THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3396, 16 April 1919, Page 56

THE WEEK.

We live in exciting times now-a-days, but even the Peace Conference and the mysterious discussions of the "Big Four" were forgotten on Polling Day. Continuance or Prohibition, which? The result is still in the lap of the gods, and will unfortunately remain so for several weeks to come; till man gives the casting vote. Meanwhile we must leam to possess our souls in patience; and if we go "dry," as the Americans say, we will look tor ward to the peace and plenty promised by the Efficiency Board, and if we stay "wet" we will nope for better Government control. Polling Day is always an exciting time whether for an election or for a principle, and Thursday proved no exception to the rule. The weather, of course, was not propitious, really cold, wet, and wintry; and one could not help wondering whether the working man, who had decided for the "Child and the Nation," would begin to regret the warming powers of a "glass on a cold'winter's night!" In "spite of the weather, however, Dunedin streets were fairly lively, especially in the afternoon when the half-holiday took effect. What one particularly noticed was the numbers of women in the streets; it seemed really a woman's day, and they all seemed to have put on their prettiest new winter frocks and hats to meet the occasion. Some of the polling booth officials were worried by the youthful looks of some of the female voters; but they should have realised by now that one of the aims of the modern woman is to keep young, and to reach this aim she must look young, and wi£h the present day fashion of short hair and short skirts, 21 and even -31 may look 15! It is amusing sometimes to watch people going in to record their votes, there are so many different types; from the experienced voter, who knows his own mind and to whom striking out a line is the work of an instant, to the undecided who read and re-read both lines hoping for inspiration, and then usuallv ends by crossing out the wrong one. The swing of the pendulum so often quoted in the press is mostly caused, by the women's vote. To most men a drunken man is either an unpleasant or to some few an amusing sight, but a, woman goes farther and visualises his return to his own home so paradoxically a drunkard is often the prohibitionists best friend. An amusing aspect of Polling Day is the motor cars. All day long they plied unceasingly from house to polling booth mostly filled with women, many accompanied by children who cannot be left behind, and all seemed to be thoroughly enjoying their Impromptu "joy-ride." In fact, children were everywhere and seemed to be as keenly interested in the results as their elders. No doubt they felt that their "demonstration" of the Saturday before would be a greafe factor in forming public opinion in spite of the amusing truth that they "waved for everything." After hearing of a small maid of ten who harangued her schoolmates fluently and at length on the question of the "good of the nation," one comes to the happy conclusion that should continuance prevail, one will be certain of a very temperate future race. An English child might be tempted to regret its snapdragon and plum pudding all aburning! but in this warmer clime we have a toothsome substitute in ice-cream. In one of the late illustrated papers, there was a photograph of an enormous barrel being pushed away from a brewery, which was henceforth to manufacture ice-cream. This hint may be useful in our own country.

The evening's excitement over the polling results was tempered by the Knowledge that they could not be final that night, so the large crowd at the newspaper offices was good humoured and very jocular, and both parties responded with "effusion to t|ie tactful "are we down -hearted," which so often appeared on the screen. There is a tense excitement about polling results, which country dwellers unfortunately very often never know. The newspaper offices enter into the

fun thoroughly, and after throwing on the screen*'two very close but unfinished results marked "finals will follow immediately"—keep everyone on tenterhooks with, a series of advertisements and amusing comments. As a final word, one would like to suggest to whoever draws up the form of the ballot paper that he next time—if there ever is a next time—should simply put the two chief words, Continuance and Prohibition and nothing else, I think there would be fewer invalid votes.

An esteemed correspondent asked to jot down some of her impressions of referendum day, writes: —It would be interesting to, know just exactly how the women did vote as compared with men. The general opinion of the man in the street seemed to be that the woman's vote would go almost solidly to the Prohibition party. It has been said time and again by those who opposed the granting of the franchise to women that the latter would vote only according as their lords and masters dictate. But times are changing, and it may even be that in another 10 or 20 years the wife will be seen leading her husband triumphantly to the poll. In any case, the statement that women vote in the way their men folk direct takes no account of the large and ever increasing body of women who are independent of any man, and who a.re quite capable of forming their own opinions and acting up to them, and whatever grain of truth it' may have contained as regards the home-keeping, sheltered woman of the past, when it was a question of voting for the election of a parliamentary representative, it does not, and never did, hold good in respect to a poll on the licensing question. Speaking generally, the average New Zealand woman does not indulge to any great extent in alcoholic drinks. It matters little to her, personally, whether hotel bars are open or closed, as she i 3 not in the habit of frequenting them, and although she may, on festive occasions, indulge in a glass of port wine,' or flavour her puddings with sherry, still, if it were unprocurable it would not cause her much concern. On the other hand, she may have the strongest reasons for wishing the sale of liquor prohibited. Her husband may spend too much of his money at the hotel or her sons, as they grow into manhood, may find the temptation of the open bar an overwhelming one. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that many of the wives and mothers of the Dominion should be strongly in favour of prohibition and should vote for it in spite of the opinion of the husbands and sons. Women have to suffer because of the over-indulgence of their men folk, and, naturally, they make use of every means in their power to improve this state of affairs. But this is a digression and I must get back to the question of how women vote on this licensing question. If we study the figures, we will see that in 1911 the Prohibition party received more votes than they did on the present occasion, and I think it may be safely affirmed that in that year they received the support of a large majority of the women voters. Since then, however, the position has changed somewhat, and in the girls who are now entitled to vote we have a new element.' They have not been brought up with the same ideas as their elders, and having gone out into the world at an early age and at a time when wages are hi<»h they' are in possession of plenty of money, and many of them have developed an inordinate love of dress and a desire for pleasure. Restrictions of any sort are irksome-to them. They are out to enjoy, themselves, and, although fortunately, it is still true of them as a class, that they are not addicted to over-indulgence, if indulgence of any kind in strong drink, they °do not object to their men friends taking" a glass or two, and see no reason why thev should be deprived of the opportunity of doing so. They think, many of them, that a glass of wine makes a man more inclined for innocent fun and opens his purse-strings, and therefore they vote for continuance. This may have had something to do with the fact that the Prohibition party did not on the present occasion secure as many votes as they did in 1911. However, that may be, it is probably only a passing phase, and we can safelv affirm that the women of this Dominion, although they may not all believe that prohibition is the only way to solve the drink question, will always exercise their votes on the whoje in the interests of true temperance and the uplifting of humanity.