WOMEN IN THE BRITISH ELECTIONS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 159, 31 March 1919, Page 5

WOMEN IN THE BRITISH ELECTIONS

I ( CAMPAIGN EXPEfiIENCES. Cheery views were taken by all the ladies who spoke at a dinner given at the Jjvceum Club to the women pioneer candidates at the recent election, states an luißlish neivspapor. Mrs. Holmes, who presided, said tnat the. women who had stood ior Parliament had the eamo spirit as the British Army, which had never been conquered. The. women had not been defeated; they had only suffered a rebuff. (Hear, hear.) Some papers she noticed were concerned as to how women members of ' Parliament should be addressed: :;n }he House. One irreverent, male friend had suggested "tho hon. and fair member" or "the lion, and charming member." (Laughter.) Another puzzle was how to deal with the etiquette of the House regarding the wearing of hats. What, for instance, should be done supposing a point of' order were raised ■, after a division had beon called? If' a''woman nas bareheaded would she put. on a'-male member's hat or if a male member had riot, a hat. handy would he seize that of the nearest woman member? (Laughter.) Sirs.'Corbett Ashby gave an account of her experiences at Birmingham, where she went as a stranger. She confessed that any objections to her candidature were only revealed on the polling day. (Laughter.) • , Mrs. Pethick Lawrence said that in Manchester the soldiers gave her the best support. She had learned that the raters were consumed with a passion for abstract'i.ustice, and that the. psychology of the electors was, worthy of study. If they had been offered, on the one hand, the greatest advantages to themselves in (he ehapo of improved housing conditions and the like, and on tho other' the hanging of the Kaiser,'their sense of abstract justice' would have made them select the hanging. (Hear, hear.) ' Tho lesson they must, learn. was that the peoplo should be .approached 'through their hearts.'. .