Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MAY 9, 1898. Female Franchise.

Manawatu Herald, 9 May 1893, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MAY 9, 1898. Female Franchise.

It has been stated that the Government intend to introduce, at the commencement of the session, a Bill conferring the Franchise on women ; that they mean to make it a mosfc important point and will use all the influence they possess in the House to secure its being passed. The rumour would appear to be correct, as, last month, tenders were invited for printing the electoral rolls, and now tenderers have received notice that all tenders have been declined. As there must be some reason for such a smart alteration in intention, it is probably due to the idea of getting the new rolls completed as connectedly as possible. As, however, prior to any election, supplementary rolls are always printed, this move of the Government's appears rather far fetched and made the most of as a sort of advertisement of their present good intentions. If not, the rolls might as well have been printed and the names of the women, should the Bill pass, been added to the supplementary rolls. The story of the discussion on the last Electoral Bill is quaint reading and does not reflect much credit upon the Government, if, which is a most important little word in connection with the case, they really wished to secure that which they said they did. We know that the Opposition openly asserted that the Bill was killed in consequence of the insincerity of the occupants of the Ministerial Benches, and the report of the proceedings in Hansard force that opinion on nearly every reader. Shortly put, it niay be said that because the Council desired to place women in a position to vote without having to face the polling booth, our earnest politicians preferred to throw the Bill out altogether. The new clause the Council desired to add, as far as women were concerned, was simply " women may make declaration and claim for an elector's right." What the Government desired to do was to treat a woman as any other elector, excepting those mentioned hereafter, and force her, on the day of the election, to travel to the nearest polling booth and there marc her voting paper and deposit it in the ballot box. For our own part we would just as well wish that this had been retained as the exercise, or otherwise, of her privileges would have shown how much such were desired. But the Government to upset a Bill on this point, if they were so anxious about it, seems most curious, as to others, not women, they were prepared in the Bill to grant the concessisns which the Council merely desired to further extend to women. The Council invented no new paraphernalia, they used the clauses mentioned in the Bill and said, add the women, in addition to Beameo>

shearers, and commercial travellers. These gentlemen the Bill provided every assistance to vote when and how they pleased, fchey would liaVe merely to apply to the Registrar of Electors fov an Elector's Right, which would qualify them i# vßte 1 "at any time after the issue of a writ for an election in such district, and before the hour of closing the poll, on the prilling day, 1 ' 1 As tile | Bill directed a space of forty days between the issue and return of the writs, there was ample tinie provided for these gentleiiteri J.d ¥<*ta) and the Question naluraUy arose Why not treat the women the same ? When a holder of an Electoral Right desired to vote, if a .seaman he would have t'd #d b a Mentor, oil Gttstoa'Mj) it & shearer or commercial traveller, to a Postmaster, and sign an application for a ballot paper. The Officer is directed to " thereupon fill up a blank ballot-paper (which need not be ia the form of a ballot-paper fts provided by this Act) with the names of the candidates of such district* and shall then write 1 upon the -bottom df the left hand corner of the back of the ballot-paper his initials and the number of the Elector's Right produced to him iii respect of which the ballot- pap^r is given, and» aftei? fct&urhig" the said cornet by gum or otherwise, shall sign his name near such corner, together with the name of his office, and shall give the saiiie to tlie voter'; who shu.ll, Witkdttfc leaving the room, erase in pencil or in ink the names of the candidates for whom he does not wish to vote* and, having, folded the gapei 4 sd that tliti contents cannot be seen* shall return it to the Collector or Postmaster, who shall in the presence of the voter enclose the ballot-paper in an envelope addressed to the Returning Officer of the district for which the vote is exercised) and, having closed the envelope, shall enclose the first envelope, together with the aforesaid application of the voter for a ballot paper, in a second envelope similarly . addressed, and shall forthwith post it to its ad dress." This is really the position, and because the Council desired to ex tend uo further courtesy to the women of the colony to that which the Government were prepared to extend to seamen, shearers, and commercial travellers, the Government assert that the Council killed the Bill. One Member of the House in supporting the amendment made by the Council fairly pointed out that there were outlying districts and it was all rubbish to say that women could go trailing over the country roads as well as the men could. They were not able to do so They would leave their homes vacant on many occassions if they did so. because their husbands and sons would of course be away from home. He also mentioned that he could not help thinking that, were these electoral rights not given to women, the votes of a great many of the best women in New Zealand— a great many modest, sensible, intellectual, refined women, those whose votes would be presumably valuable — would be lost. It is not improbable that after all the new Bill will give the power to women as suggested in the amendment made by the Council, and which the Government used as an excuse to throw the Bill out.