THE FRANCHISE FOR WOMEN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9390, 1 April 1892, Page 3

THE FRANCHISE FOR WOMEN.

TO THF EDITOR. Sir, —The following notice has been published :— "A Caution.—AA re are informed that someone is busy endeavouring to obtain signatures to a petition against the granting of the women's franchise. It will be well that anyone, man or women, who is asked to sign a petition should be informed of the full text of its prayer before doing so, as we learn that several have just missed giving their names under the impression that the petition they were asked to sign was in favour of, and not in opposition to, the frauchise." It is evident that some individual or individuals desire to convey the impression to the public that the petitions in question are framed so as to deceive or mislead the people. Allow me to state that in order to arrive at what the real wishes of the electors, and also the women themselves, are upon this important subject, I am causing two petitions to be circulated, one to be signed by men of full age, and the other by women of 18 years and upwards, praying the House to refuse its assent to any legislation extending the franchise to women. The text of the petitions, which I publish iv another column, will clearly show that no person can be misled as to their purport. I am pleased to be able to say that many hundreds have already signed them, and I anticipate that when my canvassers have finished their work there will be as many thousand signatures.—l am, &c, Dunedin, March 31. H. S. Fish, jun.