THE CAUSE OF WOMEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15730, 3 October 1914, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE CAUSE OF WOMEN.

♦ —.— A DISTINGUISHED CHAMPION. The visit of Mr. and Mr?. Philip Snowden to Auckland this week has been a matter of keenest interest to all men and women who have given thought to the movements with which they are associated, and of. which they come to us as representatives. . To Auckland women particularly has been given splendid opportunity for learning ccrtan truths about that great question in which women all over the world to-day axe taking vital interest—the question of woman suffrage. Mrs. Snowden is both an ardent feminist and an untiring worker in the cause of woman suffrage. And here let it be said at once for trie reassurance of the law-abid'ng, sbe is no militant! Here in New Zealand we have come- to associate all work done in the cauEe of suffrage with riot and vandalism and destruction of property, and thia has resulted in alienation of sympathy on tho part of many men and women, who bel'eve that women should have the vote, but are not prepared to condone the methods used by a certain section of English suffragettes.

Speaking to a large gathering of Auckland women on Tuesday last, Mrs. Snowden explained that the" flaming torch and coal-hammer methods of the militants are far from representing the true spirit in which the women of England are working for political emancipation. AH ot*r England there are great bodies of women working quietly, patiently, for suffrage, working none the less effectively becausetheir labours are not characterised bv acts of lawlessness and violence that from time to time have been blazoned forth from end to end of the earth.

Disapproval of Violence. The great National Union of Women's Suffrage announces boldly that it will fiavo' nothing whatever to do with acts of violence. It states boldly its belief that no good can come of the princinle of meeting evil with "even the * evil of politicians," as Mrs. Snowden pat it, in speaking of the injustice and gross insults to which English women had been subjected repeatedly in their struggle for Tecoenifcon. This National Union is tne oldest* and largest of the many woman suffrage societies in existence, says Mrs. Snowden in her well-known book on the " Feminist Movement," though other societies have made themselves more widely known by the use of unusual methods. The National Union comprises 402 , affiliated organisations, and new ones are springing up every week. The National Union hasproceeded along educational lines, 'and by means of peaceful propaganda, has sought to win public opinion to its side, believing that in public opinion lies the most effective- weapon. ' ""./

■' Feminism" and " Suffrage."4-7 :^ In her work referred to above Mrs,' Snowden makes clear a point 'on which* there is often a. good deal of uncertainty— the difference between feminism and woman suffrage. Broadly speaking," feminism seeks to remove all barriers which oppose the perfect freedom of women as human.; beings, conventional, social, political, 'and: economic. Woman suffrage would break down one of these barriers onlv, the political barrier," .','. '■'..,.. ~. , '■'".„.;, ■';.'., J* :•;.

In her recent address to - -Auckland" women . Mrs. ,Snowden ..emphasised .-the.,' fact that from, the beginning *o£;time, rmen.'' and women have specialised? : ■ lines of work— man in outdoor occupations, the woman in hom«rmaking and rearing of children. This division -will;-' always : remain; the idea' of the; feminist is not to do away with what is termed "woman's sphere." but to. so enlarge .it that woman will be enabled to inJfiul riot ! only these her primal duties, but all others; under truer and better conditions, than those which now prevail. " The" feminist would throw open the work to women, and afterwards rely on the common ■ sense.'ofher sex—to save women from chtenhg those walks of life which, for natural reasons, they cannot fill with credit "to themselves and profit to the general. comr. munity." There we have the whole g'sfc of the feminist movement—freedom fori women to choose for themselves, and those whose faith in human nature is still sound will know that they need have no fear, but: that in the/long- run woman's, activities: are bound to settle safely into such grooved as will brisg fullest asd truest expressionof her natural gifts. * " \ " __ V It is sometimes said that 1 Australasian;; women do not appreciate the privilege-of the vote. If there, were any such among those who listened to Mrs. Snowdon duting the week in her description of the; hardships , and difficulties: English women, are facing, they surely must, have experienced speedy conversion .with the realisa-. tion # of how much this privilege stands. for in the hands of women, as a "weapon? for the righting of social wrongs arid the! means of bringing about better conditions in those spheres wherein' women live and wort. ' :-Y: ,;:■'.■-"■■;: : ' '?'• z~ - ;■?■