The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1884.

Thames Star, Volume XV, Issue 4908, 2 October 1884, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1884.

jy j|^i,^»;r 7 - r -orr(rTor«" certain extent, rhythmical manner, our Auckland con» temporary, the Star—perhaps for want of something better'to do—dilates upon the holiday trips taken by our representatives lately. The remarks made on these excursions must be the result of a want of appreciation of the arduous labours gone through by members in parliament assembled; a deficiency in the recognition of the heavy toil attached to the position of an M.H.R. ; or, an ignorance of the state of trial, toil, and trouble a repre* sentatire is "in for" four days in each week, of sessions generally lasting quite as long as a third of the term for which he is elected. It is unkind of our contemporary to object to the excursions and junketings indulged in by our members on the score of the expense incurred. It should be rcmemb red tbat on account of the mental toil undergone,—our members are worthy of some relaxation. " All work and no play " would result in the proverbial dulness, and surely it is not desirable that our members should be guilty of that-. The colonial steamer is not kept by Government, and paid for by the colonists to be idle ; it must be put to some use, and what is more appropriate for it than -providing some means of healthful recreation for our fearfully overworked legislators ? It is not enough that a spacious lawn-tennis ground is proTided, and well patronised, in the Parlia-* mentary ground; that many nights in the week are. devoted by members to the participation of several hospitalities lavishly dispensed by Ministers, and that the other gaieties of the Em pire City are not entirely unknown to, or unrecognised by, members of Parliaj ment. All these things are, in the course of time, fitted in with the ordinary routine of a representative, and that person { is a manjvho requires, in connection w-ith his recreation, novelty and a change of scene. Such trips as those made by members to Nelson, New Plymouth, , and Kavrhia, in the Government steamer Hineraoa, hare the good effepfc of invigorating the legislative mind, and rendering it fit for healthy exertion j removing weak supporters from the immediate scene of temptation and confer* sion, sod perhaps giving Ministers a brief respite from the pestering they have to undergo/at the hands of gealous representatives, hungering to obtain expendityre for their districts. We hope to see no more of these objections offered to a course which seeais to "be so unobjectionable from many points of vjew.