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The Daily News. MONDAY, MAY 28, 1917. BRITISH WOMEN'S FRANCHISE VICTORY.

To the citizens of the Dominions, who have for so long enjoyed the exercise of an adult franchise that is practically universal, it has been incomprehensible that the people of the Motherland should not have set, rather than followed, the example of a full representation in administering the affairs of the country. The new Reform Bill which the BrHish House of Commons is pledged to place on the Statute Book not only -very large:y extends the qualifications of the male electorates, but breaks down the sex barriers so long maintained and opens up an avenue for the great army of women, who have so mightily helped to win the war, to find a place by the side of the men who have fought in the field, in, t'.'at ni''.'»r ?reat army of ipeaJce on which the future destiny of their country will depend. What the noisy, shrieking suffragettes failed to obtain by means of a rancorous, and at times «i criminal campaign, has been peacefully achieved by the exhibition of a that could not remain unrecognised. The war has given to the women of Britain what the pre-war time of peace denied—and given fully and spontaneously—and should therefore be doubly prized. The reason for this progressive legislation needs no seeking; it is merely that in the war work woman has discovered herself, has become self-reliant, and has proved in every way a right to full citizenship. It is estimated that about six million women will be enfranchised under the new reform measure, but what really matters is not so much the casting of voteß, but the influence women will wield jn the- future destiny of the country. The war work they have been doing, whether directly as helpers in munition work or taking the places of men required for the army or other work of urgency, has altered their whole status, and revolutionised their outlook) and this change' will act and react in a thousand directions —on the professions, on employment and trade regulations, on education, on the usages of society, as well as more direetly on the law and its administration, and on national policy. It is these subtler and more widespread changes which, in the end, will be found to be by far the most important. The women of Britain will never again consent to revert to their pre-war status. They have plunged into the arena of activities and have had time to accustom themselves to the new conditions of life. What is more, they have succeeded in convincingly establishing their fitness for occupations which have hitherto been regarded as essentially- pertaining to men. The process of development is still proceeding with amazing speed, indicating that the wlioje body of the State will, in the end, be vastly strengthened as well as humanised. The Old Country needs above everything new blood—fresli and vigor--1 oils—infused into the body politic. The women have daretl to break through all fossilised conventions, and they will have 1 the courage to put tlieir hands and minds to those national reforms which will rejuvenate and virilise the Motherland. It is only, in comparatively recent years that any but wealthy men could . obtain a seat in the House of Commons, ■ and it is still of more recent date that the workers' were represented in the

Ministry. Happily thoj, state of affairs ! no longer exists, but the old conservative methods connected with the executive have only received interment since the war. It may, therefore, be assumed that by the time peace is declared the way will be clear for the* recoustitution of. national life on sane and healthy lines. The task will be colossal, but after overcoming the titanic work of the j war, that of reconstruction will be a healthy exercise. The true principles of democracy will now have a fair chance of being put into practical operation, and the nation governed by its'representatives instead of by a venerable coterie obsessed with ancient precedents and prejudices. Women's entry into the political arena creates a new era. If war England could not have performed her .purpose for six months without tlieir help and manual work, neither can peace England advance one step along the road of re-settlement without their statesmanship. It is not, as the Westminster Gazette says, merely a modified structure of economic life to which by an obvious act of justice and even of State necessity, women must contribute; it is the rebuilding of society on fresh lines of liberty, secured by the broader foundations of truth. There is much truth in this assertion. We do not expect the Motherland to .become a perfect paradise, but there is such a large field open for women's work and influenco that we may fairly expect women will now make their impress on the future of the nation.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19170528.2.15

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Taranaki Daily News, 28 May 1917, Page 4

Word count
Tapeke kupu
812

The Daily News. MONDAY, MAY 28, 1917. BRITISH WOMEN'S FRANCHISE VICTORY. Taranaki Daily News, 28 May 1917, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, MAY 28, 1917. BRITISH WOMEN'S FRANCHISE VICTORY. Taranaki Daily News, 28 May 1917, Page 4

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