NOTES FROM THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 181, 6 August 1886, Page 14

NOTES FROM THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT.

By Pearl Pen.

Wellington, July 23.

The batchelors of Wellington and dancing men in general, who attend balls' and parties with due regularity, have certainly had no cause to complain of any scarcity of partners at the numerous entertainments given here during this winter. We have belles in abundance for the gentlemen to pick and chose from. In fact we have quite a garden of girls in the galleries of the House on great occasions. And soft eyes " look love to eyes which speak again." No fewer than 36 " fair, marriagable maidens" canie with their friends and relatives to the session this year, and joining forces with the young ladies of the capital, have waged successful warfare against the hearts of the sterner sex, some of them at least, so rumour hath it, were faiu to succumb to the fascinating fair ones, and own themselves vanquished by their too charming foes. Witching glances from bright eyes have done their work effectually, and cupid's arrows have flown" straight to the mark. It is acknowledged that two of the prettiest delnitantes of this season are the young sisters of Mrs Tole, wife of the Minister for Justice. The Garrison Ball last week was a grand success, over 400 hundred people being present on the occasion. The presence of his Excellency the Governor and suite lent additional , eclat to the proceedings. The ball was held in I the drill shed, which was beautifully decorated with flags and mirrors. In each corner of the room was placed one of the big field guns. There were also various handsome devices upon the walls, formed of bayonets, rifles,_ ram rods, and other warlike combinations, with bright hued banners waving above and around them, the whole producing a most charming effect. It has been suggested, that as the city corps, has no distinctive battalion standard, that the ladies of Wellington should work the colours for them. No doubt if they did so, his Excellency the Governor would consent to present them with the usual ceremony, and it would certainly be a gracious act on the part of the ladies, and the Wellington battalion would feel a natural pride in the possession of colours so presented. They are a fine body of men, and well deserve the favour of the fair. But while lam on the subject of balls and dancing parties I would remark that I have been astonished to observe at some of these pleasant assemblies here in Wellington. so many really pretty girls doing the part of "wallflowers," while at the same time there are plenty of young men lounging about the rooms who appear quite oblivious of the fact that they are expected to give their hostess some assistance by contributing their quota to the general enjoyment. lam of opinion that these indolent, bashful, or indifferent young men have no earthly right to accept invitations to this particular class of entertainment unless they are equal to the effort of fulfilling the social duties involved. It is amusing to see some of these elegantes go through a quadrille ; the effort seems .almost too much for the languishing " male creatures." "It is such a deuced bore to have to exert oneself, you know !"

Men are not always what they seem, and real life is by no means as commonplace as many deem it. Day after day we listen while the lips are phrasing for us many expositions of the various important questions of the present day, but how little we know what the heart may be busy with meantime. What contrasts ! What strange combinations, and novel situations, we should discover, if we could only see, and examine the actual machinery of life ! This world is full of invisible dramas, for there is something dramatic in almost every life, it is only that our power of observation is limited and therefore we cannot preceive these things, for the inner life of those around us is, for the most part as a eealed book whose pages we may not scan.

These thoughts passed through my mind while listening to a speech made by the hon. member for Auckland City Bast, who is, by the way, a political enigma to me, as to many others, and gives the impression of much lying concealed beneath the surface that one would like to fathom and understand. But a truce to moralising; there are doubtless to be found, men of an eccentric turn of mind in all legislative bodies, as elsewhere. Most certainly they are not wanting in the Victorian Legislature where the vagaries of hon. members are occasionally of the most astounding character, as recently, when the Stamp Duties Bill was under discussion in the Upper House, and it had been intimated that a tax upon the rich was a tax on brains. The Hon. J. Macintosh, M.L.C. rose to the occasion, and at once declared that the richest people of the colony were without brains, and proceeded to prove the assertion somewhat in the following ridiculous manner. " Tlley are rich because they are without brains. In the years 1842 to 1846 many families of moderate means in the colony, owing to the depression then existing, were forced into insolvency so that their liabilities should "be met, but those who had enormous estates were unmolested by the financial institutions because they could not realise on their estates. Those people comprise the richest people in the colony to-day, and yet I have known the time when they would not be trusted for a pound of sugar." Of course hon. members wanted to know what all .that had to do with brains, but Mr Macintosh thought his argument quite unanswerable. It is true that riches may not in all cases be conducive to intellectuality, but surely a man may have brains and intelligence as well as riches. We know there are many phases of political economy, but brain and intellect will always claim their 1 just dues.

It seems a pity that the Maories must needs have the Armed Constabulary for ever before their eyes in order to maintain peace amongst them. However, I suppose with the Maori the outward symbol indicates a stern authority to which they are aware that they must bow ; at all events, it is evident that as things have turned out, it was an error of judgment to withdraw the armed forces from Parihaka. Te Whiti is a remarkable old man, and his career has been a chequered one, not devoid of tomantic incident either. Nevertheless, inexorable fate, has overtaken the old prophet at last, and Nemesis, in the shape of the strong arm of the law, has seized him with iron grip. But his misfortune is due solely to his own stupid indiscretion, and if he has been foolishly harbouring the blissful notion that even as a prisoner his lines will fall as of yore, in nice green pastures and pleasant places, then it is certain that the.fond illusion will speedily be dispelled in most ruthless fashion. There will be no excursionising, all-round sight seeing, and general entertaining this time, as was the case in 1881 when Messieurs Tohu and Te Whiti were prisoners, and had such a really " good time." Te Whiti has always possessed a wondrous influence over these superstitious Natives, and it will probably be remembered that upon one ooeasion he confidently predicted that the soldiers would be removed before a

given period. So, of course, when the Armed Constabulary was dispensed with, his prophecy was actually verified, and his influence over the Maoris iucreased accordingly, until the new trouble in reference to rents has been fermented, which— thanks to the firmness and courage of the settlers— was promptly quelled. But the outcome of the disturbance has' been the arrest of the troublesome prophet, and, it is to be hoped, the effectual putting down of his stupid and fanatical followers. The New South Wales people are at present in a simmering state of wrath about the failure of their court in the Imperial show now being held in London. They are represented there as being one of the most insignificant portions of the colonial empire, and the poverty-stricken appearance of the New South Wales court is said to be an eyesore to the whole affair, and ifc is declared that what was intended for a lesson is in reality a positive libel upon the colony it is intended to represent. The newspapers are indiguantly avowing that the national prestige is lost, as their colony is accused ot in some measure — spoiling the brilliant tout enscmUe of the Indian and Colonial Exhibition, and the commissioners are blamed accordingly. The appointment of unsuitable men being considered the root of the evil. One journal says that the Garden Palace Commissioner for Science and Education, was a "prominent citizen" who could not spell January. That being the case, it is not surprising that some very curious blunders should be made. A fiery article in one of the leading Sydney papers upon this subject concludes as follows : — " The idea of New South Wales given to the world by this exhibition must certainly be a peculiar one. The greatest portion of oui exhibits consists of officials and special commissioners. All the interest of the show centres in the shosvmen; the affafr itself being merely an incidental matter. They are not in London to show off to the best advantage the resources of New South Wales, the exhibits are there to show off the officials. That, at any rate is the view which outsider's would be easily excusable for taking. And the ultimate object of the whole display would appear to be the downright storming of the social citadel and plunder of its goods and decorations. The New South Wales colonist must have acquired a rare reputation in social England by this time. He has been represented in vaiious characters by the distinguished literary caricaturists who now and then honour us with a visit, but the most popular way of presenting him is in the form of a Jingoistic Jenkins consumed by two devouring passions, adoration of the aristopracy, and hatred of Gladstone. How such a creature could have grown up in the Australian bush is no doubt a problem which now puzzles a good many — particularly as the class of men who pose as representative colonists at Home generally correspond to this outrageous description. One evil effect of the exhibition was to bring theso men into a most offensive prominence. It is not enough that we have made the show a means of libelling the material resources of the colony ; we have also made it a means of, in some respects, confirming previously published libels on its people. This is, indeed, a poor return for the taxpayers' money, and a wretched perversion of an inten- j tionally sound and laudable object."'

There have been a few lively nights in the House during the past week. A spasmodic flaring up of our shining oratorical lights before they are finally extinguished — for this session at least — as it is expected to be over in a fortnight. There was a very warm discussion on the last private members' night. Quite a lengthy and classical debate, the subject being the Dog Registration Act. I said classical a Ivisedly, for hon. members grew excited over the qualifications of various species of the canine race, and hurled ugly quotations at each other from Virgil, Homer, and other ancients. Then they rushed into personalities, and made things generally unpleasant, until the Premier's patience gave way, and there was a short passage-at-arms between Sir Robert, and Mr J. C. Buckland. This sort of thing went on uutil the half-past twelve adjournment was close at hand when the stonewalling suddenly ceased, the clause was carried, and the Bill reported instantly; and the mystery of the whole proceeding explained. The Auctioneers' Bill was next on the order paper, and its opponents had determined, to prevent it from coming on before the adjournment after which no »new business could be called before the House, hence the stonewalling and general block out. We are having a great treat in the theatrical way — " In the Ranks," by the Rignold Company, is something worth putting one's self out of the way to go and see. There has certainly never before been such a drama witnessed in Wellington. The Theatre Royal, is nightly packed with a most enthusiastic audience who receive the performance with rapture, and give most imperative calls for the chief performers to appear before the curtain.