Whereas and Aforesaid.

Southland Times, Issue 19185, 24 October 1903, Page 7 (Supplement)

Whereas and Aforesaid.

" -None of us is infallible, not even tho youngest." That, no doubt (saya '* Oriel," in the Argus), is the explanation of Miss Vida Gtoldstein's faital admission; regarding her age. It appears that she told an Adelaide interviewer that'fhore were reports in Melbourne /that she was but 25. That - was wrong, she said. s*o b would require to be 30 to bo eligible for a seat in the Senate, and, as a matter of -fact, was 32. Now, that was ah unfortunate and unnecessary admission. Had Miss Goldstein known— and who would have supposed that she did not— that any person of 21 is eligible for election she might have continued indefinitely to be 22 — on the principle^ that a lady is as old as she looks. Fortunately, Miss Goldstein belongs to a aex and to a party with unbounded faith in. the power of an act of Parliament, a^d-early, next session, when she is ' fhstailfd :.; ort those crimson behdhes, we may expect to see a bill to the following effect introduced :—

Whereas, it is expedient that tk<s ancient law that a woman is a 9 old as sho looks, should jbc of full effect in this Commonwealth : And whereas certain admissions have been made tending to abrogate tho -ight reading of this ancient rule: Be it therefore enacted- etc. :-r

-(I)^^ This Act may be cited as the Vida Goldstein Fatal Admission Rectification Act.

$1 Wi Act jtytit bixid tbe Crown

and every woman at present within or who shall at any time come within or bo deemed to have ever como within the Commonwealth.

j (3) No woman shall on any pretext whatsoever recall, advert to, hint at, make reference to direct or indirect, paste in her scrap-book, enrol in the tablets of her memory, or discuss at afternoon tea, any admission as to the ago made by any lo|d;y senator in presumed furtherance o her candidature. Penalty — Bepriva- i tion of her civil rights and of all ' toilet-table accessories for life.

(4) Any such adinissiou made by any candidate shall be and shall ever be deemed to have been unsaid, any newspaper cutting, clipping, extract, parajgjraph, column, page, or broadsheet to the contrary notwithstanding.

(5) Any innuendo, sneer, jeer, jest, quip, retort, remark, nasal elevation, labial curl, or momentary fall of the eyelid, made at or in connection with any reference to the age of any lady senator, shall be wholly void and of none effect.