WOMEN JUSTICES.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 169, 18 July 1924, Page 9

WOMEN JUSTICES.

i MR. WILFORD'S BILL. 'r PASSES BY THE HOUSE. AGE LIMIT REJECTED, i (Br Telegraph.—Special to -"Star.") 1 WELLINGTON, Thursday. I The House of Representatives has ; again sent to the Legislative Council an • amendment lo the Justices of the Peace ! Act, introduced by Mr. T. M. Wilford, making it clear that women may be ap- ! I pointed justice?. There was an ainus1 , ing experience in Committee, when Mr. Jj W. D. Lysnar. who fought a minority ■ i battle, sought to limit appointments to 1! women not less than forty years of age. He moved mi amendment on these lines. A member: How are you to know? I 1 (Laughter.) 1 1 Mr. Lysnar: There are more ways of j j ascertaining her age than that of judgl ing by appearance. Women are capable 1 1 of producing birth ccrtilicatcs. (Laughter.) I do" not think the bill is a wise measure, but if the House thinks it ■ necessary, then it should include only '.those ladies who are of mature mind. l jl do not wish to reflect on young ladies— I (laughter)—but it would require a ; mature woman's mind to deal with the I duties. I When Mr. J. A. Young (Chairman of •the Committee) put the question to the . House,. Mr. Lysinir's voice was the only ; one heard in support of his amendment, I and members laughed heartily when be . protested that it had been carried, and ; called for a division. After the door-3 had been locked, and be bad had time to .' reflect upon the predicament, into which J he bad put members of the House, Mr. . Lysnar suggested: "Take it on the j voices,"' and a hubbub arose as to I whether a division was wanted or not. 1 j Mr. T. W. Rhodes (Thames) assured • I the chairman that no division was now 1 : wanted, but did not carry his point. r Everybody laughed when it was learned !he had been selected as one of Mr. 1 Lysnar's tellers. The non-party attitude adopted towards the bill was indicated in the selection of tellers, Mr. Lysnar and Mr. Rhodes being nominated 1 i for the ayes supporting the addition of 1 ; the v.-ords, and tlie Hon. D. Buddo and Mr. R. A. Wright for the noes. Mr. Lysnar secured more support for his amendment than was anticipated, for he ■ had JS followers against 44 for the bill las it stood. The amendment, accordi ; ingly, was lost. i I Mr. T. M. Wilford explained that his i bill was a small instalment of a scheme 'I he hoped to see carried' out in New Zeai j land. He hoped to see women's courts ! j established in at least the four centres ;J by way of experiment, to which could be j roferred troubles that occurred in which • women were concerned. There would also be appointed, under the control of the Justice Department, what was known in America as "the city mother." This woman, whose judgment was valued by the police and the administrators of the law, investigated troubles over wayward I children and marital difficulties. He (Mr. Wilford) had investigated these • two brandies of social reform in America, , and had found them quite successful. |AVhen they saw the public positions held by women in America, and ..their political I progress in England, they must admit Iwe were far behind in such matters. He I feared that, ac the Minister of Justice, 1 who controlled appointments, had voted \ for the amendment there would be no ■ chance of seeing women justices under forty years of age. Mr. Lysnar declared that he would have no objection to appointing a city I mother or tho women's courts, but it was I unreasonable to appoint women for technical and difficult work in administering justice. It would be no real honour for them. Mr. Fraser: But is it justice? Mr. Lysnar suggested that the leader of the Liberal party was prepared to sacrifice the women of the Dominion for party propaganda purposes. Mr. Wilford had been of an entirely different mind in 1918, when, as Minister of Justice, he told a Dunedin deputation that he would not authorise women jurors, because women's prejudices were of the heart rather than of the mind.(Laughter.) Mr. J. McCombs said New Zealand •was lagging far behind in the matter. He hoped the Hon. C. J. Parr would show himself more enlightened than his predecessors, and, with or without the bill on the Statute Book, would see that, in imitation of what had been done in Britain, women could be appointed justices. Mr. H. E. Holland supported the bill. He refused to agree that there was a wide intellectual difference between men and women. The latter were just as intellectually capable as the former. Mr. Wilford, replying to Mr. Lysnar's criticisms, admitted that he had changed bis opinions as a result of what he had observed in the course of two visits to America. The bill was read a third time, and passed. I =====