TOPICS OF THE TIMES

Southland Times, Issue 19510, 9 May 1922, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE TIMES

Addressing the House of Commons at the close of the third reading debate on the Irish Free State Bill, Mr ‘Winaton Churchill said there is much more in the life of Ireland than the many unfortunate episodes that are chronicled in the papers. “I have been making one or two inquiries into the social, sporting, and industrial life of Ireland, and I have acquired a few facts quite different from those which give one the impression of a general condition of anarchy,” he said. “A glance at the daily newspapers will suffice to show that the social activities of the general public life of Ireland have almost reverted to the conditions of normal times. The Sunday Independent of February 26 contains reports of no fewer than 26 important football matches, and announcements of no fewer than 29 Gaelic football fixtures for that Sunday. The attendance at the semi-final of the Irish football cup is said to have surpassed all records. In the International Rugby match between England and Ireland the spectators numbered between 16,000 and 18,000. Among the outdoor games hockey is much in favour, and it is not unlikely that at the end of the season you will find Ireland holdera of the International championship in this game. Racing is very active, while coursing and hunting are held with little interruption. Indoor amusements have also reverted to normal conditions. Dublin theatres are prosperous. In the main the life of Ireland is going on going on in a normal fashion. I commend these facts to the consideration of the House, not that members may imagine that all is well in Ireland, but that they should not readily accept the arguments that the whole country is rapidly lapsing into a condition of Bolshevik anarchy.”

Although men above 21 are entitled to the franchise in Britain, only women over 30 have been given the right to vote, and effiorte are now being made to extend the suffrage to women on the same terms as men. A Bill to that effect was recently introduced in the House of Commons by Lord Robert Cecil, who said they had now the 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 mail section of the population. The old monstrous “regiment of women” doctrine, which used not to be uncommon in the House of Commons, had been relegated to those homes of culture and progress, the City of London and the Scottish universities. The cause in which women were interested had advanced greatly by the grant of votes to women; yet there were signs that politically and socially women were not regarded as entirely on equal terms with men. There was no reason whatever for thinking that a woman of 21 was more incapable of exercising the suffrage than a man of 21. He had introduced the Bill to give members an opportunity of showing in the division lobby who were for and who were against the proposal. He did so because the Government had expressed great reluctance to put forward this reform, and if the Bill was carried by a large majority their reluctance might become less. Leave to introduce the Bill was granted by 208 votes to 60.