ENGLAND

New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, Volume 01, Issue 9, 1 June 1900, Page 82

ENGLAND

The Times of a late date was deservedlysevere on Sir Matthew White Ridley, the present Home Secretary, and his predecessor, Mr. Asquith, for declaring against extending the penalty of corporal punishment to brutal outrages against women and children, and thus practically causing the refusal of the second reading of Mr. Wharton's Bill to that effect. It is certainly one df the most odious of the glaring inconsistencies for which onr English law is notc'l. The inference drawn from reading the article is that the reason robbery with violence was deemed more deserving of corporal punishment than the horrible outrages referred to, is that a Member of Parliament had suffered from the former crime. This cor-taiuly points to advantages to be gained by extending parliamentary representation to ladies. Reform is to be the watchword of the new century, and Sir Robert Reid, M.P., is to fshe f° ve w^h tue new Reform Club recently formed, a sort of omnium gatherum of all Liberal organizations, for the purpose of " focussing all movements in the direction of peace, retrenchment, and reform," in their new chambers at St. Ermin's Mansions, Westminster. A notable ambition, truly, and one in which there will be ample scope foi* energetic action.