Pen and Ink Portraits

Observer, Volume 2, Issue 32, 23 April 1881, Page 340

Pen and Ink Portraits

No. 18— Me. William Rollston.

It would take a clever man to describe in intelligible language an egg. Tlie person who had never seen such a thing would have some difficulty in realising what it was like from a page of letterpress. There would be no trouble in stating how long or how thick it was, what colour it appeared, or what it weighed ; but when the inner portion came to be described, a writer would not really know what to say to render the description intelligible. He could say that it was good to eat when fresh, but a villainous thing when stale ; but the same description would apply to a fish. He could say that some people preferred an egg raw, others boiled ; just the same thing could be said about a banana. It is precisely the same with the Native Minister. You can say how tall he is, and how much he weighs ; that he has short hair, and a shaven face ; that he dresses in part coloured garments, and that he has, like Moses, a hesitancy in his speech. But when you want to get inside the man, you find the shell is opaque ; and yet he is the most remarkable man in the Cabinet. There are very few men to be found about Avhom such different opinions are held. Some maintain that he is incorruptibly honest ; others that he is altogether lost. Some assert that lie is actuated by the highest motives only ; others that he has been content to play the role of the knave for the benefit of speculators. It may help us very materially in realising a correct idea of the man to ascertain what he is now. He is not an orator, although he can make a good speech. His speeches read better than they hear. He is not a man of unknown antecedents, coming as he does from an old wellknown Yorkshire family. His brother is a Professor at Oxford, and one of the leading scientists of the day. He is not a dishonest man, as he has not enriched himself at the public expense — a thing he could easily have done. He is not a pretentious man. Although a ripe scholar, having taken a double first, he never parades his knowledge and acquirements. He is not a statesman, as he has no definite line of policy, no code of opinions, no determinate course of action — being always afflicted with doubt, and the creature of circumstances. He is not a cynic, being sensitively alive to public opinion, although he protests that he is insensible to newspaper criticism. He is not a man of firm will, as he may be induced to do, or to assent to do, that which he disapproves of doing. He is not a great talker, as he speaks very seldom in the Assembly — far less than what he should. On the other hand, we can learn something about Mr. Rolleston if we take heed what he has done as a colonist. He came to Canterbury in 1853, or thereabouts, and immediately donned a blue shirt and went to work. At that period of his life he was what Charles Kingsley would have called a muscular Christian. Herbert Spencer had not then impenetrated his mental system. The germ of the irresolution which has since marred his usefulness was then apparent in his nature, as his comrades soon found out, and characterised it by calling him "Apprehensive Bill." In a short time he was found owning, or part owning, a cattle station on the forks of the Rakaia River, opposite to Major Scott's. When he went into politics first is uncertain without inquiry, but in 1863 he is found acting as Provincial Secretary for Canterbury, having supplanted Mr. Maude, who went out of office Avhen Mr. W. S. Moorhouse vacated the Superintendent's chair to make room for Mr. Bealey. _ In 1564 or 5 he was Under-Secretary for Native Affairs, where he learned what he knows about Maori matters. Twice or thrice elected Superintendent of Canterbury, he held that office until the provinces were abolished. Long an aspirant for Ministerial honours, he got a seat in the present Government. Throughout the whole period of his public life his private character has been irreproachable. The breath of slander has never come nigh his dwelling, and this is all that is known about Mr. Rolleston which a writer can state without going beyond the bounds of propriety. One cannot forget when writing about him that he is a gentleman by principle, by instinct, and by education ; and this further fact— he is the only man in the Cabinet entitled to the appellation. Mr. Sheehan can, however, teach Mr. Rolleston a Jesson or two. The member for Avon is not courteous on all occasions to those under him in official life. He is sometimes rude even, and forgets himself in his impatience. He snubs people frequently as a cad would. He says harsh and ill-natured things to subordinates, when Mr. Sheehan would gently put them right if they were in error. It may be only a Yorkshire manner, but then it is a very bad one. He displays his likes and his dislikes in his public action. There is a taint of the Pharisee about him, although he may not own it. If he had, he thought, a God to thank, like John Bryce has, he would thank him daily and hourly that lie was not as John Sheehan is. Yet nearly every person in New Zealand likes "Johnny," save Sutton and Ormond. Many men have gone long distances to vote for John Sheehan at personal cost and inconvenience ; very few would walk a mile to vote for Mr. Rolleston unless the calls of party claimed the sacrifice. But then John is always courteous. Strange as it may appear, there is a dulness of apprehension about the Native Minister. He is unable to see the result of an action, or even to forecast its probable outcome. He waits to see what it may produce. He is suspicious, moreover, of men's motives. If he had help proffered from an enemy he would regard the proffer with suspicion, convinced that either some latent motive induced the proposal, or that in the time of trial his ally would desert him. He seems incapable of' understanding that an opponent can be actuated by pure motives or generous sentiments. Where any help is proffered to him in any difficult task he has to perform, it is amusing to see the look of dazed stupidity which comes into his face, the result of his suspicion of other men's ntegrity. It would be an interesting question

to discuss, how far absolute honesty can be found existing side by side with such unreasoning suspicion ? When help comes to him from an unexpected source, he sets himself to speculate why the help is given, and neglects to see or to consider what actual aid it will produce. His very apprehensiveness makes him dull. H© is a class man, and yet a Mason Into the deeper significance of Masonry he never penetrates. He forgets that all members of a guild, as members, are equal. He considers it more harm to kill a king than to kill a peasant. He thinks a sick marchioness of more importance to the body politic than a sick pauper. Although he may deny the fact, lie has a weakness for the Gogs and Magogs of Euglish Constitutional life. If he had any religious convictions, he would be a member of the Latin or Greek Churches, because they lean to vested interests. His sympathies are with the Maori people in their troubles, but his sympathies have been unable to make him adopt either opinions or resolutions. He always in his strongest moments wants someone or something to lean upon. Very few class men can walk upright without a stick. This class feeling he has carried into administration. He would make provision for the strong at the expense of the weak. Although a poor man, he will not help poor men. All the time he was in office in Canterbury not an acre of land was sold under the deferred payment system. He allowed lawyers and money-lenders to purchase land from the Government and retail it again to the settler on terms. In this manner he farmed the Canterbury lands for the benefit of those having money. The Wakefield theory of cheap labor and dear land he has adopted. In this same spirit he helped John Hall to gridiron the province. The same imbecility he now displays in administering the colonial estate. He would give Te Puke to Vesey Stewart on any terms because he was a man of his own class, but not a rood to an association of small farmers at Tauranga, Wellington, or Wanganui. He was born in a class, and cannot escape from the trammels of his traditions. KONEKE.