Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878.] SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1893.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4525, 16 September 1893, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878.] SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1893.

It was the English Mrs Partington who attempted with her mop to stay (lie sweep of the Atlantic Ocean, That bravs old lady bad to retire beaten in an unequal contest, and it remains to be seen whether her New Zealand sister will have greater success. The New Zealand Mrs Partington has been called in with her mop, her enfranchised mop, to stem the Brewers' ocean. She Las marched boldly to .the front, trundling her weapon, and the brewer has become afraid, According to the Post, the monßter petition presented to the Governor with a view to block the Electoral Bill smells of beer, is inspired by the trade, and reeks of the public house, The trade is afraid of this New Zealand Mrs Partington, and this furnishes perhaps the strongest argument in favor oi the new fraoohise. The feminine broom is about to do wonders' in this land, and doubtless many a man who spends an undue portion of his earnings in the publio house will soon be called to account for his weaknesses. A. traveller who once observed a good woman making desperate lunges under a bed with a broom enquired "What is under there—is it a rat." " No I it is my rat of a husband who won't come out 1" replied the virago. Then came a voice from under the bed which said, " While I have the spirit of a man I won't come outl" There are plenty of people with •' the spirit of a man" who spend all they earn in publio houses, and won't oomo out of them, In Mastenon we have heard too many tales about heart-broken women and starving children .a.nd. we are not altogether without sympathy with our New Zealand Mrs Partington when she trundles her mop in the face of the trude. There is no doubt that women have been called into the arena of politics to make men more sober and industrious. There would have been no need for this interference had not Sir Harry Atkinson unwisely con' ceded a sort of universal male franchise to the Colony under which the balance of power between reputable and disreputable voters has frequently been decided in favour of the latter. Since this evil befeKlew Zealand the number of poor, i<fle and unthrifty persons in it has increased rapidly, Sir John Hall, one of our greatest Statesmen, hopes to purify and elevate the franchise by the admissiop of women to it. It is a ourious remedy for a strange disease, but we trust it will bg effective. We don't muph like the idea of wives, sisters and daughters going to the poll, but we do not fear the vote they will give. The vote we are afraid of is the vote of the vicious man, the yoteof the sot, the vote of the swagger, the vote of the criminal. We have some hope now for the.coming general election, We don't care us to which political party a woman gives her voteafl long as she withholds itfrpmavicious : man. We believe . shiß wiil do this.v '.;•;•';;i. : :A-

It is'with extreme regret tbatwe hear of Ihe fiiulden death- of Mr \7. H. Levin, the-well-known merchant and brother of Mrs George Beetham, He was; a man of broad views and extremely popular in Wellington whore he has so long resided. At first we tbougblf our telegram must refer to his father, who is a valetudinarian in England, and tho news comes to all here most unexpectedly, The late Mr W.H. Levin wasa man of] whom all sorts and conditions of men spoke veil, and ho will bo sincerely mourned.