POLITICAL SKETCHES.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 12 October 1881, Page 2

POLITICAL SKETCHES.

[BY TEBAX Iff OTAGO TIMES.] William Swanson, the member for Newton, is perhaps the most remarkable man in the House. He is a man over 60 years of age, stont bnilt, with very high wide shoulders, round baclr, dark, hardfeatured face, with a large, flexible mouth that can be made to express anything, and altogether an uncouth exterior. With educational disadvantages and a disregard to what are called the proprieties of society that would exclude most men from any elective position ; with a care* for-nobody manner; with no elevated ideas of what is usually called worship ; and without the slightest idea of what is meant by refinement, he is not only a power but is even an authority in the House. He was a ship's carpenter, and the first and most just compliment that a stranger pays to his orator? is, * That tnfln hits the right nail on the bead.' When he gets excited, as he really does, his attitudes and even his face would pass muster at a Maori war*dance ; or his action might be mistaken for the evolution of an unprofessional boxer, with bis long, pnwerf»l. and dangerous looking arms. He hammers the desk before him with a violence that would smash up any ordinary piece of furni» ture. He seldom thinks that any important question has been properly settled without a few words from biro, and he is not unfrequently right in tjiat supposn tion, as he often sees an important point that twenty previous speakers have all missed. He thus speaks often bul never long; he never wearies his hearers or sends them to sleep. He blurts out what , he has to say without introduction or conclusion — without grace or grammar ; and when he gets his Hansard slip to correct, he looks over it with great satisfaction, and says, • Ton my soul these reporters are fine fellows ; they make a precious sight better speeches for me than what I ever make for myself.' .But it is not his speeches that give Mr Swan* son bis place and power in the House With all his. eccentricities, bis standard of public duty, I might cay of public morality, is higher than that of any other member of the House. He is never out of reach of the division-bell at any time of the day or night— he never asks for anything for himself or bis district. Balls, dinners, emoluments, or bonuses are all alike contemptible for him. Any Government can safely offer him a seat in the Ministry, secure that be will hare far too much sense toi accept it. His late reply to that offer was, • .No ; when a monkey gets up a tree you can see his tail directly.' Having sought nothtng for himself, and served bis constituents faithfully ; he carries the same independent spirit to the hustings and tells the electors tbat if they want him they must elect him, but that he will ask no man for a vote, Dor spend one penny on his election. Thus he dreads dissolution as little as be aspires to promotion, and a Government can find no soft place in the independent member for Newton. Like a greater man before him, he calls the mace • that bauble,' and says that rather than pay a Seargeant-at«arm< £200 a year to carry it about, he would take it in and out himself, dragging it between bis legs as a boy drags a stick for a horse.