OUR "PARTES CONSCRIPTI."

Observer, Volume 6, Issue 149, 21 July 1883, Page 11

OUR "PARTES CONSCRIPTI."

' •y^JyyJyyV' r ßy; 'ljictob!';' I '''?■>; % '■'. '.-Vy''.7 ? ?! .^^o^^Sil^-^lnithus addressing you,, f feel t % .<>i-| guilty bf a certain .amount pif, moral shirking , y-fi^te^.unbgdonaihg the .stern '..character :>of v my , \i-.!&n^^yA&-ißi howeye^.e^treineiy difficult toJSnd. , -, f6nc"^pithet which- will fife a number of persons, y y:W ; ere^ writing to -the, great majority of you, I l >ii^ho«la y^eL fltroßgly f disposed^ by a .small prefix, j . . .^«nt^e!^aflte_i the, titlb I have.chofien. , There i • yMßa pleaeings^mbiguity about the term worthy, -j * Vwhich^mpts mektoi use it. It may mean worthy i v\.« ;©f-g|||§9 and;»ewa*3jsj^blameand -a halter.. J j ■ • -a rule, however^tha£^we are apt to use 5 .i this-pai. tieularly specious woM^he?^ wishing, to < 7. \ *<tes&"ibe persons »f or %hoxu*we have neither great. < Vijrespefit' nor -great contbnipt-^vho- "we. are neither , : j . - ?_iholitoed to : gr£atly blaiha- <nd'r greatly praise 5 men , ' '^ho/have never done anything very great or very $ V&nlialU-yery good or V£ry bad ; not particularly \ - _/; unscrupulous 1 ndr : 'excessively conscientioits ; \ . _fc%ither' wonderfully ' honest' : nor fearfully dis- j .honest; heithfer remarkably pleasing nor very 3 '-■disßt^reeable short; .what I may venture to « y: seal Immorally, mentally, physically, and finan- ] It is fortunate indeed ( : -for yon, - -, 'y y "My very -worthy and approved good masters," . ' Vthat the small scope of your parliamentary dutie. \ brings them well' within the small grasp of the _tnental capacities of the majority of you. It is ..lucky, for you that the matters which you , T^re, (jailed upon to decide (and of which, notwithstanding their insignificance, you manage sometimes to make a p£etsy considerable muddle) are such as affect none but the scanty population of :> these islands, who are, for the most part, too .apathetic or too well off to trouble their heads 7 very ihrich about your doings. lam afraid things :' vould get depl'<__Sbly mixed were you to be perihitted to indulge in annexation, at all events for nhany a long year to come. The bother you have iiad with the Maoris ought to be a sufficient "yearning to you upon that head. You have not •finished 'with them yet. There never was such a ';" ridihtiiously ludicrous incongruity ; as the "Imyperium in Imperio" which still exists in the •y.JSorth Island ; and, with delicious gravity, under - of -His Majesty ! the newspapers eon--7 tipue to chronicle^'-th^ ysay^s and doings of the • .dirty, drunken vaga^^^^a-iVstill the pi-ac- • tically independent ruler of a practically indeVpendeHfc people. This anomaly has probably 'Existed so long for much the same reason as " the ; -dying man" (as, Nicholas called Turkey), and will !_pw>bably take as long a time before it finally ' Expires. The King country is known to contain ' ' :Bome of the best and richest land in New Zealand, and the question of " Who is to have it ?" Vihak probably materially assisted to preserve its . integrity. " Where the carcass is, there will the yeagles be gathered together," and, when the «i»dntryis thrown open, a grand game of grab y "Will doubtless be played, but mutual jealousy will probably prolong this consummation for ' Snany a long year yet. To govern wisely and ' ,;well,yOu must be free' from the faintest suspicion of self-interested motives, and be firmly resolved Ssp Jjifefer the good of the nation, evei^^oujL - . Of ' such utter self -^^HBHBfI N^T ;'f eafr fA AAFtirA 'the greater part, you are " men . .■r^seni— if .rising it can be called — to theS|^m ! '^ ; inembei's of the ' Legislature froth theJ^M-Pof : y 'jypite fejlows; by methods, and for reasonffljyour ''. Aovrtx, aindhgst which,' _mj3er-abundance o^Health, '■;"''-.■ cheek, exuberant verb<H!j, fat 3 ..Uittle "jobs' to be" fished for/ land grabbing to be ' ' .manoeuvred, and last) : but, hot least, the .fees to be 1 j '$6efcet&A, may be enumerated.' 1 Some there are . '' -attibbggtyou, such as r Sir G-eorge Grrey, who may <! ffcg 'coinjjared to Tritons amongst the Minnows, y-or^ 'preferably, to Whales amongst the Sharks, '. ' vvbb have ih them the making of upright and AA 'ihdepetident members; but they are very few and i; ',^ar 'between. The bulk of you think only of, and A' -&qrk t ' oniy for, self. Of course, everyone who " Aspires to' become distinguished above his fellows r ' l; is- selfish' iii one sehse of the word, insomuch as he seeks to be praised and honoured above ali -other inch; but that such selfishness is consistent y'V?toith 'pure patriotism and spotless integrity we A liaVe abundant proof: But once let money, or 'A jjhohey's value/enter lnto the question, and legisla'4;^rture becomes a mere game of grab,— the coun try ' l, 7inay go ; to the deuce, so -long as the legislator 'J '"makes his pile.' This 'state of things exists in ' "America, and, in fact, in all new- countries, to an '■ ; .alarming degree.' The cause is not far to seek in ,' ,; .'New Zealdnd'. Nearly the ■tfhole population is ' *.!cbniposed' : of wbrking men, who have neither -'/.eduGatibii/leistire, nor inclination to sit in Parlia- ' 7.pj'eh.t, , so, having no upper or middle class to fall V ,back upon, they are, compelled, in many cases, to ; ;"send sharp-witted parvenus, or unscrupulous '-' A '''money-grubbers tb represent them, with the ; .iiktural result, that the virtual power becomes 1 Vgradualjy invested in a few : hands^ and is often -' ' ; V,exerfcised,fb r the benefit of a few only. There is 1 V-Ja ! 'lihg'ular deficiency 'of good speakers amongst ! V'.ybu, ,dnd- only one vtho approaches within ''Measurable distahceof being a good tactician. I „' of course, to Sir George Grey, who succeeds '' x 7 in being a Httle Beacbnsfi'eldian in his method of party warfare, though, of course, in ■% < comparison with his illustrious model, his efforts ,v ; are but as the fizzle of a squib to the roar of a ; ; & ';.;!rb6ket ; "nevertbeless^ considering his small scope fiMsi!L wretched backers, he is a pretty skirmisher — the only one, who ;now and then succeeds yVih. dropping a shell into the enemy's magazine. V Tfour whips appear to me to be hardly up to the *yf mark ; but this is little to be wondered at, for a party whip mi^st possess an extraordinary ! *f. _issortment of viirying'quttlifications. He must be • *,' z suave, but yet firm*, persuasive, without bullying ; „ well up in the most minute particulars of parlia- , mentary' etiquette ; he 'must possess the patience • 'A of a Job, the generalship ol a Wellington, the , ;' manners et a Cheßterfield, and the perseverance i 7' ttf a .jetririg-maehihe canviisger. Some of you V"rf;!hiß.ve a happy fcriaelp ,pf t**a3tihg an immense deal ■ _ .;* of valuable time by presenting numbers . of A yi^addling petitions upon any ridic ulotftj subjects ';y that may- fill^ the empty heads of ' any drivelling ,l_ji^i6t;s, regard their representatives as mouth* ' £Mss? '-P* — ?i * ''ojM^b-riimM'hobbiep, If you : a_fide 'fJlp^Btty jalousies 'y.V^^^&^^^^bL 'j^yi^n^l&OQS^ -;&ildL' "wo^^c together ytith a

Aloyep, su^rubbish Aa&; the decen t-r^lisatipn :d^hat^ f seeV trunk of £he most vital impoft&nce4o 'the' community at large,.. carriecL .thrpug^ speedily 'dlnd efficiently. Your conduct in the House is fairly good, and is characterised by less rowdyism than usually exists in democratic Parliaments. One fault I' have noticed, which, to ray mind,' should be corrected. A certain proneness to escaping from the Chamber as often as possible, and simply turning up for divisions. This should, not be, «fbrj -though I" can understand that it is far pleasartter to chat in the lobbies; or indulge in a refreshing quencher, than listen to the interminable prosing or un grammatical rant bf niany of your speakers, yet you are paid for your services^ and have no,more right to be irregular in your attendance than has a bank clerk, or a counter-jumper. On the whole, you are probably as good all round as your predecessors were, or your successors will be,' and succeed in running thf. ponderous machine of legislation with as little friction -as may be. You are certainly showing more energy and exercising greater tact in Maori j J affairs than ha& been the case for a long time, so ' ! I think I am finally justified in confirming the , conclusion that I started with, and considering you a very tcorthy body of men, who deserve as well of their country as — Colonial legislators usually do.