NOTES FROM THE GALLERY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IV, Issue 105, 6 May 1869, Page 2

NOTES FROM THE GALLERY.

[by an observeb.] Waß I in the Gallery on Tuesday night ? I should rather think I was. Did'nt everybody know that the Totaranui giant, the Charleston pet, the Riwaka champion, and the Wakapuaka chicken, were to show their teeth, and do you suppose for one moment that I would miss such a display of talent as was likely to be exhibited by these celebrated characters ? Yes, there I was exactly at 5 o'clock ; I daresay the Speaker did'nt know I was there, or he would'nt have kept me waiting for ten minutes, but I forgive him, and trust he will be more punctual another time. I did not expect there would be anything worthy of notice until the usual formalities had heen got through, but I was agreeably surprised. A petition was presented by somebody or other when, much to my astonishment, up rose the Clerk, and made his maiden speech, in which he complained that members did not afford him an opportunity of perusing the petitions before they were presented, and consequently that he made sad blunders in reading them out to the Council. I thought it wasn't the correct thing for the Clerk to make a speech, and expected he would get a greit wigging from the Speaker, but I found I didn't know anything at all about it, for the Speaker seconded the Clerk's motion, and the members didn't object, and so everything passed off quite pleasantly. A few minutes more and the Council were in full swing, they had resolved themselves into a Committee, and there they were hard at work picking to pieces the Superintendent's speech. Mr Parker who stood godfather to the reply, stuck to his ground manfully and beat off his opponents on all sides. Mr. Macmahon said that the |Executive knew all about the mistake in the accounts last session and the Provincial Secretary said they didn't* and then after a little waiting and watching his opportunity, Mr Gibbs saw a magnificent chance of displaying his ignorance of how the accounts were kept, which he at once availed himself of, and got nicely hauled over the coals by the Provincial Solicitor in consequence, and when this scolding had been administered, Mr Wastney got up and made a remark or two which I didn't hear cs he confided it to his shirt front, and then Dr Irvine rose and said he didn't expect that there was going to be any discussion on the subject but as there was, why he thought he might just as well say something as anybody else, and Mr Luckie followed him and in a very solemn tone of voice, as though he was reading the burial service over some dear departed brother, said that he knew the Treasurer had on some previous occasion detected an error in the accounts and why didn't he do so now? And the Provincial Solicitor said the law was altered so as to prevent people finding out mistakes, but Mr Luckie said that didn't matter a bit, and then looked as though he should like to see the law that would keep him from discovering and exposing a blunder, after which the Speaker said that the accounts had been squared in 1867, and had no business to be out of order now, and then the Chairman, Mr Donne, made a long speech in which he said that everyone else was wrong and that they ought to have postponed the debate, he didn't exactly know why, but seemed to have a vague impression that as a general rule it was advisable to put off everything as long as possible. Then there was a division and the Government were beaten by one vote which they didn't seem to mind a bit. After this there was a talk about the separation of the West Coast, and the members from that part very wisely sat still and never said a word, but left the members who didn't come from the West Coast to do all the work for them, and this they managed so well that the Council was very nearly saying that they didn't approve of any opposition being offered to the petition for separation. So the West Coast members smiled and looked pleased, and the sensible members who didn't come from the West Coast looked disgusted, aud all the others — there were seven of them— looked foolish and frightened, and began to think about the hustings. Shortly after this we had a little dispute between Mr. Donne and Mr. Reid; the latter, in a few sensible words, ventured to take a different view of a case to what Mr. Donne did, whereat the latter grew furious and threw himself into the most dreadful contortions, and put his hand in his pocket and his leg on the chair, and tore his beard, and clutched his throat, and shut his eyes, and altogether behaved like a maniac; and ' I am sure if any two doctors had been there they ,would have pronounced him of unsound mind, and he would have been committed to the Lunatic Asylum, and I don't think any one of other members would have interfered in his •behalf. The idea of Mr. Reid— a new member — "rushing to the front" in opposition to Mr. ' Donnel he ought to have known his place better, — had he (Mr. Donne) been in Mr. Reid's place he would have heen too modest to have acted ia such a way. And the Council laughed incredulously. The next quarrel was about the Duke of Edinburgh; this was a sort of free fight, every man's hand being raised against bis neighbor, and very witty things were said, and just as it was nearly over, Mr. Simmonds, who had been incubating for a long time, got up and looking as though he had something clever to say abused the Superintendent's moral courage and the triumphal arch, which he described thus— "The huge mass of evergreens had the appearance of a carriage driving into a cavern," and then he sat down, and everybody knew at once from this lucid description *■*.*■ hat the arch was like. This was on Tuesday night, but I went into the gallery again last night, and had some more Donne. He was very greedy that night, and he wanted Charleston to have 40 members — fancy 40 Donnes! — and somebody said he thought that was too many for a small place* and^ then Mr. Donne said he never said so, or if he did it was a lapsus Ungues, and then' I heard a very rude member whisper audibly that he wished his (Mr. Donne's) tongue would one of these days slip out so fer that he could never get it back again, —and the Speaker didn't call him to order..

There was a great row after this, because' the Provincial Solicitor wanted to turn a cemetery into a racecourse, or a racecourse into a cemetery, I forget which, over at Motueka, and, oh dear ! the members did talk. I couldn't help thinking of the Resident Magistrate's Court when some old women have had a quarrel and come there to settle it, they chatter away and give the history of their families, and it is no use for the Magistrate to say in his fiercest tones " But my good woman I've told you over and over again that I don't want to hear all that, the history of your little Bill has nothing whatever to do with the case," but then there is this advantage in Court, there is always a policeman to stop you if you talk too much — couldn't they have one in the Council Chamber? — there would be plenty of work for him. When they had finished this long discussion they decided that they hadn't half enough time for talking, and so they would devote Monday to that pleasant occupation, as well as Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Mr. Macmahon was the principal mover in this, and was very anxious to get all the talking over as soon as possible, and I think most of the members seemed to be very much influenced by an argument which I didn't understand, but as it seemed to have great weight with the others, I took it down verbatim. He said, "If we sit long, we shall brood over matters, and bring up a lot of nasty little things." I came away then.