OUR LAWS AS THEY AFFECT WOMEN.

Clutha Leader, Volume XX, Issue 1025, 16 March 1894, Page 7

OUR LAWS AS THEY AFFECT WOMEN.

The following'' is. an extract from a recent speech by Mrs Hatton, president of the Women's Franchise League, •in Dunedin: — 'You will hardly believe rae when I tell you that the criminal law of this country as well" as others throws a shield of protection — not around the young child who has to become the victim of brutal criminality j not around the orphan girl, who has been subjected to degradation by a besotted father. Oh, no ! The law in its majesty throws its shield over thesemousters in human shape, saying to them, "If you~ can only commit, the crime under certain circumstances, if you can only persuade the jury that yon had reasonable ground to suppose the child to be quite 14, or if you can only keep the child quiet for just one month, then the law. of New Zealand, as well as the law of Christian England, holds those shameful creatures harmless, and. lets these worst kind of criminals go free." — (" Shame !") There may be some here who can hardly believe it possible that, such things could be in a Christian country, but I would recommend those to read the Criminal Code Bill passed last year. The clauses to which I have just re ferred read as follows : — " It shall be sufficient for any charge under this section, if ifc shall be made to appear to the jury that the person so charged had reasonable cause to believe that the girl was of or above the age of 14 years ;" and '" No prosecution for an offence under this section shall be commenced more than one month after the commission of the offence." During the passage of this Criminal Code Bill last year an attempt was made by Mr Meredith, supported by Sir Robert Stout — (hear, hear) — to raise the age of consent to 16. This was so strongly opposed that a compromise was offered to fix it. at 15; but this also fell through, ancl now one of the most unequal and iniquitous laws stains the Statute Book of New Zealaud. — (Applause.) Without examination of the hidden meaning of a section of an Act of Parliament oi this kind, the immorality of the provision or the inequality of its operation does not become apparent. To give you a clearer idea, let me offer an illustration. A young girl of tender age is returning to her home in possession of her mother's pursp. The purse 'is stolen from her by a man. Now the law against theft is so stringent that the thief cannot escape punishment, though his name be not known, or even if he persuades the child to say nothing about it for over a month ; but as soon as the charge can be brought home to him he can be brought up for punishment. No limifc of time in this case outside of which the law will shelter a' rascal from the punishment due to his crime. The law of property does not say the girl looks old enough to take care of her mother's property, and therefore the thief may go free. But if this same child by the same man be defrauded of her virtue and robbed of her precious purity, which no law on earth can ever give back to her, then fche two sections of this abominable law are so framed that the vilest miscreant on earth may walk. out of court, escape all punishment, and go forth a free man. What a different value men put on the honor ancl virtue of our girls to what they put upon property, chattels, or money ! Ifc will be evident, therefore, thafc the remedy for this kind of thing will depend, upon the. women. During the last few years we have inherited an enormous influence, taking a large share in evory Christian enterprise. The feeling is growing that God has given us something to do in the outside work of the world. In some cases' women have already succeeded in bringing light and hope into many desolate lives. But how much better it would be if we could strike at the root of some of these, evils and so prevent the innumerable ills by which human life is so terribly afflicted. — (Applause.)'