NOTES FOR WOMEN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18540, 28 April 1922, Page 8

NOTES FOR WOMEN.

MORE WOMEN VOTERS. ■ BIG MAJORITY FOR FULL SUFFRAGE. '* THE 2,000,000 SURPLUS. (From Oub Own Correspondent.) LONDON, March 14. There was a hearty vote for the small Bill introduced into the Commons by Lord Robert Cecil to give votes to women on the same terms as men. Lord Robert claimijd that there was no longer any reason for limiting it to women of 30— ( there was no real reason for thinking a woman* of 21 more incapable of exercising the suffrage than a man of 21. On a division the introduction of the Bill was allowed by 208 votes to 60. Lord- Robert said the case for the Bill was'thkt they had now had experience of the exercise of the suffrage by women at one general election and a number of by- ' elections, and everyone admitted that the experience had been entirely successful. Women had voted in numbers about equal to those of the men, and there was no ground' for thinking that they had exercised their franchise on grounds less satisfactory than those which moved the male section of the "population. The old monstrous “regiment of women” doctrine, which used to be not uncommon lin the House of Commons, had been relegated to those homes of culture and progress, the City of London and the Scottish Universities.—(Laughter.) He regretted the signs that politically and socially* women are not yet regarded tile equals of men, alluding t in passing to what had happened recently in of our greatest and best-known hospitals. The causes in which women were interested had advanced greatly by the grant o, •lotes to women; vet there were signs that politically and "socially women wore not regarded as entirely on equal terms with men. He had introduced the Bill in order to give members an opportunity of showing in the division lobby who were for and who were against the proposal. Ho did so because the Government had expressed great reluctance to put forward this reform, and if the Bill were earned by a .arge majority their reluctance might become less. 1 Lieutenknt-colonel Aroher-Shee objected to a measure effecting the enfranchisement of 5.000,000 electors bemgbrought in under the 10 minutes’ rule. .There were many more women than men in this county, and Se roLon why, in 1918, when the Representation of the People Bill was before the House, the age was put at- 30 was to equalise the number of men and women voters' Ha did not believe that there "as ft ny real demand for the vote by girls of 21 to 30, who had the greatest contempt for politicians.—(Viscount Astor: Übo made * them? Speak for yourself, and HuShter Mr Ben Tillett, addressing Colonel Archer-Shee remarked jocularly: “You’re no lady.”) Only that day he had received a letter from the treasurer of the ; London Municipal Society—a .J e 7 9l ‘“ e? e s ' ful society— (laughter)—who said that 40 per oent of the new electorate, mainly women, did not go to the poll, and could not be tot tothe°poll.— (Viscountess Astor: “How many- men go?”) He hoped that members woukl screw up their courage to oppose the Bill, and not run awav from 6 ioh. - because he was convinced that they would receive the support of all the voung(jr ‘ ; women in their cons ituenc.es-—-who did not in the least wont to be bothered with the vote. Lady Astor assisted to shepherd members into the lobby in support. The division occupied 10 minutes, and loud cheers when it was announced that.the motion had been earned .by 208 votes to 60— whereupon loud cheers were raised by the Labour Party. Lord Robert Cecil then brought in the Bill, whicn was backed bv Major Hills (Durham. C.U.), Sir D. Maclean (Peebles, L.). Mr Henderson, Mrs Wintringham (Louth. L.), Lady Astor and Mr A Williams (Durham, Consett, L.j. Considering how near a Dissolution may be, the Morning Post considers it surprising that as many as 6Cf members had tjio courage to go into the lobby against the introduction S “It is quite on the cards that Bill may go through should the session complete its normal course-so nervous is the ordinary member at a time like> this of offending the more vocal semi-political asIN PARLIAMENT. qVppt.y- prospective women candidates for -Paifamt were entertained by the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship at Bedford College among those present being Wintringtam, M.P., and Lady Wintringham warned the prospective candidates of the sacrifices public work would entail upon them T thought it was bad she said, to be a candidate but 'it is worse when you get in. V omen have still two great obstacles to fight against —prejudice and ignorance. Lady Astor and I ,wfil -lad'y welcome you when you come to tfckc’vour places alongside us. We need more women P in Parliament to. impart wofhen s noint of view into our legislation. Lidv Rhondda said that the work-a-day, unfussv way” in which women were co™j forward was slowly persuading Pf.op'o it did not matter whether a candidate was a n|an or a woman so long as he or s*ie knew their business well. WOMEN’S INFLUENCE IN POLITICS. AJ an international dinner, the Public Senocos section of the Forum Club enterv tainld Mr O. Donner (Finnish Minister) ana Dr Kallas (Minister for Esthoma). Mt Donner said that Finland was the first country in Europe to admit women to full political right witn men. They, also , proportional representation, although a. practised there is tended to destroy individualism and replace it by collectivism If people in-this country were to replace individualism by collectivism tney would destroy .d}©,.British Empire. Df “-’i If all as referred to the importanfr"—part wumcn had played m §lO f history of Esthoma. Tey chose the friends ol the family, and also, m a sense,- those of the country. In Esthoma the 'terrific struggle against Tsarism, on the one hand, and Germany on the other, left no energy for a battle of the sexes. The Isentiment that woman is equal to man was .’very : ancient, and the old folk songs of Esthoiila breathed the high estimation in which ’ they were held e' en in ancient ti m eS The Gorman occupation had stopped the forward march of the women’s societies, but they were now recovering. CAMPAIGN FOR EQUAL CITIZENSHIP. At the annual council meeting of _tho National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship, Miss Eleanor Rathbone, in the course of her presidential address, said the year:- had been one of great activity and little; visible achievement. As in. 1920, they had 'spent much of their time in rolling stones 'nearly to the top of the legislative hill only to see them rolled down again. Outside Parliament they had had one or two setbacks, notably the second rebuff at Cambridge University, the setback in the matter of the women police, and -'the action ,of several hospitals in closing their doors to women students. In some respects, however, there had been distinct progress. The two most tangible achievements had been the roturm of. Mrs Wintringham as the second -woman- ipember of Parliament, and the verdict ofvtlio Committee of Privileges of the Lords Oil" -Lady Rhondda’s position. Mrs Wintririgham’s victory was, of course, a party victory, but it was a woman’s victory, - too "ailtl-t-m. its latter aspect the N.U.S.E.C. might' justifiably claim to have played its part by tlte. help it had been able to send her. Th&£- Equal Guardianship Bill was drafted promoted by the union, and the for its success this session were excellent. The Equal Franchise Bill and the Matrimonial and Separation Allowances Bill, wjdch had obtained an excellent nlace in the ballot, were born' in the offices of the mu.s.Ko. - Resolutions were passed, demanding an equal pftce for women with men in any nomination to or voting for members of the House orpCiords, calling on the Government to adopt 'and pass the Bill for the equal guardianship of children, and declaring for en equal moral standard in Criminal Law ‘Amendment. WOMEN DESPISE DOLES. “Work not doles, is what the women ’ wan t.” A spontaneous outburst of cheering greeted this declaration by Miss Margaret Bondfield, presiding at a conference of nnilemployed women. There were 310,363 ‘- women : of Labour recognised as being wholly un- £ employed. Jfhis did not take into account ijalr the women unemployed, who were , in and unregistered trades, • -and . a great many otliors who had given ,up going pto the Labour Exchanges in despair, if Four hundred women wore present, repi'eI Muting everv sphere of feminine activity, Ifrom lace and metal workers to secretaries. women, actresses, and domestic -'Serva«te.*“i)espito a considerable change in ■ the situation, the inclusion of domestic seryritantsf in s' conference demanding work £strikes a strange note. A resolution, passed declared that, “failing the proif.visions of suitable wofk or training, it is I;the d u *y of the Government- to provide IjJijaihlferianca for all unemployed women at

“Practically half a million women are at present not earning sufficient to keep body and soul together,” said Miss Bqndtield. “ A great many, in despair, have given up going to labour exchanges.” Replying to the deputation which subsequently waited on him, Dr Macnanmra said that since the Armistice the Ministry had trained no fewer than 16,700 women at a total cost to the Treasury of £72,000. He did not think there was much prospect of including domestic service in the scheme of unemployment insurance. He pronused to give sympathetic attention to the position of out-workers, and, speaking of the position of women employed in Government offices, declared that, although they were all grateful for what the women did during the war, it was the duty of the Government to give preference to ex-service men. He could not hold out any hope of an increase being made in the present unemployment benefit paid to women.

WOMEN DOCTORS AND ’ WOMEN POLICE. (From Ode Own Correspondent.) LONDON, March 14. At the recent conference on Lunacy Reform, convened, ■by the chairman of the Board of Control, the position of women doctors in asylums was a subject for discussion. According to the report, one of the medical superintendents expressed from his own experience his candid and unbiassed opinion thus: “I may say that I have invariably found that she is capable, wellinformed, painstaking, energetic, and keen. On the other hand, I am compelled to admit that she has her disabilities—her limitations. Associating closely with her. as I have "done for so many-years, I am afraid that, her judgment is apt to be hasty and based on insufficient evidence; that she is often lacking in a sense of proportion. and, on reading her case book notes, I have frequently observed that she gives undue prominence to comparatively unimportant details while neglecting, or failing to grasp, essentials. It is extraordinary, but my experience has been that the patients and staff have not that confidence in her that- they have in her male colleagues, and in cases of serious illness they prefer to be treated by the medical man. I would qualify this statement, however. for in one or two instances there wore brilliant exceptions to the general rule.” This view was not entirely supported by subsequent speakers. One of these declared that women were rather apt to worry over things, and to be over-anxious, but that was not a bad quality. Another expressed the view that women should certainly take' their share in this work, and he saw no reason why they should not become medical superintendents. Mrs How-Martyn said that women were demanding that in every .mental hospital where there were women patients there should be one woman medical officer. “Some people.” she added, “tell'us that if men behave very well in this world, in, the next incarnation they will be women.” CHAMPIONS OF WOMEN POLICE. In the House of -Lords the Marquis of Aberdeen called attention to the statement by the Government' that it was intended to disband the women police. It had been said that the utility of. the women patrols was negligible, and that, for reasons of economy, they should cease to exist. He was of opinion that it was the economy which would be negligible. The formation of the women -police was supported bv a great mass of evidence as to the necessity for their existence. The Archbishop of Canterbury considered the reasons given by the Geddes Committee and by the Government for the disbandment of the women police were inconsistent. The committee recommended the disbandment on the ground that the utility of the force was negligible, while the Government explained that it was wholly due to the necessity for reducing expenditure. -No evidence had been brought forward to justify a complete change of policy in regard to women police. Lord Onslow (Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Health) said the question- at issue was not as to the efficiency or usefulness of the women police, but whether the work they were undertaking was of such a nature that it ought to be maintained at. the expense of fhe State at a time of extreme financial stringency. The disbandment of the patrols would commence on March 31. Their engagements were for a period of 12 months, expiring at various times, and notice had been given that they were not to be renewed. 'Lord Buckmaster agreed with the need for economy, but asked whether economy was to be effected by the way it was proposed to treat the women patrols. There were quite a number of functions which the women discharged which could only be properly discharged by women. It was a bad thing for everybody that voung girls should be interrogated as to offences of a sexual character without the intervention of women. It was eminently desirable that thatpart of the service of the women police should be kept up. He would he satisfied if he could he assured that the duties which were essentially feminine would continue to he discharged by women, oven if they were not regular members of the police force. Lord Onslow promised to bring Lord Buckmaster’s suggestion before the Home Secretary.