THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1875

Grey River Argus, Volume XVI, Issue 2219, 18 September 1875, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1875

The qualifications of a popular represen tative are usually supposed to be the possession of sound common-sense, the capacity to speak correctly, and the practice of acting honestly. Any constituency owning a member exhibiting these qualities ought to be well satisfied. But all constituencies are not satisfied with such simple elements of personal character. They prefer pronounced ability of some Bort, be it good or evil. What is called cleverness is more appreciated than discretion, and if it is supplemented by eccentricity it is all the more preferred. To this peculiarity of the popular choice is to be attributed the sufferance in the House of Commons of such members as Colonel Sibthorp and Major O'Gorman, and even in these remote parts eccentricity has its admirers. Hokitika has, in Mr White, a representative who fortunately possesses all the ordinary qualities, but who, perhaps, owes his position to the fact that he is extraordinary, exceptional, and eccentric — in speech, if not in conduct ; and one of the suburban districts of Auckland is represented in the Assembly by a gentleman whose position may well be as much a question as the the presence of the fly in amber. The practical utility of either, in a representative capacity, may be questioned. Their principal merit is that they contribute to the picturesque, the value of which, in Parliament as in common life, is too often overlooked. As an example of eccentricity the speeches of both these members on the question of the day are worthy of quotation, but in that particular the preference deserves decidedly to be given to Mr Swanson. Mr White's speech has been described as "characteristic," and as exciting amusement in the House, bat, whatever may have been the peculiarities of its delivery, in its printed form it is a little dreary, and undoubtedly, as described by its author, discursive. Apart from its discursiveness, for which apology was made, it is not peculiarly characteristic, and if it presented any extraordinary character, that character must have been exhibited more in the manner of its delivery than in its matter. It affords fair reading, if it is not fair reasoning, and only vtry remotely realises the expectations which were excited by the descriptions given by those who heard it. Possibly the art of the reporter in its most perfect form would fail to convey adequately the character of any j speech made by Mr White ; photography, as well as phonography, are required to represent his funny humor and the peculiarity of his action. Mr Swanson's speech is different. Its matter is as extraordinary as must have been the manner of its delivery, which is described as having been accompanied " with as much ! gesticulation and eccentricity of expression and pronunciaiion as would serve a whole regiment of excitable Frenchmen." We have not space for anything like a full illustration of its peculiarities, but the following may satisfy as an example of the manner in which he relieved his mind on the Bubject of Provincialism, and the monotony of a wearisome debate : — " We are going to have a strong Central Government. That is one of the ad vantages we are to gain by abolition. It is a nice-Bounding phrase. It sounds very

much like "Colony one and undivided " — a nice rolling sentence. But don't you think an honest Government would be quite as good as a strong central one 1 — don't you think an efficient Government would be quite as good I—don't1 — don't you think one that would be easily come at, easily seen, easily supervised and inspected, one too that would be sure to work economically, would be quite as good? Wo, oh no. A strong central Government is the thing. The honorable member for Timaru, and the honorable member for Wakatipu, whose speeches I very ranch admired and one of which, I thought, would have been well suited to the stage, were very anxious that we should all be New Zealanders. One of those honorable gentlemen said that when you met a man now he said he was from Wellington, or from Otage, or Canterbury, or Auckland, or whatever the Province might be, and that you never hear anyone saying he is a New Zealander. Why, sir, was there ever such rot — for that is the word — uttered in an Assembly like this by intelligent men ? If you met % man in London who was born in this Colony, he says he is a New Zealander, but when you meet a man here do you expect he will tell you he is a New Zealander? Not a bit of it. He will tell you he is from Auckland, or Ofcago, as »the case may be. If you happen to be in Scotland, and ask a man whom you meet j where he comes from, do you think he will say Ssotland ? No, sir ; he will say Aberdeen, Perth, or some other place. In Ireland a man says he comes from Cork, or mentions the particular place. But jt is not very likely that the bulk of the people who are here now will ever be very willing to call themselves New Zealanders as long as you hear men talk about going " Home." That is the country a man hails from. When there is a race of young men reared in the country, they will call themselves New Zealanders when they are out of New Zealand, but not when they are in it; If I were in London, and were asked of what country I was, do you think T would say New Zealand ? No ; I would say, "I am a Scotchman." Is there an Irishman in this House ashamed of his country ? No ; not a bit of it. Is there an Englishman ? Oh, no ; they come out so very strong, and think they ought to absorb both Irish and Scotch. And yet, Sir, what a horrible state of affairs we have arrived at in this country, when you do not hear a man call himself a New Zealander ! It is truly deplorable. If that is a reason why the provinces should be abolished, it is a very poor one indeed. The honorable member for Heathcote stated that he loved his home dearly, and he loved Canterbury still more, but he loved New Zealand best. lam free to confess that that may sound uncommonly well, but it is not my style. I like my own home best ; I like Auckland well ; and next I like New Zealand. This is the gradation. To show you that this is the real feeling, let me tell you a story. Some few years ago a champion rifle match was held at Auckland amongst the Volunteers of the Colony, and my honorable friend, the member for Dunedin City, whom I am glad to see in this House, came there and beat us. The people I live amongst, when their services were required as Volunteers, were more accustomed to shooting-matches where one was likely to be shot at, which is rather a trial to the nerves. However, on the occasion I refer to, there was a very fair contest, although the best of our marksmen were not present, being bußy at their work ; and the affair would have passed off very well — balls and entertainments were given to the visitors, and everything of that sort — had not the champion taken it into his head, I dare say very properly, to read our young men a lecture. They were not to sleep too much ; they were not to drink so much beer, smoke so much tobacco, or play billiards so often ; and, if 1 mistake not, they were not to kiss the girls quite so much. He gave them a capital moral lecture. Now, the young men of Auckland were not exactly pleased at that. They couJd. have stood the beating very well, but they did not like the sermon afterwards, especially as it went forth to the Oolony. What was the result ? Very soon after a Volunteer at the Thames challenged the Colony, and he went down to Dunedin and beat them on their own ground. Then the next Champion Prize was won by Auckland, the belt is a* present held by an Aucklander, and, if I do not mistake, we have kept a pretty tight grip on it ever since. Do you mean to tell me that every Auckland man — ay and woman — was not proud of it? I know I am. Do you mean to tell me that the people of other Provinces were as proud when their men returned beaten, as we were when our man came back victorious ? It is not in human nature, Sir, that it should be so. What did we say- after that match ? Why, that our boys could drink their beer, smoke their pipes, play their billiards, kiss the girls, and then beat all competitors. I think it is a very desirable thing that they should have that sort of pluck. And if ever we get a breed of men in this country — New Zealand ; if that pluck is not in them, they will be an inferior lot, and the sooner the country is rid of them the better. Again, the Auckland young men sent a team through the provinces to play cricket. They played Christchurch, Dunedin, Wellington, and Nelson, and beat them all. Do you think that their people were ashamed of them ? No, they were quite proud of their victories. And Ido not believe that there was a mother, a sister, or a sweetheart of any of those young men who was not proud of them and of Auckland. I know the men were. I believe a lot of young fellows are coming here to play kick-ball ; and do you douht that my good wishes are with them? I don't wish any harm to the Wellington people ; but I do hope that my friends and my friends' sons will be the conquerors. If they are to . be beaten by the young men of this town, I can promise them that they have their work cut out. I shall be far better pleased indeed if our men prove themselves to be the best men in the country. I say this sort of emulation is a right and proper thingto possess, and it is suicidal to, try to crush it out. Let each Province strive to have the best men, and the best of everything — that is the kind of emulation to have."