PARLIAMENTARY SILHOUETTES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume IX, Issue 47, 19 November 1892, Page 1149

PARLIAMENTARY SILHOUETTES.

(BY

BIRD'S-EYE.)

ONE of the most familiar figures about Wellington and its purlieus is that of * the little doctor,’ as the genial M.H R for the Hutt is very commonly, and also very affectionately, denominated. Dr. Newman’s bright, cbeeiful face is like sudden sunshine on a wintry day. Its effect is to liven up all its rays touch on. I can find no one who can recollect ever having seen Dr. Newman depressed or moody. In the wettest, most dismal weather he comes jauntily into the House fresh as a daisy, blythe as a cricket, spruce as though he’d just come out of a bandbox ; yet ready, too, to do battle right valiantly on the instant, if need be, for the cause he considers just. Dr. Newman is one of the few men who may truly be described as having no enemies, for though he has plenty of individuality and , ery decided opinions of his own, his genuine kindliness of heart makes him considerate of others, and careful to avoid wounding their suseeptibilites. Dr. Newman is fair, hazel-eyed, and fresh coloured, with sunny hair parted down the middle. He always wears a belltopper, and bis attire is invariably immaculate. He has a pleasant, inspiring, personality which would be greatly missed were any accident to derive the House of his presence. Ready to speak—that is, capable of debating almost any subject—the doctor does not, however, run any risk of becoming a bore by reason of bis too-frrquent uprisings. Yet, when he speaks, he is both fluent and explicit, although he pours out his words somewhat too rapidly, and the unvarying cheerfulness of his tone is sometimes a trifle monotonous. Though sitting on the Conservative side of the House, Dr. Newman is proud of his Liberal opinions, and is always ready to support any measure, by whomsoever introduced, which he believes will be conducive to the general weal. Finance is understood to be the dcctor’s strong point, and there are not wanting friendly prophets who see in him the Colonial Treasurer of that ‘sweet byeandbye’ when the Liberal Government shall have ‘ ceased to trouble, and the weary ’ Conservative shall be ‘ at rest ’ in those comfortable quarters where the former now recline. Dr. Newman is the eldest son of the late Captain Newman of Hawke’s Bay, and is now about forty-three years of age, having been born in India in 1849. When he was about four years of age his father decided to exchange India for New Zealand and settled, with his family, in Hawke's

Bay. At the age of sixteen, Master Newman was sent to England to complete his education, and subsequently entered as a student at Guy's Hospital, where lie studied with such distinguished success that he became Gold Medallist of his year in medicine. He took his M.B. degree at the Aberdeen University, afterwards becoming a member of the Royal College of Physicians, London. After practising for some years in London Dr. Newman decided on returning to the colony, and selected the Capital as bis future home. Here he hastakenanactiveinterestin the progress of local institutions, and has assisted to foster all of a beneficial character. Hebecame President of the Wellington branch of the New Zealand Institute, to whose journals he has contributed various valuable memoirs. He has been several times re-elected to the Wellington Education Board, and is a staunch supporter of the present system of free, secular education. He has done good work on the Wellington City Council, and as a member of the Wellington College Board. Dr. Newman first entered Parliament in 1884, when he defeated Mr Bunny for the Thorndon seat. In 1887 he was

re-elected, but at the election of 1890 he decided to stand for the Hutt, leaving the amalgamated city electorates to the eager competitors who were thirsting to be of service to the Wellington people. He was successful, and in him the Hutt electors are fortunate in having a representative who, while fully alive to questions of Colonial importance, is also wide awake to the necessities of bis own particular district. Athletic sports have an enthusiastic advocate in Dr. Newman, who rarely fails to put in an appearance at the Basin Reserve or Newtown Park, when a match of any consequence is being played. The doctor’s literary tastes are also pronounced, as is frequently evidenced in his speeches ; as before said he has contributed largely to the journals of the New Zealand Institute, and lie is a freq rent contributor to the columns of the colonial newspaper press. Dr. Newman is married to tbe youngest daughter of the late Dr. Featherston, and hits one ehild, a little son of six summers. As might be expected from her parentage, Mrs Newman takes a keen interest in politics, although undesirous of personally taking any active part in thorn. Brought up in

an intellectual atmosphere, she naturally enjoys the society of cultured people, but she inherits a breadth of view, a liberality of nature, and a largeness of heart which places her in sympathy with human beings of all classes, and which shculd be of great help to her in her efforts to influence for good her sister-women. Personally Mrs Newman is very pleasing ; her features are regular, and her eyes of a tine dark hazel, bright with intelligence and kindly feeling ; she wears her dark hair drawn back from her brow, has a nice figure, and dresses in good taste. Her manners are those of a lady, and, therefore, quite innocent of the ‘ side ’ affected by the snobocracy. Her tastes are artistic and literary, she enjoys social life, and the companionship ot congenial friends. Woman’s power for good, Mrs Newman thinks, is already so great that the ‘huge experiment' of the political franchise might well be deferred awhile. The ultimate consequences must, of necessity, be so vast, either for good or evil, that, while ardently desiring the betterment of the average woman's position, she shrinks from the immediate enfrancisement of the whole sex, intelligent and unintelligent alike, although she is, at the same time, an advocate of the rights of women as human beings. She differs in opinion from those advocates of the measure who believe it will cause a Conservative reaction, thinking that it will, on the contrary, be a great power in the hands of Democracy. Mrs Newman is in thorough sympathy with her husband's political views, which are, in many respects, truly Liberal, spite of his Conservative prepossessions. Like her distinguished father she thinks that the aim of a public man should be the * public good,' and not the mare gratification of personal ambition.