Citizens Say—-

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 516, 20 November 1928, Page 8

Citizens Say —-

(To the Editor.)

TRANSPORT Sir,— Mr. 13. Singleton is very fulsome in his admiration of Mr. Bloodworth, but his ideas are not" shared by everyone. Mr. Bloodworth was not elected a member of the Transport Board, and the council did the right thing in electing others, as this gentleman is already a member of the Power Board, which is in a sense a supplier of goods to the Transport Board, whose duty it is to get power cheaply. When Point Chevalier had private buses running for 4d fares and community buses that ran for anything or nothing, and yet made a success of it, the residents had Mr. Bloodworth to “cuss” for depriving them of the service. I’m not keen on the Transport Board, but I’m heartily relieved that Mr. Bloodworth is not a member. If we had some of those men on the board who could make a financial success of running transport with a “pay if you like” charge, and do it so thoroughly and successfully as to send the council howling to the courts for their removal (as it and Mr. Bloodworth did concerning community buses), the public would indeed get cheap transport. I see no reason sq far as transport is concerned to blame the council’s decision. PARK. TEETH AND EXPLORATION Sir, — I have just received a communication from a friend in the States, who writes: “Commander Richard E. Byrd and the 65 members of his Antarctic expedition intend to have no toothaches while exploring the South Polar regions. A 10,000-dollar dental clinic, completely furnished, and equipped with a staff of four dentists, was set up in New York for the exclusive use of the expedition. The clinic was opened by the Caulk Dental Research Laboratory, of Milford, Del., as a contribution to the expedition. The dogs to be taken along were also submitted to a complete dental test, but not at this clinic.” This clinic is a good idea, but why not ship a dentist along with the expedition? There will be plenty of time in the lcmg summer days and in the longer wmter nights for the dentist t <y do his duty. The dentist of the expedition would need to be a comparative dental anatomist, because on reaching the frozen wastes it would be necessary for him to care for human teeth, canine teeth, and Byrd teeth. G. C. TOLLERTON. WOMEN M.P.’S Sir,— Your correspondent, B. King, states: “A grave mistake was made when the right to vote was given to women in New Zealand,” and proceeds to submit that women should have only a restricted franchise (to vote for women candidates only) and women M.P.’s elected in this manner would sit in the legislature with limited functions, i.e., in matters relating to health, morality, etc. I wish to join with her on both points. The fact that our women have had the full franchise for so long is the one outstanding reason why this

country lias all along been so far in advance in the matter of social and* welfare legislation concerning women and children. The strength of the women’s vote is such that every candidate and every government has to take it into serious consideration, and any measure affecting the welfare or standing of women or children has only to be urged with sufficient insistence by the organised womanhood of the country (and we are organised in these matters) to receive immediate and earnest consideration —and resultant legislation, the latest instance-be-ing the Mental Defectives’ Act. This is so because women having equal franchise with men, can, by organisation, to a large extent threaten the seats of those members who refuse to listen to reason. This enormous controlling power would be utterly lost were women’s franchise restricted to electing, as suggested, a few women specially to represent them. And incidentally, as a natural sequence, it follows that women’s possession of this controlling power, fully realised and keenly appreciated at its full value by men, and intuitively recognised by women, makes it all but impossible for a woman candidate to secure election in competition with men candidates. But now that social welfare is being so largely legislated for, women will not bo content until they have direct parliamentary representation by members of their own sex and some new scheme must be evolved to that end. I have long advocated that there should be some special representation. The Dominion could be divided into four or six special electorates, each having one woman representative in Parliament who would be elected in the ordinary way at each general election by issuing a special ballot-paper for this purpose* to each woman voter. These women representatives (who would exercise the full rights and functions of M.P.’s) representing electorates of extensive area would be removed from the sphere of purely local politics and untrammelled by party partisanship. Such an arrangement would satisfy women’s demand for direct representation and practically obviate rivalry between the sexes at election times. CAROLINE BASTEN. WOMEN AND POLITICS Sir, — I cannot agree with the suggestions of your correspondent, B. King, that women in New Zealand should vote solely for women nominees for Parliament, and that the representatives of the sex should administer problems peculiar to women and children. What a spectaclo it would be to see the women of the Dominion divided separately and distinctly from the men in politics, fighting their own battle, and, in fact, waging an almost entirely different election struggle. In discussing women in public life, sir, this is my point: Woman is first woman, then a citizen. As both a woman and a citizen she has a function to perform, but that function is a personal rather than a common one. The seeds of democratic reconstruction are sown in the home, and woman’s work in this great move is influential rather than direct. There is nothing in the performance of women on local bodies in New Zealand to establish a crying

need for their participation in ? liamentary discussions. On the * hand I think it is acknowledged tn_ generally speaking, they are disav pointing, politically speaking, and u they' have served their apprentice successfully’, * I hardly favour elevation to the positions of journ men legislators. , . -<■ A MAN IN PLACENOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS “Selwyn”—“Sam” is more than ever. Like you, he t j,e understand such defiance ° Book of Rules. * “Looker-On”—lt is essential respondents send their name au dress. Holding your letter meantime. —Ed. Th* Sui»«