SIR JOSEPH AND LADY WARD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13455, 4 June 1907, Page 6

SIR JOSEPH AND LADY WARD.

V THEIR MOVEMENTS ABROAD. 1 LADY WARD ON WOMEN IN POLITICS. [FROM OITR OWN CORRESPONDENT.] - London, April 26. Banqueting and business have given the colonial Premiers another busy week. The former has proved too much for Mr. Deakin and General Botha, who have had to * curtail their dining engagements. Sir Joseph Ward, however, has filled a full list. In addition to.. the public functions in which he has taken part, he dined on Saturday with Sir ; Henry Campbell-Ban-nerman. On Sunday ■: Sir Joseph and Lady Ward, Miss Ward, and Mr. Cyril Ward were \ among the guests entertained at dinner by Lord and Lady Ranfurly. On Monday the ; New Zealand Premier dined with the Duke; !of Sutherland, and was present at the sub-! sequent reception, at which Lady Ward j and Miss Ward were also present. On j Tuesday Lord Lansdowne was the host, and after the banquet the New Zealand Premier looked in at the receptions held respectively by Lady Carrington and Lady Glencoats. Wednesday was a public" day, the engagements including luncheon at Westminster Hall, and the Colonial Institute banquet. Yesterday Sir Joseph was at the Goldsmiths' dinner, and to-day he attended the Mercer Company's luncheon, and to-night he will be at the dinner given by the National Liberal Club, winding up the evening at Mrs. Stuart's reception. Sir Joseph and his party have also been entertained this week at supper by Sir Charles Wyndham and Mr. George Alexander. : . :^. ■ :

Under the headings: " Daughters of the Empire," "The Colonial Ladies," a writer in one of the London dailies discourses pleasantly of the wives and daughters of the visiting colonial Premiers. Regarding those of New Zealand he ; says:—"Lady Ward, who, with her daughter, is over with Sir , Joseph Ward from New Zealand, does not wish,to see the woman member of Parliament. Having got the vote, she would always use it, but she believes that woman's real work lies in her home, and does not think that there can be many women who can perform home and public duties thoroughly at one and the same time. She is a tall, elegant woman, a delightful hostess, and a proud mother. Beside her pretty daughter, she has four sons ; the eldest, who is twenty-two, shows signs of following his father in politics, and the youngest, my dear baby,' aged six, is counting the days untilhis mother comes back. A woman should be able to do everything in the house, Lady Ward thinks, and then she would not be at the mercy of servants. And they are no less scarce in New Zealand than in England. The New ■ Zealand woman takes a far more intelligent interest in politics than we do, Lady Ward thinks. Everything on ; current politics is eagerly read, even on the far-distant farms, and the Ladies' Gallery at the House is always well filled. But the members do not shut their wo menfolk behind ' a grating. They come in j numbers, and spend the day at the House, I bringing their needlework . with them. Every .: speaker, if not known personally to the women present, is known by name and reputation; and all he may say is listened to with interest until , he becomes dull, when the women become '■ absorbed in their work or go out to tea." i "Lady Ward is no, stranger to England,"says a.writer in one of the London papers. She paid a private visit to this country last year; but the present one is : a great occasion, and Lady Ward is enjoying it very much. 'I admit that I was very timid at first of driving : about in an automobile,' said Lady Ward, 'but now I like it, and never cease admiring the clever way in which the drivers of all vehicles steer their way through the icrowded streets,,; which, to me, are always a wonderful sight to behold. And the policemen,'- too—-how" kind they are and how skilfully they regulate the traffic ! It isfa marvel.' With the exception of the fog last week, , Lady Ward has enjoyed everything." ; ' 'The Premiers' .wives are being feted almost as much as the Premiers themselves. The ladies' luncheon which is to take place next week at the Hyde Park Hotel, under the-auspices of the Victoria League,; promises to be the biggest affair of its kind ever seen in .London'. Princess . Louise, Duchess of Argyll, will be present. On the• same day Mrs. Humphry Ward is giving an afternoon party, to the colonial ladies at her house in Grosvenor Place, and on May 9 they will be entertained by Lady Leith, of Fyvie, when Princess Christian of , Schleswig-Holstein will be present, accompanied by her daughter, Princess Victoria.