PARLIAMENTARY SILHOUETTES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume IX, Issue 40, 1 October 1892, Page 980

PARLIAMENTARY SILHOUETTES.

(BY

BIRD’S-EYE.)

THE subject of my sketch to-day is the member for Mataura, the Hon. G. F. Richardson, Minister for

Lands in the late Administration, who is one of the most deservedly esteemed members of the Legislature. Mr Richardson is not generally legarded as one of the handsomest men in the House, yet his face is a very pleasant one, and he has just the very nicest eyes to be seen within its precincts. They are a clear hazel, and their gaze is direct and steady. I agree with the man who says ‘ eyes are the windows of the soul.’ Some of these windows have their blinds drawn ; it is difficult to see what is behind. Mr Richardson’s, however, are frank and clear ; a true, honest nature shines out of them, sturdy, independent, thoroughly reliable, and kindly withal ; such, at least, was the impression they gave me during the brief space when he, all unwittingly, stood for his portrait. His hair is thinning fast, and grey ing, as you will see by the photo, and his features would not be worth lingering over but for the expression, which, however, the pboto fails to convey. It tells of a nature with strength in reserve, selfcontained yet deeply feeling, generous, and eminently trustworthy. His figure is short and rotund, not to say stumpy, and he is generally attired in a suit of brownish-coloured tweed.

As a speaker Mi Richardson is always worth listening to. In the first place, he is not like a ‘ Jack-in the-box,' always bobbing up to have his ‘ chip in ’ on every imaginable subject ; he lises only when he believes he can elucidate the

subject under consideration, and one feels in listening to him that party purposes and personal ends are subordinated to public interests ; his matter, also, is well-arranged, his language clear and concise, and his manner quietly earnest and argumentative. His courtesy, beirg innate, is also invariable, and he is said to have a very pretty wit which makes him extremely popular socially. He is said, too, to have one overmastering passion, and that is a love of the

‘ noxious weed,’ which, however, he worships in the mild form of a cigarette, but he and his cigarette are inseparable. I am sorry to say he is an opponent of Female Suffrage ; he went so far the other night as to characterise it as * an attempt to imnrove on creation.’

Mr Richardson was born at Cheltenham, England, in 1837, and cam? out to the colony when a lad, settling, eventually, in Otago, where he took up land in the lower Mataura district. In 1860 be joined the New Zealand Survey Department as cadet under Mr McKerrow, maintaining his connection with the Department until a few

years ago. He now practises his profession on his own account, and is reputed to be one of the best surveyors in the colony. His Parliamentary career began in 1884, when he was chosen to represent Mataura. He was whip to the Opposition during the administration of the Stout-Vogel combination, and in that capacity shewed such phenomenal discretion and astuteness that, on the late Sir Harry Atkinson’s resumption of office, on the defeat of that Government, he was at once invited to enter the Cabinet, and, being in no wise reluctant, was thereupon installed as Minister for Landsand Mines, retaining office until the resignation of the Atkinson Government in 1891.

Mrs Richardson, who, as you will see by her portrait, is a very young-looking woman, is a native of la belle France, and came to the colony as a child. Her figure is still slender and girlish, albeit she is the mother of grown-up daughters. She is fond of out door pleasures, and is a splendid horsewoman. Her tastes are also artistic, and she employs much of her leisure in painting in oils. She cares little for political studies, and, like her -husband, is opposed to Female Suffrage.

Mrs Richardson is, I understand, a niece of Lady Towns hend, ot the North Shore. Auckland.