THROUGH A WOMAN'S SPECS

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 142, 14 June 1909, Page 3

THROUGH A WOMAN'S SPECS

(Written for Maiilbokough Express.) "Woman needs no eulogy, she speaks for herself. The proposal to tax bachelors has been a 1 stock subject with debating societies for so many years, that it Is curious to find it emerging into actuality, as a BiU brought ionggJ b- the Austrian Minister ioi JJ in ance who has, however,, bracketed Sows and childless married couples £ th bachelors *or taxation purposes. Why widows should be subjected to special taxation is. not clear since as a class, they might fairly be the recipients of special consideration, <w the ground that they have been deprived of their bread-winners. And no one aliases that, as a class, widows ?equhe the°whip of the law to goad i;hem into matrimony. Besides, that is presumably not the intention of rthe tax in every case. Tnere must always be men and women who are unsuited to the matrimonial condition, and the State would not, in die Ion" run, be benefited by taxing them into unhappy marriages. But it is not consistent witn equity in countries where incomes below a certain amount are exempt from taxation that an unmarried man with, say, £500 a year should pay exactly the same direct taxation ad a married man with the same incomo, and a wife and halt a dozen childien to maintain, as well as himselt. Jhe law demands that the married man shall support his wife and famuy. it compels him—even if he were unwilling to do so—to spend the greatei part of his income on them. . Therefore, when the law taxes him at exactly the same amount as the unmarried man, who has no one but himself to maintain, it obviously ■ offends against the principles of common iustice. The man who has only £50 a year to spend on himself is taxed as highly as the man who can, if he wishes, spend his whole £?0U a year on himself. The Austrian measure is an attempt, . however faulty, to adjust the incidence of taxation more equitably than heretofore and therefore the example should not bo lost sight of by otner and more democratic communities.

A correspondent signing herself "Only a Working-Girl" writes to a Cliristchurch contemporary as toilows- —"Being a native ot the Motherland, I have been scanning the colonial papers of late, to see it any of them would publish the real facts about that rank fraud, women s suffrage. I told many of my friends last year that the suffragettes movement was really a class one, and that the well-to-do never intended that the working woman, be she housemaid or house-wife, should be granted the right to vote. When a really progressive Member of the House ot Commons introduced his Bill to give to all adults the right to vote, irrespective of position, who were the loudest in denouncing his proposals.' The leader of the suffragettes and . the British aristocracy. Yes, Mary Jane may walk in the procession and hoist her flag, but give her a vote V Never! Why, we should have our maids rubbing shoulders with the salt of the earth, Britain s nobility, and the so-called lower orders being in a majority. What would be the result of universal -female suffrage? Why, our darling noodles, our sons and nephews, would he forced aside, to let into Parliament Bill Gubbihs the dustman, or some horrid costermonger. \ otes lor the lower orders, indeed ! Preposterous! Yes, but I earnestly hope that ere long the women of the Motherland will receive the boon granted to their New Zealand sisters years ago, the right to vote, and prove to their opponents that Parliament people are all the better for it. • * • •

For the fourteenth time during the last thirty-two years the quaint custom of presenting the visible representative of the majesty of the law with a pair, of whito kid gloves has been celebrated with due pomp and ceremony. His Honour the Judge lias murmured the usual congratula-; tions on the absence .of crime, legal luminaries have purred their platitudes, and the "gentlemen of the grand jury" have been solemnly discharged. 'All very pretty, »o doubt, and strictly according to precedent. But, at the risk of being found guilty of contempt of Court, or some such "heinous crime, I cannot help asking if it would not be possible to dispense with the form of calling the grand jury together, simply to act as speetatprs at a .scene suggestive of a seventeenth century comedy, rather than a court of justice in this practical twentieth century? Most of the gentlemen so called together have plenty to do, either for themselves or

others, and would be glad if they could know, say, a week beforehand, that they would not be required to serve their country by acting as spectators at suoh a survival of the middle ages.

Some months since I drew a small tornado of abuse upon my devoted head, by openly, "owning up" to a conscientious objection to early rising. Now, I am glad to find that a learned German doctor has discovered (what I could have told him years ago) that it is highly beneficial to, all brain-workers to take a light repast in bed before undertaking the arduous duties of the day. Well, done, dear German doctor; I always knew I was right, but it is a comforb to find such a high authority agreeing with me. I never feel so entirely at peace with myself and all the Avorld as on the rare occasions when somo self-denying saint ministers to my physical needs to the extent of • supplying me with tea and toast, ere ' I emerge from my blissful dreams of all the good and noble deeds I would like to do for humanity, if only I felt a bit wider awake. Fortified with these delectable dainties I can cheerfully face a harsh and unsympathetic world, strong in my belief that human nature is a nobler thing than it appears on the surface. All .is gold that glitters, and all my geese are swans, seen through the mystic haze that arises from that magic cup of morning tea. Talk about progressive legislation; if any Member of Parliament wants to immortalise himself, let him bring in a Bill making it unlawful for any woman of thirty-five, or older, to undertake any household task till she has been fortified by "morning tea." There would be such a marvellous improvement in the health (and temper) of the race, inconsequence, that all the wiseacres would say, "Ho\v strange thJtrwe never thought of it before."

The very latest novelty in wedding trips is to travel by airship. "The happy couple left by airship, hoping to reach America. Owing to contrary winds and a slight mishap to the steering gear they found themselves in the neighbourhood of the South Pole instead. Ethergrams bring the joyful intelligence that they are well and happy."