EXTENSION OF THE FRANCHISE.

Mataura Ensign, 22 March 1909, Page 3

EXTENSION OF THE FRANCHISE.

DIVIDED OPINIONS. BX tLtCllllC I'ELJiUliAru. — C'OI'VIUOIIT. I'Ll; UN'IIEO TTthSS ASSOCIATION. LONDON, March 20. lu the House ot Commons tho Hon. Geoffrey Howard's Bill giving a Parliamentary vote to every man and woluiati of full age was read the second time by 107 to 122. The Right Hon. H. Li. Asqmth (Prime Minister) though not unsympathetic stated that the Government .were not of one mind on the iquuslion of female suffrage, though they fa\oreil extension of Hie Irauclnse, and as such changes should come at the instance ol a responsible Government he would not vote for the second reading. Suffragists, both militant and unmilitant, repudiated tho Hill on The ground that it would add lo millions to the voting list and so prove revolutionary. Also it, would postpone the granting of the equality of the sexes indefinitely. ANTI-SUM''IIAGE PETITION. LONDON, -March 20. An anti-suffrage petition, signed by 2.">3,5.52 women, has been presented to the House oi Commons.