were forcibly impressed with the conviction that neither the views nor interests of the hona fide colonists were faithfully represented in the House. One of the best speeches of the session was made by Saunders, of Nelson. It was made to empty benches, and never reported. Another speech which rpade n great i'upre-^ion in the House, and which wan near hut tin? tho same fate, was that of Capiain Atkinson, of Taratiitki, the only report of which was given by the Advcrt'mr. To compare small things with orreat, Stafford was the D'lpnrneli. Fox the Roebuck, Fitzgerald tho the Rolniily. and Sanders the Joe Hume of House. Stafford's qui^t ironry was immeasurably inferior to that of liia English ]>rototype ; and it was in the biting sarcasm of Fox's speeches, and the energy with which they were delivered, that reminded you of the wanner and style of Roebuck. Thi iy had the fire without the spirit of the ou'uinnl, and were wholly void of those great thoughts and greater principles which distinguish the speeches of the member for Sheffield. Whether it was that he had a bad cause to defend, felt, he was in a hud posiiion for defending it, or was indifferent as to his success, certain it is that Mr Fitzgerald, who, on former occasions obtained the reputation of an able dehater, did not at all shine during the past session. His place was occupied by Major Richardson, a very different style of speaker, but one more ready, earnest, and effective ; and it is to be deeply regretted that he has sent in his resignation.

To the lamentable state of isolation in which the Wellington memoirs stood in the House we have before alluded. On a division, they cmild only muster in their favor some half dozen other members, three of whom were from Auckland, and the other three from the South. Mr Harrison did not go with thorn on the Native question, and Captain Rhodes on more than one occasion voted with the majority ; while the views, if not the votes of Carter and llenall were frequently found to he very opposite to those by whom they consente:l to be led. The Wellington j party stood in opposition to the views and wishes of I not only the majority of the member's of the house, but to those of tiie majority of the members from each of the other provinces. The Wellington party was therefore nor. only isola'ed in the house, but the province was isolated from the rest of the colony. The whole of the members with one or two except ions, of Nelson, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay, and O'ago, were opposed to this party, and a large majority of those from Canterbury and Auckland also. The party has always opposed every Governor the colony has ever had, and the same spirit of antagonism which it has heretofore exhibited against the executive is now directed also against the legislative branch of the Government. To retain the general government, under these circumstances, at Wellington, would be an utter impossibility. (>f the members of the other place we Ti^ed'sny but little, neither they nor their proceedings having attracted any noiice. The fact of Mr Sewellland the Cliiff Justice being members, gives to this branch of the legislature a weight and importance which would not otherwise attach to it. Mr Jewell is decidedly the cleverest man in the colony, but as he is not a colonist in any sense of the term, it would perhaps have been well for it if it had been relieved from his interference. Of this opinion were the Fcatherston faction until they found liis aid necessary to secure Fox the premiership. They do not exhibit any inclination now to row in the same boat, but appear rather disposed to think separately than together. The speech of the session was made b> the Chief Justice, who lashed the late ministry—or rather Fox and Sewell—most unmercifully for their unconstitutional interference with the department of justice, and he did not spare Dr Fethereton. As wo had no notice of such speech being fibout to be delivered, we had no reporter present, and we may be well assured that such a speech would not be likely to find its way into the columns of either of our contemporaries. Of the other meinbev of the council, Dr Menzies and Mr Tancred alone1 distinguished themssolves by any oratorical powers. "When we state that Mr It. Stokes put himself iorward as not only the representative of the Fox party, but as one of the leading members of the Council, the public will perhaps be disposad to form a worse opinion of the members as a body, than they really deserved. Tho members added to the Legislative Council by the late Ministry, and those brought over by the exercise of Provincial patronage, have not given it any additional weight an.l dignity, but they have stamped a party tone upon its debates, and. infused a factious spirit into its deliberations,' from "which in preceding sessions it was remarkably free, and which will probably cause—what was possibly deeired a demand to be ra;ide in the constitution of this branch of the legislature. While, however, it is enabled to retain such members as Arney, Swainson, Hartley, Johnson, Menzies, and Sewell, this conservative element in the constitution will be preserved ; the fear is that, as has happened in the commission of the peace, such men may feel disposed, if the swamping system adopted by the late Ministry be persisted in, to throw up their seats. To our thinking, the members of the one house were as much the representatives of the colonists as those of the other, and that the colonists found, with but few exceptions, no exponents of their views, nor advocates of their interests, in either.