OUR HOUSE OF LORDS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 4, Issue 1079, 20 May 1882, Page 2

OUR HOUSE OF LORDS.

(From Suvener in the Otago Daily Times)

Mr Whitaker is the ablest leader the Council hits had. A public man sinec-the Colony's foundation, perhaps the best lawyer in New Zealand, lie manages the Council with infinite tact anil sagacity. Councillors rely on his judgment and opinion almost implicity. But should Government want to get a bill through to which the Council is averse, Mr' Whitaker becomes nonchalantly indifferent, jauntily thrusts his hands into his trousers pockets, says he does not which way it goes—and the bill passes. When, however, a bill is to be killed without revealing Government as the mwv-utm derer, Mr WhiUker damns it with faintlj praise, the poison is subtly instilled, and it is thrown out. Though at heart an ultra-Radical, his ability and astuteness can effect almost anything in the Council. I should regret any change which took tbo lead of the Council from Mr Whuaker, fnr thero is no one to fill hi* place. Mr Waterhouse lakes second to Mr Whitaker in the Council. His influence is great; he is an authority on finance, the Joseph * Hume of the Assembly, and the "bete noir" of local bodies with, loan bills. Luckily for the Otago Harbor Board, he will be away this session. His absence and Dr Pollen's decline will increase the chances of the Board's Bill by 30 percent. Dr Pollen has done nearly a score of years of good service in the Council, Perhaps the finost writer of English in the Colony, he lias an extremely keen wit and sense of humor. He is an able politician of wide views, and bis rapid decline is seen with regret. Culonel Whitmore is the little wasp of the Council always buzzing and sometimes stinging. A strong partisan he is the len«t Council-like of the Councillors; he would be more in place in the House. Quick wilted and acute in apprehension, his physical courage is more than his moral; his bravery in the field is greater than his vciacity in politics. A •Councillor will sometimes be the boy to stir the wasp, and then thero is fui> to those who look on. The Hon. Matliew Holmes sticks to his work, and works well from first to last—one of the best members. Dr Grace is a Wellington runowner. He speaks well on big questions only, and would be a more valuable member if his patients took less of his time. Mr Mantell meanders through life without ruffling a hair He speaks only when obliged, except to make a good joke, and never makes abad one. He makes admirable sentences, and is a koen humorist of a different order to Dr Pollen; his wit once heard is seldom forgotten. Mr Miller is the third and last wit in the Council, and hia humor recalls the original Joe of his name. He is a steady, hardworking member ; one of the most dilligent. He and Mr Wilson own the deepest lungs in the Assembly; either's whisper is equal to an ordinary voice, Mr Miller cannot get out of temper, and his cheerful exuberance' is an oasis in the Council desert. Mr Bonar is'a good member when he is there. But he never is there. Pressing private matters keep him un the West Coast. Last session he never came, and several previous sessions he came, turned round, and went back, Mr P. Buckley, known through the House as " Pat," is one of the best of the nine Grey nominees. He is a fairly able lawyer, a sensible politician, and a working Councillor, Mr Wilson is another Grey- creation, A Napier lawyer of the first rank, he is a - punctual, laborious member and anisicquisition to the Council. Dr Menzie is the Mr Murray of the Upper House, exasperatingly prosy and twaddling, but all right .otherwise. Mj Reynolds is ; pompous and wiwieldy. He is the whale of the Council, whom the swordfish delight to prod and laugh at while he flounders to catch them. His pomposity, , though, is not offensive but amusing, and to watch his elephantine defence to the-goads of Mr Miller, say, is dleighttul. Mr Whitaker likes to let him argue half an hour, and then out the ground from, under him by ten words of when his struggles to s recover himself are ludicrous. But he is liked, and does his full share ofworkaell. Mr James Williamson, as the head «-the Bank of New Zealand, is .an . authority on finance, dnd is an able member generally,/Ngatata and Kohere are of course Councillors for political reasons, and (ire equal to some of their colleagues in every* thing but color. ' ' :

It having been d<Storaiiiiod to start a horticultural aocioty for tho town and county of Northampton, the working cum-' z jnittee applied to the Earl of-Winchelsea his patronage and pecuniary support, In reply tlio noblo lord sent tljo following letterCarlton Club, March Northhampton, having been imfortnate • eiiough.'to-seeurc the flowers of Mr Labt.iichor'B oloquonco and the fruits of Mr Brndlaugh's philosophy, stands in no need °f any. other horticulture exhibition.— Your obedient sorvant, Winciiblse'a. J. Evans, Esq." An exciting scene occurred in tlio Sun Francisco Police Court on Feb, 20. A policeman named Mpronoy, who was detailed to giyo ovidenco against a rich man charged with an indecent crimo, was so badgered iimi insulted by defendant's attornoy, Mr D. J. Murphy, that he dtM a pistol, aril shot tho lawyer in tlio after comraittod suicide, ji\[oron?y is an Australian by

birth, and is hold in good estimation tij the chief of tho force. _ An Italian who has resided for sonii timo in .America has published in thi American Register a plan for tapping tin petroleum.'basius which lie belioves to lie under Vesuvius, and to bo tlio canso o the eruptions and earthquakes that fre quently agitato tho Abrurai, He pro puses to make a tunnel through the bast of tho mountain so as to roach these pre' smiled petroleum deposits, thereby «c complishing tho double object of opening up a new industry aud disarming the volcanic giant. On Fobruury 2G tho Rov. Alfred Robinson, one of the minor canonsof Hereford, was absent from his duiies. About noon a youth saw a well-dressed man struggling in the River Wye, which was much swollen by recont rains, crying for assistance, He rose twico, but tho second timo was carried away by the stream. A shortdistance 'above t he spot Mr Robin--Bon'B lint, great cunt, cloves, and ring wero found, with a memorandum which left no doubt of his identity and that ho had deliberately jumped into the river,

The renowned title of Kicheliu is now borne by n widow of 22 and her infant son, aged 7- The late Duke died at 32. Ho had quiet tastes, and was vory much respected. The Dukedom ia one of those inheritable by female (in default of male) heirs, <r it would long since have been extinct. The Into Duke thus inherited it. • Ho found-himself with meanß quite inadequate lo support his position, aud made a marriage, which seems to have been quite as mtich for lovo as for money, v?ith Mdlle .Heine/ an attractive youii" lady of Jewish origin. -Although the banana grows spontaneously throughout the tropics, when cultivated its yield is prodigious, for an acre of ground planted with it will return, according lo Hmnboldl, as much food material' as thirty-threo acres nf wheat, nr ovor 100 acres of potatoes. The banana is'the bread of millions who could not well subsist without it. In Brazil it is the principal f»od of (he laboring classes, whilo is is no less prized in Cuba. The largest and most remarkable-rough diamond that lias been received from India for many years is now in England. It is a pure blue-white stone weighing G7 carat, in form nearly a drop, and when cut and polished would bo about the shape of the Sancy diamond. Its lorm would also allow of a perfect round boing obtained. The surface is slightly indented, but there are 110 marks of cleavage, it being perfectly natural crystal. The estimated value is £35,000. Tlio New York Herald's Berlin correspondent telegraphs that terrorist placards are again making their appearance on the walls of St. Petersburg. One, which is of the most violent character, declares that Alexander 111, is now condemned lo death defini'ely, and without apneal, as he is the incarnation of all the horrors of autocratic government, and all the vices of his ancestors. These threats have made a very painful impression at Gatchina. It is rumored that aflcr a domestic quarrel, caused, it appears, from the Emperor's too pointed attention to a circus rider, the Empress of ltoia has threatened to retire to Denmark with her ehildren.