WOMEN'S FRANCHISE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10273, 2 February 1895, Page 7

WOMEN'S FRANCHISE.

TO THB BDI'rOB. Sib, —The two great problems of life, " How. to get it?" and', when' got;." Wtiat to do with it ?" occupy the attention of all human being?,, whatevei' the nationality or the rooial' position may be, from the earliest dawn of life till the sun set* irr flhe mints of fcbe impeneteabfe, and the canoe is launched on its way to the unknown flanct. '■ lEhe cnild sucks its-mother;: thei boy,: his father; the. man, humanity. There is this' great difference, howaver—the _ child knows exactly the best thing to do with it; the crown liftman generally makes a mess of it. . Why ?. ,!Jsgeau3e the child apts on instinct; the adult) 'oh", what is proudly and: conceitedly termed reason. Instinct is God helping—helping out: of pity for immt,taro weakness; It is only when the Great Spirit says "Go, yon have reached your strength, the reign of free will has come; go, and exercise your privilege, take up your freedom," that the-miscnef begins.

"To get it,"requires energy, capacity, determination, tempered, with patience- "What to do with it"— i.e. j the right' thing to do with it—demands sslf-reetraint, self-nbriegation, Mif-sacrifiee, tempered frith humility. Mr Justice Williams ably remarked in his recent address to the student* at the university : " In order to obtain any satisfactory intellectual or scientific result, humility, patience, doubt are absolutely necessary; »ad it is also essential, in order to secure accurate thought, that the emotions, useful though they are* should be kept in strict subordination to the intellect." This apothegm is peculiarly applicable, particularly the litter part of it, to the position of the eufranchiied wonsan. To make a proper use of your opportunity is generally more difficult than to obtain it; hence the tears of humanity.

In advocating the extension of the franchise to women I never lost sight of " the fly in the ointment" — demoralisation through power. Of all the patent influences trending to evil, the genii Power is probably the most demoralising; amd it is the strong, energetic, intellectual being who is the ready victim. All history is loudly resonant on this point; it is always the doughtiest knight who has gone down in the jousts in the encounter with this enchanter.' Canqiieror of others, he meets his mastsr, and is hypnotised by power. Humility is the best sword of defence against the enemy ; self-distrust the uafeat shield. Why ? Because it is God's power; no* man's. Wolsey, the great Cardinal, acknowledged this in the hour of his fall. Had he but served his God iuHtend of his king— i.e., his own pride,—what a different result would history have chronicled for th&t grind intellect. A great many other nnople ia this world have ielt that besides Wolsav. . ' Looking at the results of a full and exhaustive enfranchisement of women ia some parts of America after more thin 20 years' trial, feeling that if the great spirit has a habitation on earth it is in woman's heart, knowing that from all time the brightest disciple of the Great Exemplar has been and it* woman, I felt sure tkisfc the step advocated was safe as well as just. If tha breath of the angel's wing as it touches hnmanity ess quicken into life purity of performance, honesty of purpose, self-abnegation, it does go in woman, and raises mortality from the platform of the animal to the footstool of tha immaculate. Time, education, enlarged experience, and instinct — God's reason — will enable Wdm&n to hold the reins of force and lead that most ignorant and conceited ef animals—man—into honourable and safe paths of political action.

Max O'Rell, in his very clever and perfectly true book, "John Bull and C 0.," under the heading "Politics and Politicians," says:— " The Australians are persuaded that there does not exist among them a man who is not capable &nd worthy of being Prime Minister, and they ara only pitiless towards those who, by their talents or their perseverance, have outshdne their fell***." This is peculiarly applicable to New Zealand. With what result ? " The unborn million "• man, for whose particular advantage we are making history—to use the fashionable cant, —will some day arise, and, educating his child, will say: " Behold, my son, what ignorant foels these ancestors of ours, who called themselves statssnien, were; and what a curse ignorance, combined with impudence and greed is; what a leech is the demagogue ! This beautiful land wad given to man with absolutely everything to please his eye, cultivate his mind, support his body. Everything noxious had been excluded ; everything good supplied : singular wealth of productive soil, wealth of minerals, wealth of water, wealth of timber. Such was the yesterday. Behold the to-day! An exhausted Soil; a large quantity of old iron called a raitway ; some quaint machinery termed engines and carriages—you will see a specimen iv a glass ess.: in the museum. A national debt of some 60 millions, with an annual interest of £2,100,000, and not & single- tree. I re«d in the paper the exprssnions ' we ara making hiitory,' ' we are building up a country for tho unborn millions,' were constantly ia the mouths of tha demagogues. They sowed the wind, v/a arra reaping the whirlwind. My son, it beseemeth to me, it would have been well if ' tho unborn millions'h»d never hud ancestors." This is ii perfectly true picture; nay, the reality in worse. The man of to-diy has a burden to bear, one bittsniens of which is only new creeping upon hits. As for the man of to-morrow ! Ictutbod !!

Who shall remedy this iv the present ? Who tfaa.ll protact us in tae future ? In a letter on this subject written months ago, I s»id the salvation of humanity lay in woman's hands. I repeat it now, if she will but use her power discreetly. In my next I will endeavour to suggest the road.—l am, &c,

Dunedin, Jan. 29. Waltbe H. Pjsabson.

— Fully one-third of the female population of France are labourers, on farms.