TWO CUPS OF TEA.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1738, 1 May 1913, Page 5

TWO CUPS OF TEA.

9 A LADY. AND THE 1 VOTE FEMININE, [By Wi.] "So you voted for Bill Perry—eh?" I pushed tho flower vaso out of the way, and regarded Miss Kitty with an amused expression. Kitty nodded. "Two lumps?" "Yes, please." I reached out for my cup, ana stirred the contents with an air of profound abstraction. "Well." said Miss Kitty, "what arc you thinking about?" 1 regarded my teaspoon thoughtfully. "I was wondering why you voted for Bill Perry," said I. "Why shouldn't I?" sho demanded. . - I smiled. "That's not the point, Miss Kitty. I know of no earthy reason why you shouldn't—l voted for him, too—but why did you?" Miss Kitty stabbed a sandwich with her fork. "Why did you?" 6he asked. "Never mind me," said I, with a virtuous air. "It's you I'm asking." '•'You're very curious, aren't you?" I laid down my cup. "You don't ■ know why you voted," 1 said, severely. "Don't be silly," said she. "Of course, I know. Bo's rather nice, don't, you think?" she added.

"il'lll—just so," said I. "Was that why you voted for him ?" , Miss Kitty put down her cup with a clatter. "That was not tho reason," she said, with vehemence. "It was ono reason," I insisted, with a grin. "You think wo vote for this man or that man just because we think he is nice!" "Some of you do," said I, with convictiou. "But what I'm driving at is this —you don't really know why you voted." "Haven't. I got a right to vote?" demanded Miss Kitty, falling back upon her defences. "Theoretically—yes. I suppose every woman with a stake in tho country has as much right to vote as every man. That sounds fair, on paper. In practice, Miss Kitty, it's a farce. May I have tome more tea?" "1 don't think you deserve it," said til* lady voter, magisterially. "Then, I suppose, you think that women shouldn't be allowed to sit in Parliament?" "Most certainly not," I declared. "What " "S-sh! For'goodness sake—people will hear you." Miss Kitty glanced übout with apprehensive eyes. "You're .quite wrong, all the same," she added, ."It's perfectly iilly of you to talk like that. We're not ill the Dark Ages now, you know. Wo have rights." And so saying she addressed herself to the walnut cake. I smiled at her. "You mean, Miss Kitty, that you have wrongs?" • "We ought to havo the same rights as vou men," said she. "Men ! Poof I" Sho lilted her nose in the air. "You men are a selfish crew, that's all you arc,' she said, with infinite' scorn. "You shouldn't marry us, then,' 1 said, with a grin. "What else is there to do? You won't let us compete with you in your professions, you pay us miserable wages, you—ugh!" "I think you are getting away from tho point," I submitted, with deference. "What is the point?" "The .point," said I, "is this. Mind you, tho principlo of the thing is all right in theory—what's fair for 0110 should bo fair for the other. But in practico it works out badly. You see, Miss Kitty, it's like this. Temperamentally and physically, regarded from every point of view, the place of woman in society is ordained by a simple and most elementary law of nature—she is tho wife. The man goes forth into the world to fight for his living and her Jiving. They can't both, go, for perfectly obvious reasons. Do yoli mean to tell 1110 that that woman should bp allowed to mix herself up in politics, contest a seat in Parliament, and all "to the neglect of her home? Would any sensible woman dream of such a thing?" Miss Kitty reflected. "M—yes—that's all very well. But what about the woman who does not marry? Why can't sho go into the world and tight her own Rattle on equal terms with the men—in cerlain kinds of employment, of course— and why can't she go into, Parliament and fight for her own sex by getting laws passed for the good of her own sex? Now then!" Miss Kitty concluded her speech with a vigorous tap of her teaspoon. "You can't provide for the exceptions," I said. "You've got to consider the women as a whole, as a functional part of our social system. By all means let tho single women work for their living—more' power to them—and by "nil means let them get decent wages. It s a shame that soiuo of them don't, But if Nature intended him to l:o the fighter, to fight the woman's battles as well as his own, then it is up to him to right her wrongs, in Parliament and out of it, or lose his title to manhood." "But look at the way wc have been kept down through the centuries—look at the injustices that women have suffered in the past, and even now are suffering. "True, but consider tho improvement that has taken place in your condition, in my condition, in the condition of nil classes, from tho Dark Ages till now. Do wo treat you as goods and chattels, as wo used to? Do wo sell you in (ho market as wo used to?" "That is so, but " "Ono moment. • What was the moving force that brought about these better conditions? Was it. not tho influence of the women, exerted within her own family?" , .. "M-ycs?" Miss Kitty gave a tentative consent. "In New Zealand," I continued, "every woman has a vote. Most women cxercise their votes, but how? 11l most cases they consult their husbands, not because they aro intellectually incapable of judging for themselves, but because their natural instincts lead them to occupy their uiinds with matters that they are tempcrameiit•allv and physically suited to cope with, matters that appeal to them-111 the average—much more (hull do political questions. A woman doesn't knock about in the world like a num. She doesn i know the world as a man does, and she —the average woman—can't ever know it either. Mark von, she is not uninterested in social questions—far from it—sho knows that tho man is better Jilted for straightening out the crooked places thun she is, and that it is up to lier to bring him round to her own way of thinking. Men, in tlie average, arc fair-minded and chivalrous—that gives her a good start, doesn't it?" "M-ycs?" "Now we'll suppose that the women of New Zealand took to organising I hemselves for given objects; thut they formed a big societv to accomplish certain reforms bv legislation. Ami we'll suppose lliat this movement enlisted the support, tho pledged support, of every woman in New Zealand, and wan so successful that it carried everything before it. Suppose tlie women absolutely dominated the political situation. Would theyj could they, make a success of their legislation ? I say 110."

"Yviiy not?" "Simply because they would lock, -inn always and inevitably must lack, Unit knowledge of the world which enables men to foresee tho practical effect of legislation. Now, why did you vole ior your man to-day?" "I don't know, I'm sure, said Ki^Jy• "Oh, bother, let's go out in tho 6uu.