THE ELECTORAL BILL.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIV, Issue 207, 1 September 1893, Page 3

THE ELECTORAL BILL.

I PRBBE S AFTERNOON IN fIER THE COUNCIL. rtflSiSa FOR THE ■0s LADIES. I.™ B EIOETE«.)

Wellington, this day. f fha Electoral Bill through ' M** 18*. the Upper House will not be ' £»««*!,"„ skeen an interest or so ■! tcM fflth u flnßi on now that it is I J»* rtouSe length and breadth I ?■*• f freight, tho affinnu-,,,. of I Lof '. fc9, h f f v ote, has nob been ruthI •°inM\ r'nned But tha voyage is not at VU^T There are depths and shoals »»eDdf-lm cc which even yot have not i»tbatdncl although women a hopes « at present, it is quite ? iW^i^th v^ol itßelf may go down ' i-^t'tS.or.aswasthe case laab kpS&rectnally beating backJ* b6 forwards between the two *«"" nfeVanclerdockon'sphantom chip. mZ D mmW AUSPICES . Its progress did nob promise ; 'rtd Teatorday afternoon, nor was it. ijbsrapi" r" , . me up for considera--1 r^tIJb£^d Council had jusb I tio°Sd their deliberations on it when ■I ffl , k atri'ck the hour for retiring. il "Ol° OP vides that no alien, lunatic Il6 ° nn of unsound mind, no person at--1 ''.^convicted of any treason, felony ' ""toe punishable by imprisonment for il 'r ° or upwards within any part I s" e J Maiasbv'a dominions, or conI :f fi the colony as a public "fLTor a an idle and disorderly JB(aUtS ra a cgue and vagabond shall •"' Had to 'be registered, unless ho or '■ hmpnt for the offence. Surely such a S! : mprahensive enough. Not so (»».''»' j1: Hon jicLean, who had 'SdtStomake.. The first was • ffifcot that every inmate ot every fible institution should be included m thnnbove Hsti of 7 0 ° RALL v HALT AND BLIND. Dr Pollen was the firafc to fetand up for a. elm Mr McLean wished to banish to polling booth. No doubb.be said, t were in these institutions many who £wd no consideration whatever, many ' 5„ had been brought tbero by their ,1 ""halt, but at the same time there were \ Ly whom muforMtoe had overtaken. On l|y political grounds, also, lie objected I the amendment because it was most L v to bring the Council iuto coßflicb S the Lower Chamber. Did the doctor Lin to insinuate that the House of Reprejentatives is a charitable institution 1 Hia Lmenta had a little weight with Mr Metan who modified his ameudment to the 1 utent of granting the franchise to inmates ilhospHals. Further alteration he would not mate, chout'h several gentlemen oppossd themselves to him. In Mr Ltolda ho found an aider and » ibofcbof. That gontleman thought that ' fee ffho did nob contribnbe to the I taxation ot the country should not have a loicein making its laws. By way of upfolding his friend's amendment, ho then Sold a story about the introduction of cerGALLONS OF BEER i| into some old man's home, or similar insbi- ; lotion, in Dunedin, with tho result that the ! j(i,oro«3 donor, who, by the way, was a candidate for Parliamentary honours, aef wtod a block vote. Another speaker hold luafc tha inmates of charitable institutions should not be allowed to vote because 1 they wero nob amenable to tho laws of the land, The Eton. Bolt held that they were amenably to laws, but was ready to admit that they contributed nothing to tho revenue of the colony. If the Hon. Seynold'a story about the beer is not apocryphal, however, ifc is obviously incorrect to accuao these unfortunates of not contributing, ab least indirectly.

OBEDIENCE TO THE LAW,

! | The practical Swanson saw the rights of Pi the matter. In euphemistic phraaoology, , he told tho previous speakers that* they were talking nonsense. If obedience to law >/ gave men a right to vote, Chinamen and Austriana should have votes at once. The Hop, Bowen argued to clear confusion, wliicli was due, he said, to a belief that the ' fianchiso was a boon, whereas ib was a duty. Tho Hon. Jennings thought that the . honourable gentleman should withdraw his / amendment. He pointed out that though tho inmates of charitable institutions might not be paying taxes now, there was a time •'when they had done so. The Hon. McLean took Mr Jennings' advice, and did withdraw his amendment. He, however, substituted another, providing " that drunkards, or anyone who has c been convicted of aggravated assault on his wife, or has failed to comply with an order of the Court tor maintenance of wife and childien, shall be prohibited i'rom voting." The Hon. Dr. Pollen, meanwhile, was getting very impatient. Kb was pure waste of time making speeches on these questions, he said. Let them vote; but several gen- , tlemen were indignant at the bare proposal of depriving t!iem of their right of 1 speech. What vrere they there for, if not to speak? So the talk went) on, Mr Melean's amendment was discussed aDd reQiscassod. At last a vote was taken with 1 thereault thab 20 voted against tho amend- ; ment and 15 for it. When the DEFEAT OF THE AMENDMENT was made known, the Hon. Bowen stood ■ tip. He waß brimming over with indigna: tion, nay with anger. He protested against the honourable gentlemen voting against what they had voted for last year when the Bill was before the Council. As he proceeded, his voice rose with a visible accession of wrath. There was no object, he "led, in his remaining in that Chamber when certain of the Council were determined to block every amendment, Bimply SJf the safety of a certain clause in the Bill might not be imperilled.

A DRAMATIC EXIT,

rm c *^c Council Dad quite digested hia WAa speech, the irate gentloman had left «» Place and was striding towards the Boor, through which he disappeared, shutl"h' it after him in italicas, as Artemus ward would say. After he left), obher hadbroa kepb °P6n the grievance which he Ju Hon> W- C- Walker regretted he ■ whim not find language strong enough to characterise the conduct of certain mem- *?? l c Counoil He endeavoured to n!" y v. ms6li with fche e Pitheb " degrad™g. but was called to order for doing so. „„'. t h°wever, had made use of hia opportunity to express his opinion. Other membershaving relieved their feelings. 7 epeech, the Hon. Swanaon aaked thab we names of those wlio had voted for «tankards and wifo boatera having electoral Pf "leges should be taken down, and soon the clause boing carried, the flouse adjourned for dinner. WOMEN IN PARLIAMENT. C ivr, o,"aßßembUnf? ab 730' the Hon< W- • walker made the first attack on clause t)w. demanded excision of the lasb no»rap of thab clauße whioh Baya tbab 6 i ,° man> although duly registered as an '««or, shall bo capable of being nominated iJ: can «»dabe or of being elected a mem- « the House of Representatives, or of

being appointed to the Legislative Council. He had jusb finished an almost impassioned appeal for the representation of women in the Councils of the colony—an appeal which sounded strangely in the mouth of a man who on the previous evening had voted against the franchise been given the ladies, when the Hon. Rigg arose with another amendment, for which he claimed priority, Clause 9 opens with the provision that every man registered as an elector, is qualified to be elected a member of thaHouße of Representatives. Young Mr Rigg, who like Mr Walker has been a consistenb opponent of the ladies all through, said "strike out man and pub person in its place." Then, while the faces of his brother Councillors broke into broad smiles, he insisted chab the ladies should sit on bhoso red morocco benches if it) pleased their sweet wills to do ao. Ib was only logical, if you gave women the right to vote, thab you should also accord her right) to legi3lato. It would have been delightful to have listened to young Rigg, as he dilated on the purifying and elevating influences of bhe fair sex on politics, if one had been assured that he was speaking with the hoartfolb enthusiasm of a new convert, bub even if there had been no touch of irony in his tone, his sudden change would have been suspicious. There was not the slightest room for doubt as to that young man's real sentiments when he sat dowu. In bis closing eontencea he dropped

THE MASK OF IRONY,

and Bhowed himself in his true colours- " By all means let her come here," he cried; "and we shall see how ib will work.' There was a world of mingled scorn and scopticism insinuated into these words. The Hon. Pharazyn was against the amendment, and Dr. Pollen held thab until women petitioned Parliament for scab within its sacred walls, as they had doDe for the vote, the matter had better be left alone.

Sir G6O. Whibmore, who, though a soldier, is becoming daily more remarkable for' his want of gallantry, had reasous not very complimentary to the ladies for supporting their right to sit beside him. In his opinion, bhe ladies would nob vote for a candidate of their own sex, because of the ovorstrained regard they had for members (himself included, no doubt) of the other sex.

EXPERIENCE OF PARLIAMENTARY

WORK.

The Hon. Swanson mob some remarks of a previous speaker about the necessity of woman having some experience of Parliamentary work before their contributions to the deliberations of the country could be of much value. In hia early days, eaid the Hon. Willie, he used to attend the sitting of the first legislative assembly of the colony, when then met in Auckland. He went there aa a spectator. The members of those in those duys were all tyroa in the art of governing, just as women would bo if they came into Parliament now, but he aosured the Council that thab early assembly compared most favourably with either of tha present Houses.

The Hon. Shriaaaki, another well-known opponent of the womon's franchise, spoke so etrongly in favour of ladies beine allowed to sit in Parliament that Mr Jennings could not resißb coming down on him. As the new Councillor said, everybody could well understand the new-born zeal on the parb of the opponents of the franchise for a share in the good things coming, Sir P. Buckley honestly "declared that ho was not, and had never been, heart and soul with the measure, but should women get the franchise he would be glad to give them a seat in tho Council or Parliament. After a good deal more discussion the amendment was pub, with result that ib was lost by 18 to 15.

THE DIVISION.

The division lisb is aa follows :—

For the amendment: Reynolds, L. Walker, Richardson, Bonar, J, Kelly, Whibmore, Swanson, Shrimski, Kerr, Rigg, Wahawaha, W. C. Walker, Feldwick, McLean, Peacock.

Against the amendment: Stewart, Barnicoat, McCullough, Pharazyn, WilHum, StoveDS, Bolt, Jennings, Dignan, Whyto, McGregor, Jenkinaon, Oliver, Ackland, Ormond, Pollen, Montgomery and Buckley.

There were, as the division shows, 33 Councillors present, as againat 38 on the previous eveniny. The absent member ware the Hon, Bowon, who fiung himself from the Chamber in the afternoon and never returned, and the Hons. Grace, Mantell, Johnston, Hart and Holmes. Tho Hon. McGregor, who paired with the Hon. Scotland on Wednesday evening was present yesterday. The clause was then passed and the Council adjourned.