WOMEN IN PARLIAMENT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4777, 19 July 1894, Page 2

WOMEN IN PARLIAMENT.

j Dr Newman's Bill. /f light Wasted in the House,

s When Dr Newman's Bill giving j women the right to. enter Parliai incut came before the House of 1 Representatives last night (says the j New Zealand Times), members went lin for a prime legislative lark, Mr } Hogg poked fun at the Bill and at , Dr. Newman, and drew a picture of i the. presence of stylishly-dressed i young ladies in the House, likening • them to floras in a vegetable gar- • den. He suggested that Dr Newman wanted to realise the height of his ' ambition—a marble, statue of himself in petticoats in Parliamentary grounds. He seriously asked, in the • name of common sense, 'why this ' Bill had been brought in ? Mr R, 1 McKenzie suggested that if charm- | ing young ladies came into the ! House, and Mr O'Regan, who was the idol of the ladies, was Colonial ' Treasurer, there would bo no pro- , spect of any votes of money for old 1 married "buffers" like himself. Hoars 1 of laughter greeted this remark. Mr T. Mackenzie, one of t'lie opponents of the Bill, provoked great laughter by dcclariuof that Dr. NewmanJ with , his Bill, Avas putting a lot of noiiseii- ' sical' fads into the beads of tho women of tho Colony. After more talk of this kind and a lecture from Mr Gy W, Russell as to the tone of the discussion, characterised by him as disgraceful, an amendment by Mr Guinness that the Bill be committed that day six months was lost by 31 to 28, When the House divided on the queation', "That tho Bill'be committed," the members who were watching tho counting of the votes quickly published the fact, that for the second time in the history of this Bill tho'numbers were equal, 28 on each side, and it was amidst a deafening round of applause and laughter that tho tellore. .walked up with the figures. The Clerk and ' the tellers discovered, looking over- i the numbers at the table, that the Premier's vote was not recorded,. Mr \ Seddon hud remained seated, in' his ' place on the front Treasury bench, > writing, and had not gone into the ' lobby. Seizing a hat near by—one 1 a couple of sizes too small, it proved J to be—lie declared in answer to 'the ' Speaker, that lie voted with • the f ayes. Thus the Bill...which had * renebpd its second stage by tho cast- 1 ing vote of tho Speakei', was ad- ' vitnoed a fui'ther stage by tho vote of the Premier. • ; t

The Hoiise went into -committee. Immediately,'J^efore' Members, had' settled downed' play,' Sir a ßell' und moved tliat progress be reported.

This was received with mock " Oh :A UlO; n iID RlylYUU.li lull lilUuk yll| oVs " by several members, and with i rather puzzled silence by those new to i this phase of Parliamcntaiyliyork. 1 A Bcctkra of the House,at all e'yents, ! was injocularinood,andoveiysenouß ; speaker who rose was hailed with-a '! fresh outburst of laughter. The i Premier, who: in the minds of some of his ownsupporterswasnotsorious, : though lie appeared to be, gave credit to a deputation of women who ' had' met him at Gisbornetfoiva tho- . roughly good knowledge of politics because they!had supported YCMunemfc' JEeiwinted resorting^dodge to liif-IIiT- Bill Mr Mitchelson accused the Premier of assisting to carry on a burlesque.; Major Steward appeared on the Scene with an earnest pica to the House to think ofwhat tlioy were iloiug, Ho evidently thought they were going to pass tho Bill',' .Tlieri Mr B. Thompson renewed tho mcrriment by professing to discover that Mr Beirhad proposed to report progress -as a joke. Mr Eariishaw suggested, that Mr Bell was, jealous of the ; 'Wos : .Dr .Newman,would gain by this Bill. Mr Rcovcs thought of a unique point of order, Can "you report progress, sir,when you haven't made any; P," , 1 | Mr O'Began and other, new memtiers nindo emphatic,protest against the wasto of time caused by ; the Bill. " If we want to he amused," said the member for Innngaliua, "we go to the theatre or on \to tho football field or the racecourse, but we came here to do tho work that our com stituents paid us;for, and to fulfil our pledges; and there hve been," lie added," lio pledges given about this Bill." There was something approaching uproar wlieta Mr Graham declared that many of those who voted, to have the Bill, committed had stated that they did so in order to have a bit of amuscmOntV''Major Harris contributed his quota to -tho debate by. .suggesting that ; there were women enough 'in ' the House as it w'as. ; Mr Beeves'argued that, tho proceedings of that night , showed how necessary it was that ! private members' days' should bo i taken away. This brought Mr Duncan to his- feet •'•in-.angry .protest; ' Charges and counter charges of, insincerity, protests from those want--1 ing to go homo, and attempts to draw I Dr Newman who sat at the tablo in charge of his Bill with a seraphic j ; smile and a silence perfectly., incomi prehensiblo to some members; filled in the time until half-past twelve, i wlion it was certain that the I'liar- [ macy Bill; next on the Order' Paper, \vas settled for the night. A few J minutes after 1 o'clock when- 'tho , House had become .tired of its couple i of hours banter, the motion .to report progress was carried, and the • Bill • shelved, Tho pseudo-friends of the measure turned and rent it, | for a motion to have it re-cominittcd | at tho next meeting was'rejected [ with something like savage ferocity { and the House went homo." >