The White Ribbon: FOR GOD AND HOME AND HUMANITY SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1896. For the Right.

White Ribbon, Volume 2, Issue 17, 1 November 1896, Page 6

The White Ribbon: FOR GOD AND HOME AND HUMANITY SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1896. For the Right.

“ Let the world revere us for our people, rights and laws.”— Campbell. The last General Election was re-

markable as being the first in this colony in whieh women voted. It can scarcely be claimed, however, that the full weight of the influence of women in politics was then realised. The elections followed the enfranchisement so swiftly that there was no time for concerted action, and it is pro-

bable that, beyond turning the scale against men whose moral reputation was unsavoury, and strengthening the temperance vote, the advent of women was almost unfelt. The great question then was : Shall Conservatism or Liberalism predominate?; and, having no definite aims, most of the women-voters adopted the view? of their male relatives. Important as was the last Election, the present one is much more momentous. Probably for the first time in this colony the points at issue are great moral questions of vital importance to the happiness of home life, the purity of youth, the dignity of woman. With the claims of rival candidates daily din* ed into our ears, it may be well to remind ourselves of what we, as women, specially need.

We want as our representatives men of whose habitual conduct we have no reason to be ashamed. We want a majority of the electors of each Electorate to have the power to sweep away the terrible liquor traffic. We want to see the streets of our towns made per. fectly safe for a modest girl to travel after night-fall. We want the lega* standard of morality to be the same for men as for women. We want the ridiculously petty and barbaric restrictions which have been imposed on women taken away, so that a woman may be free to fill such positions, or follow such occupations for which her taste and ability may fit her. These are not unreasonable demands. They are all in perfect harmony with a modest womanliness. They are the legitimate outcome of the enfranchisement of woman, the reasonable requests of a self-governing people. And it must not be forgotten ihat the Legislative Council, an irresponsible body, drawing salaries from the people, blocks the way to these reforms No candidate should be acceptable who does not

pledge himself to the reform or abolition of the Legislative Council. A candidate who agrees to our other requests but draws the line at interfering with the Legislative Council, cannot be deemed sincere. We have tried to place the main issues of the election clearly before our readers. We are sure many of them will find it difficult to choose a perfectly satisfactory candidate. All that we can say is that, provided he be of good repute, the candidate who gives the most favourable answers to the “ suggested questions ” published in another column is likely to be the most suitable man. Let us each regard our vote as a precious possession, and strive to cast it for the uplifting of humanity and the protection of our homes.