GREETINGS FROM ACROSS THE TASMAN SEA.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 1, 26 September 1907, Page 3

GREETINGS FROM ACROSS THE TASMAN SEA.

. The messages of greeting to the women of Nov, - Zealand printed below havo been received' from three leaders of the woman's movement in Australia —Miss Vida Goldstein, who recently stood for Parliament in Victoria, Miss j Rose Scott, a champion of women's j rights in Now South Wales, and Miss J Catherine H.' Spence, the veteran I' agitator for franehiso reform in South Australia. Dear Friends, —Wo Australian womon owo you of Now Zealand a deep debt of gratitude, for it was j your glorious victory of 1893 that I fired our woman suffrago leaders with j new zeal and courage. They had hardly hoped 'to do more in their life j time than sow tho seed of political j freedom for . women, but your success made theirs seem a near possibility, I and now' there is only ono spot in j Australia where women know any form I of political serfdom, and that is in I Victoria, strange to say, where the ! woman movement in this country had | its birth. When..Victoria falls into 1 line with her sister States I will look I forward to tho initiation of a moveI ment to unite tho women of New j Zealand and Australia in orio political j body. In . spite of our comparative | proximity, -we know littlo of each other's work and aims. • Do you think tho idea of a non-party Australasian Women's Political Alliance is such stuff as dreahis aro made of H I do not. Whatever their individual party views may be, I maintain that broadmindod, high-principled women can work together to further those social and' domestic reforms in which the women of all parties are mutually in-

terestod—equal marital and parental

rights, equal pay for equal work, protection of children and young people

against the vicious and depraved, and against capitalist exploitation, penal reform, ctc.. Could wo not agreo upon a plan of action, whereby the demand for such reforms could bo initiated simultaneously in New Zealand and in each-Australian State? Simultaneous action would lead to a healthy emulation between tho women of each political division. '

Non-party political association 'loes not appeal to tho averago man and woman.:: Non-party politicians will novor have the big battalions on thjir sido, but what.of that? Only Right is Might, and God has clioscn those whom tho world calls foolish and weak to counfouacl those whom the world calls wise and mighty. Yours cord.iallv, VIDA GOLDSTEIN, President Womon's Political Association, Melbourne. ■■ ~ . Doar Women of Now Zealand, — I havo been honoured by having been asked to v/rito a mcssago to you—you, to..whom.l owe so much.. Long years ago, yoiir. work' to gain the women's vote v. : as one of my. inspirations to work hero in New Soiith Wales for the enfranchisement .of women; and then, when you won your, political rights, your work for.:reform through many women in your National .Council of Women was an additional inspiration to 1110. Full .of gratitudo I would say : to you words pf hV'ne anil courage. You havo dono rain'i, but there is much to'bo dono. Wo can help each other. Lot us all bowaro of apathy, and let us even try to stir up in each other those elements of divine discontent with things' as thoy arc. The ideal .of tp-day. will then ■ become tho reality of to-morrow. "Tho-utmost for tho highest" bo our motto. / Yours always in love and gratitude, . ROSE SCOTT. Sydney. • As an Australian woman who has spent, nearly sixty-eight, out of the eighty-two years of her lifo in South Australia, I desire to_ send a greeting to the women' of New Zealand, to whom the women of tho' Common-wealth'-owe so much. .' I s hail The Dominion idea of having a'woman's column for something beyond fashions, functions, and recipes. In all matters of social reform women should take an intelligent part. Their own homes will be better and happier if thoy seek to make other homes also better. Believo me, yours heartily, . CATHERINE HELEN SPENCE. Adelaide.' , . i/fcfti&v.'Uto —