Colonial.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 421, 15 November 1856, Page 3

Colonial.

YOU'RE ANOTHER!

We published, some weeks ago, the letter of * A Stranger in the Gallery,' which appeared in the Wellington Independent ; giving a smart, one sided criticism on the personnel of the members of the General Assembly. The wit of the letter, which gained it insertion in our columns, seems to have captivated even those who had most reason to be offended. Its partiality however demanded a retort; and, accordingly, the following sketch of the Fox ministry lias been published in the New Zealandei\ After a few preliminary observations, the writer continues :—

' Commence wo, then, with Dr. Featherston. —He is a perfect gentleman, eloquent to a high degree—the real leader of the Wellington ultraprovincial faction !—but, although second only as a legislative orator to Fitz Gerald of Canterbury, he was unhappily restrained by ill health from enunciating those ' taking' and vigorous, if somewhat doubtfully democratic sentiments which he has adopted—and was from this cause compelled to be almost a silent member throughOut the session.'

"'* That honourable member,' (I quote from the ' independent) ' sitting with the knitted brow in an easy chair in the dark corner near the Speaker, making notes and crymg * hear, hear,' in a very decided manner, is Fox, the member for AVanganui. He is Saxon if you judge from his square frame, light fair hair, and grey eyes ; Yankee by his perpendicular countenance, sharp aquiline nose, thin compressed lips, and the opinions to which the latter gave utterance. He was perhaps a little too fond of addressing himself to the " Gallery." His style, though peculiar here, is common, doubtless, in the country in which he acquired it.' &c. So much for Mr. Fox's portrait of himself— or for Dudley AVard's flattering likeness of the fnend who was about to do the same kind office for him, and into whose snug Provincial Treasurership he was hoping soon to step ! Let me take up my crayons :—' Fox is cleverish in his way as a platform orator; wordy but not eloquent ; vehement, but often vulgar in the extreme. Vain to excess, and shallow as he is vain—he fancies himself an orator, when he is in fact but a t< ol in abler hands. Professing Yankee notions, he is but a sorry specimen of Yankee ' notions ' himself; and his stump orations, like his writings, were here a dead failure, as regards any lasting effect they produce. Vulpine by nature as well as name, he thought he was outwitting others, when he only succeeded -in outwitting himself. For the rest, although frequently coarse, he is amusing, and one cannot help liking him, if only for his fapparently genuine bonhommie and clever affectation of

frankness. He has now become an official, through the good nature of the Ministry he "-so vehemently opposed; and, unless in an occasional outburst, for the sake of keeping up appearances, I fancy we have seen Fox for the first and last time, in his favourite character of " the Yankee Notion." Dillon Bell, I think, has met with scurvy treatment at the hands of his (noiu) brother commissioner—Fox. He (Bell) may be older than _he looks—may be quite at home in a drawing-room — may appear to a casual observer as having a little of the petit . maitre in his composition—and may not be so 'telling' in talking to the Gallery, or in personal repartee, as Fox. But ho speaks like one who feels what he says ; he is well up in facts and figures ; he has the reputation of being a-good worker when there is work to do; and though he does not xmtjurrard* Yankee notions, he impresses his hearers with the conviction that, if an official, he has not sacrificed independence of thought and action.

Come we to the gentleman with the grizzled hair and piercing eyes, like the eyes of a weazel watching a rat. This is Fitzherbert—whose speeches were certainly not • answered, simply because they contained no argument to answer. Tedious beyond expression,—wearisome beyond precedent, he fairly exhausts the patience of the Members ofthe House, who, looking at or listening to a speech of four hours' duration, could find so little real matter in it, that it reminded

• * Mr. Fox's pronounciation of the word forward, according to this writer.

one of Falstaff's bill at the Boar's Head, in Last Cheap—

'But a halfpenny worth of bread to all that sack ! w Tic- dn ° dose]y that reall.y aWe ™an Gibbon Wakefield, he mimicked also his peculiar enunciation, particularly the manner Mr. Wakefield adopted, m speaking, without possessing the mmd of that well-known politician. Gentlemanly m manner, but not over burdened with practical ability, his speeches were appreciated in the body of the House and in the Gallery, at thenproper value, viz.:—

'Vox et pra?tcre;t nihil.'

The next we come to—" the member with the Saxon face and hair, but without the Yankee pependicularity '—is John Hall, of Canterbury, familiarly known as Jack Hall, Fox's Colonial Secretary, 'He has quite a boyish look, though lam told he is older than he appears.' Like Fitzherbert, he has succeeded in aping the ungraceful part of Fitzgerald's demeanour when speaking, without possessing the nous to comprehend fully, or to analyse the sentiments which fall in such eloquent and elegant language from that able man and real orator. I am told that he was a clerk in the General Post Office at home, and that he there worked in a most indefatigable manner. I dare say he sorted letters very well, and that if he were less ambitious, he might make a useful man in the colony. The Superintendent of Taranaki, Charles Brown, comes next in the catalogue. Whatever he may be as a Superintendent, as a General legislator and minister he appeared to have two attributes only—incapacity and rashness; and was perpetually-vacillating between them. He also showed himself to be greatly under the influence of personal animosity. Yet at times there was an out spoken and unaffected honest utterance of his sentiments that made you regret that his mind was not better disciplined. ' The Stranger in the Gallery ' says that he cannot congratulate the Wellington people on the election of Valentine Smith ; in short, that he was the only Wellington man who didn't seem to have anything to recommend him. It struck me that, at any rate, Mr. V. Smith had honesty of purpose, and no small amount of common sense to recommend him. He spoke at no unreasonable length, and when he did speak, enunciated correct ideas in a gentlemanly manner. Windy as Wellington is known to be, he did not appear to be so much affected by that peculiarity of their climate as some other'members from that place, who considered the ability to blow long-blasts one principal qualification of a statesman.

I must say a word on the other member for the Hutt district —Alfred Ludlam. No Adonis in face, figure, or dress, there was a frankness aud an honesty writ large on his face, which his speeches and votes did not belie. He made no pretensions to oratory—l do not recollect his having once borrowed a quotation from the Speechmaker's Companiontogarnhb. his matter of fact remarks; yet he was always listened to with the respect due to sincerity, common sense, and the entire disregard of Self in everything he uttered. It would be well for this colony were there more men like Ludlam among her Representatives.

From Wellington, I am half inclined to make ' a long leg' to Otago, whose representatives openly admitted that they would sell themselves to the best 'bidder. But they had no hand in the production of the sketches which have led me to take up my pen,—and they were so egregiously ' sold' after all "by those who professed to buy them at their own price, that I forbear.

Wellington proceeds in its smart attacks, which exhibit a wonderful mixture of humour and keen satire, covering intense political jealousy. A series of papers is promised on the ' Who. Where,and How' of the late session at Auckland. In spite of the comprehensive title, only the House of Representatives is dealt with; the Legislative Council and all officers unconnected with the Lower House being passed over in silence.

The authorship of the first letter from Auckland is unanimously given to Mr. Fox, and, certainly, the writer, whoever he may he, was in Auckland, and has moved to WetliDgHMi. and now writes these present

essays. Our readers will mark the peculiar style repeated in GENERAL ASSEMBLY. No. I. (From the " Inilependent." The electors of the various provinces of New Zealand have as yet had a very imperfect account of the proceedings of the General Assembly during its last session. They know that the body was elected alter many contests, during which public opinion in each province was pretty well sifted ; and that for the most part the tried men of each community were sent to Auckland. They know, moreover, that the 'Assembly sat for nearly six months, that the reins of responsible government were successively entrusted to three different sets of hands; that there was a great amount of discussion; and some amount of legislation, ending in an additional amount of taxation, and a pretty heavy, amount of expenses to be paid by the people. But what was the character of the various petty combinations which led to the formation and fall of so many ministries—what the substance of the various discussions—and what the precise nature of the measures which resulted from the deliberations ofthe Assembly, very few of the electors of New Zealand at this moment really know. The ignorance which prevails upon this subject is owing to no want of interest on the part of the electors themselves. They have watched anxiously for accounts of the sayings and doings of their representatives—" the hungry flock looked up but were not fed." The deficiency of wholesome food for the satisfaction of the political appetite has been owing to the character and conduct of the Auckland press—the only channel through which, during the progress of the session, it was possible for the public to derive information as to the proceedings, of the Assembly. So confused, imperfect, and unintelligible were the reports of the debates—so uninstructive, one-sided and unfair were the leading articles—that it was impossible for any one by then- perusal to obtain a definite understanding of what really passed in the house; much less to fathom the meaning ofthe various motions and measures which formed the subject of the debates of the session. It would, no doubt, be absurd to expect in a colony like this that the history of a session of ,the General Assembly should be recorded from day to day with the same accuracy as the proceedings ofthe British parliament are served up on wet sheets at the breakfast table in England. But it is certain that it might be done better than it is—there might te much greater accuracy in the reports—much more impartiality in _the allotment of space, and much more instructive discussion of measures in the leading articles. In all these particulars the Auckland press was remarkably deficient, and in proportion as it was so, the public has been ill-inlbrmed, or not been informed at all, on that in which it was the chief duty of the press to have informed it. There are two papers at Auckland, the 'New Zealander,' and the ' Southern Cross,' each published twice a week, but not on the same days— so that there was an opportunity for a dailyreport of the proceedings of the Assembly on every sitting day—the House not meeting on Mondays and Saturdays. The ' New Zealander ' is understood to be the property of Messrs. Williamson and Wilson, printers, the former of whom represents the pensioner villages in the Assembly, and is also a member of the Provincial Council. The proprietors are understood not to edit the paper themselves, but to employ an editor, a gentleman but recently arrived from England, and who came out for the purpose. This gentleman, has, we believe, had some connection with the press at home. Whether he was a principal editor of the ■ Times' or a penny-a-liner on the 'Eatanswill Gazette,' we have no means of knowing,other than the style of his leaders and n a mer of conducting lis paper: and, judging him by these tests, we aye. on. the whole, inclined to think that he did not edit the ' Times.' AYe confess that we regard it. as a great misfortune that the management of the paper which has by far the largest eircultilation at Auckland, and which was necessarily the principal channel of information on the subject both in New Zealand and out of it, should, during the session, have been in the hands of one who had but recently arriv.. d in the colony, who had taken no part in the political struggles of the previous fourteen years, who

was. no doubt, wholly ignorant of the events of that period; and who has probably no stake in the future prosperity of the colony. Nor have we bora able to trace in his leaders, we will not sny any attachment to. but any acquaintance with the great principles which for good or for «wii have bean introduced into our Constitution, and which are now undergoing the''Experimentuni Cruris" under circumstances in many respects of great difficulty. His writings certainly exhibit little of the analytical skill of the philosopher, or the practical foresight of the s^t^mnn. A certain amount of smartness exercised in making the worse appear the better r^vn*i, a faculty most easily acquired by professional writers—a moderate share of the c"ant, the slang, and the claptrap of the editor's desk -—with a style which contains unmistakeable «videiiee of its owner having studied in the great school of penny-a-line philosophy—these appear to be the principal qualifications which tilted the Editor of the ' New Zeahmder' for the task of conveying an intelligible report of the proceedings of the session to the inhabitants of Lie several provinces, and instructing them in the principles which might conduce to the ; prosperity and stability of the political fabric. j The avowed Editor of the * New Zealander' j had under him always one, and occasionally two professional reporters, and, professing himself | the art of reporting, he ought to have been able j to give reports sufficiently correct to inform the j public, and. possibly, to satisfy the speaker reported. How-far it was owing to inability on the part of the reporting stall* and how far to | intention, wa cannot of course say; but the re- j suit has been most unsatisfactory. No doubt , both he an 1 his assistant- in ordinary, being j almost entirely unacquainted with previous poli- j tieal events in the colony, much that passed, ] particularly when the House was in committee, may have been unintelligible to them, and so far they are excusable for errors—or even for omitting altogether what they could not comprehend. But over aud over again—day after day. and that during the period when the practical business of the Session was being transacted—in the Committees on the Estimates and other important occasions—-you might see two or even three or the reporting force perched up in the gallery, \» it-tout pen to ■ paper for hours. If this ha*& occurred when speakers on both sides were on their legs indifferently, we could, perhaps, excuse it. But, often as the best speakers on one side went unreported, %ye do not remember an instance in which Mr. Williamson (the proprie- j tor of the paper), or Mr. Richmond, the Colonial Secretary (a personal friend of. the editor's), orened their mouths without every word they said (and sometimes a good many more) duly appearing in respectable type. Yet these were two of the least important and impressive speakers in the House, both decidedly, and pax*- j ticularly the first, belonging to tbe " flabby" j school of orators, of which Mr. Fitzherbert so ■ happily described Mr. Ludlam ss being the chief, i The crowning sample of reporting fairness, ] however, occurred early in the Session, on the ] great two days' debate on the Sewell policy—■ when, the next, d».y but one after it closed, the whole of the sp33.be> on the Sewell side—(that e-poused by -the ' New Zealander') —appeared r.t length, and only one short and unimportant o.ie on the other side. So irross an act of unfairness we never remenber the press to have been guilty of—even at Eatenswill—and not even those who benefitted by it could find the face to oiler a syllable in extenuation.

The So<dl,ern Cross is the property, we bJ o' VI i \\ mi t a il' >«.>, the p^nultirmte Si>i iint 'lhiito' hill'iid. i putnci m the l o fi* ii „ *"_"> 'ilJl— the 1 ltle-i of \>hom, J oi' n o-* 'i i'" bl' ' v'ub't on oi pohtn.d mi ri if r r 3'ir i ' 'hi' endel by being " f* \''i(i ><f the t\o on "mantel inernbi" Oj Ii ,t s, — tto ii>idi.hie( Mi ht tfioi 1, 1 *_ t ii' Tit iM iii i- und i-iood to L. M ( !-<,. , i i: L ' ,ii by cducition and L, _■ „1 _„ . 1 - t , i„< „, i,> (Mon.. oi i- i r-. oa d iv; Lt't ,l belli \e wnn no P> vil i- ij* 11, p imply qti. hficat ji- io* i »•' * ntc of tdi o- •. , i ih\ c jhu i'c 1 «-'•.!» o >.i.t j_' . - 'j, j hoi tin lac „. > o '(>_*;< — i 'm' f ."(ffion ioi loj .*_;ri „.i 1 if t j - i < -,<i ' ('i t h" < 'iiijo* id 'i t- i > 'it( Hil cl ii> at' j • v.i llio i* * i - (> 'J oi Oh v , — api ->u-b '» f.i _„ 1 1,1 0 ,j " f^niil ilt-,'"), an 1 .b- '' i i<\ 1;1 ii ill. di- ' ii is •i di <x tc ii» o.rjry or hi V' \ v „ i_ oh.'

large. We must, however, do Mr. Carlton the justice to say that, in his editorial capacity, and the general* conduct of his paper, he showed himself what lugo calls " indifferent honest," and if the Cross failed in conveying the requisite information to its readers, it was not by perversion, but by omission. Latterly its reporter did not even attend the House: he had token the pet at the tenor of the debate on " reporting," raised by Mr. Fitzherbert, and in a letter, highly impertinent to the House, but which it did* not think worth notice, he announced his retirement from the gallery. From this period we presume the summaries which, appeared in the Cross were furnished by Mr. Carlton, and meacrro they were, and uninstructive enough ; while the Editor filled up the vacant colmns of his paper by pirating Dickens' new work of " Little Dorrit."

About the middle of the Session, Mr. Fitzherbert, in a very able speech, called attention to the subject of reporting; proposing to place it under the control of the House. The debate was resumed on a following day, and was one of the most interesting of the Session, being devoid of party character, and many of the best speakers taking part in it. It ended in the appointment of a Select Committee, which took evidence and reported on three different systems which had been suggested by witnesses, recommending one for adoption by the House ; but as it would have involved adicavier cost than the House thought justifiable at present, it was dropped. Time will probably remedy this evil by the usual means of competition. One of the principal difficulties in the way of reporting was alleged to be the c quantity of talk,' which was also charged with waste of public time. This was a favourite topic of Mr, Carlton, Mr. Domett, and others, —for no other apparent reason than that they had not the gift of oratory themselves. It must no doubt be very -galling to gentlemen who have achieved a certain reputation, out of public assemblies, to find themselves so incapable of cutting respectable figures in them. AYe will not say that a w Taste of the public time resulted from the fluency of certain members; but the waste, whatever it was, was not attributable to the ' long tongues' of the Wellington majority 7, the wagging of which annoyed Mr. Carlton and Mr. Domett so much : —when their possessors spoke, they usually spoke to the purpose, and when they had said once what they had to say they were satisfied. The waste of time was attributable to subordinate speakers, who, not content with a thing being said once, must keep repeating their own ideas when they had any, which was seldom, or reiterate the ideas of others in worse language, and without the charms of eloquence with which they might have been originally developed. Such was the practice of those great masters of the ' flabby' school, the AVilliarnsons and Ludlams; —so spoke the speakers, in the boarding-school miss style, like Dillon Bell; so, also, the makers of ' few remarks' who addressed the ' ouse,' like Elliott, Taylor, or Valentine Smith, without the ' ouse' being able to ' happrehend' wdiat they wre driving at. Talk yon must have in a deliberative assembly. As Mr. Fox told Mr. Domett, members are not sent there merely to vote as he usually did like ' dumb driven cattle,' but to give a reason for the political faith that was in them ; and it is not, we repeat, to the most frequent or to the lengthiest talkers that either difficult}' of reports or waste of time is to be attributed. AYe will answer for it that the epigrammatic croaks of Mr. Carlton, or the stammering utterances of Mr. Domett, cost the colony 10 times as much in proportion to their value, as the lon crest oration delivered by Dr. Featherston, or Mr. Sewell ; and that a speech from either ofthe latter o." from any other clear and emphatic *n"""ier *<owever long, can be more earily reported than the straggl'ng verbosities of thr. ' flabby,' the namby p-nnby of the boarding 8"hcol rn's'-t, or the utter rubbisli of the chip-in-porridge description of speakers. Dormer the greater part of th", session both the Auckland papers supported Mr. Sewell and his policy, During the early part, and till the F"N ministry was defeated, the Cross professed to support the party whi'di that hon. member headed. But the support, it crave was so lukewarm—its. expositions of tiie policy it professed to support i;o lame and uninstructive—its adherence to the party so evidently uncordial— ibaf, it did it much more harm, than when it afte'-wards openly espoused this other .side. It was only dangerous as an ally—its influence was

too slight, to damage by opposition. The other papers ofthe colony have of course only copied the reports of the Auckland papers, more or less condensed or mutilated—very often exhibifuitr evidence of the difficulty of extracting sense from the ' no meaning ' of the people from which they copied.

In the hope of giving the readers of tho Independent a more intelligible account of tho proceedings of the Session, we propose to furnish them with a series of articles on the subject. AVith the assistance of our observing correspondent, ' the Stranger in the Gallery," and other authentic sources of information, wo trust to be able to givo a fair version of the acts of their representatives. AYe have already received copies of the Acts passed—wo hope by tho next steamer to receive the Blue Book containing the proceedings ofthe House, from which,-with tho aid alluded to, we shall be able to enlighten our readers on the Acts which did not pass, and on the proceedings ofthe Special Committees. In the meantime, we may find material for a few -.articles on some of the more prominent proceedings. We cannot pledge ourselves that every number of our paper will contain an article, but we shall endeavour to fulfil our pledge as quickly as possible. Each article will be headed "General Assembly," and those who may be inclined to preserve tho series will, we hope, find it not without use, <-_ an historical compendium of the. acts of th"s Session.