Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, NOV. 8, 1896. The New Woman.

Manawatu Herald, 3 November 1896, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, NOV. 8, 1896. The New Woman.

Sosifl grave anxiety ia at times expressed at the probable results of the " New Woman "development, and the lot of man in the future i 3 pictured moat dismally. On the other hand, much fun is made of the movement, the comic papers filling up their pages with curious illustrations and amusing dialogues as between the old man and the ooming new woman. No earnest person will be inclined to deny woman her place in any position she may choose to aspire to, provided she has fi ted herself by study and the display of fitness for that state, and we have had numerous instances where women have conclusively proved their right to the places they have captured by having filled them with honour to themselves and advantage to the public. As in every new thing there are numbers who desire the glory of the position without having the patience to fit themselves for it, and thus we get the exhibition of that oddity commonly designated the New Woman. At tho coming election we have the excitement as to the result of the women's votes, for though they ex ercised them at the last election the trial was of little value as the right had only just been granted, and the vote was used more out of curiosity than as the exercise of a serious duty. Now, after three years' reflection, it is more than possible their votes may be cast very differently, and it is extremely likely that man and wife, nominally one, will be found voting for opposite candidates. The real test of the value of a "woman's vote will not be made, likely enough, even at this election, but that its distinct power will make itself visible at the coming election cannot be doubted. We are all indulging in wonderment at the new power in women, owing to the idea that their having a word to say in ruling the country is something new, and therefore it will come as rather a startling statement to learn that students tell us that there are sixty different peoples in which the Matriarchal Family System prevails. We have all heard of patriarchs, but matriarchs has a strange and wondrous sound. In the regions where the matriarchal system prevails, the husband leaves his family and goes to live with his wife. The ladies propose, and the descent passes in the female line. In some eases the bridegroom has to sew clothes and mocassins for his bride, and combs her hair on the terrace in the Btin. The woman controls the situation, to her belongs all the children, and descent, including inheritance, is on her side. If we advance in the matter of legislation the day is pert haps not distant when the above system, the outcome of the new woman, may be in force in this colony. We are given to clamour for things we know not of, and in the progress of our experiments we may succeed in working out the extinction of man's supremacy. The lesson to be learnt, we suggest, is that in seeking new legislation it would be wise to consider what the ultimate results are likely to be, so that we may no advance too far to make retreat impomb'e.