The White Ribbon. For God and Home and Humanity. TUESDAY, AUGUST 18, 1914. AGED 21.

White Ribbon, Volume 20, Issue 230, 18 August 1914, Page 11

The White Ribbon. For God and Home and Humanity. TUESDAY, AUGUST 18, 1914. AGED 21.

In September, i<>l4. we celebrate the “comins of age” of Women’s Franchise in thi- Ifruninion. For 21 years New Zealand women have enjoyed a privilege which their sisters in the Home Land are still struggling to obtain. Why this struggle for the vote? Win this unrest among women the wide world over? It is woman’s cry to be recognised a- an individual, capable of having a voice and vote in the framing of the laws whic h she and her children have to obey; her claim to the control of her own property and person ; her protest against being considered a mere adjunct or possession of some* man. 1

Far back in the«early dawn of our history, when our Anglo-Saxon forefathers held their assembly in the forests of Germany, every freeman met and had a say in making of war

or other questions concerning the public weal. Transferred to Kngland, this assembly ot all freemen became the Council of the wise or great, the Witenagemot. And it is worth remembering that previous to the Norman Conquest no English king had legislated or imposed a tax without the consent of a national assembly. The Norman Conquest transformed this Assembly into a mere feudal body in no way representative. Then ensued the long struggle which determined the* supremacy of the* House of Commons and the* longer struggle* still proceeding to make that House representative of every adult in the* land, irrespective of class, sect or sex. Religious c reed for long was a barrier .to Government positions, but the Abolition of the lest Act and the Catholic Emancipation Bill did away with this, and we believe to-day that there i- only one office in the State, the highest office of all, which reqmi.es a religious test. The provision requiring that the* “Sovereign must be a Protestant in communion w ith ,the Churc h of England,” \\e be lieve, is still unrepealed. To every other office the barrier of sect has been broken down. Class distinctions in the* Mother Land arc* being abolished by degrees, and in our own happier land, with its adult suffrage and “one man one vote,’’ they are unknown. Trac e thetStruggle for the extension of the Franchise beyond the privileged c lasses, and you find it as bitter as the struggle to-day for the e\ tension of the Franchise beyond the privileged sex. The Reform Act of 1*832 introduced the* X* lo franchise, which was in force till 18(17, when the franchise .-was -till further extended, and householders could vote; also the* j£ 10 leasehold qualification was reduc ed to j£s. The* last extension of the franchise was in 18*84, when the household»and lodger franchise conferred on boroughs by the Act of 1867 was now extended to the* counties, and the rural working man became enfranchised. Before each extension of the franchise gre.it agitation was made* throughout the country, and mam ac ts of committed. The riots when* the Lords refused to pass the Reform Bill of 1832. were -o so vere that even the conqueror of Waterloo was glad to urge hi-, followers to absent themselves from the

House of Lords and allow the Bill to pass. Now anothei extension of the* f ranchise is demanded, that even as all classes and sects ma> vote, so sex may be* no barrier to exercising the vote. It is fairly certain, though not cetablisiul beyond doubt, that in early Parliament.- women win. were peer e*s>es in their own right and ladies c I the* mailed exere ised the* same fr.ta chise as their male peers. It is certain th.it before, the* Act of 1832, under the* burgage tenure*, though a woman could not vote, she could p;n,s on her qualification temj orarily to any man, a privilege often worth Z 1 co to her. # Early in the* 18th century an agitation was started to extend the* franchise to women, and in 18(0 the v-omen > -mirage que-ti 11 entecd the phase of practical politics. When the Re-form Bill of 18(17 was before the* House, John Stuart Mill moved an amendment to omit the we re! “man’’ and insert the word “person” in the enfranchising clause. This amendment was lost, John Bright voting for it. Again *he same amendment to the 1884 Reform Bill was brought forward, and defeated, chiefly owing to the* opposition of Mr Glad stone. In ißcj7 a Women’s Suffrage Bill wa- read a second time* by 228 to 157, but failed to reach the Statute* Book. In 1903 the militant move me nt was started. We publish elsewhere* the later history of that movement, Without entering into the question as to the rights or wrongs of the militant movement, we ask ourc !ve*s what is its cause? What has driven the long-suffering womanhood of England to revolt? Becau-c* they feel the need to have the* vote, that they may protect the women and children of the land. We are urged to trust to man’s chivalry, and whrt ha- man’s chivalry done for woman. It has kept he r in a complete -tatc of economic dependence; it has deprived hev of any right to the* guardianship of her children, if born in wedlock ; it ha- established the* double standard of morals, the Divorce Act granting man a divorce for infidelity, but forcing the woman to prove cruelty as well; it has established the White Slave Traffic, whereby girl-, often mere children, are bought and -old and condemned to .1 life* of slavery; it has driven women to labour in

sweated industries; in biiet, man’s chivalry has denied woman every right or privilege that might mean the slightest sacrifice to himself.

A Bill was before the House of Lords to raise the age of consent to iO years. Though it was a certainty that this amendment would save scores of girls from ruin, yet because there was a possibility that some man night be injured by being blackmailed, the Bill was withdrawn. Man’s chivalry! In every instance let the suffering fall upon the weaker sex. l or 21 years we women of New Zea land have exercised • the vote, and what have we done with if? We have done away with the double standard of morals, and made divorce the same for each sex; we have helped to pass laws safeguarding infant life; im proving the conditions of life in factories; reforming our prison system; gianting pensions to widows; bettering the conditions for children born cut of wedlcck; C.D Act *, and placing many humanitarian Acts upon our Statute Book. What are we going to do in the next 21 years? Labour to abolish every sex disability. We intend to get equal pay for equal work. We are told that men arc paid higher wages because of their increased responsibility in maintaining a famih. What utter nonsense! Does the Government pay bachelors less than married men who do the same work? No! a man is paid for the work he does, and many a bachelor in the public service

draws higher pay th m married men. We intend that every position be opened t" women, that they may be eligible for se. ts in Parliament. All the better paid positions in the* Government service are marked, “No woman need apply.” Why? Do men fear to enter into competition with women on equal terms? All women ask for is a “fair field and no favour.” We want a “snuare deal.” We want

to so improve the* status of women in the fields of labour that when a woman is left with a family to maintain she may not b«' compelled to earn a pittance at the washtub or the counter, but may be eligible for a highly paid Government billet when she i- the most capable applicant for it. W e believe that economic equality really lies at the root of all true reform. Train girls as well as boys to earn their own living ; educate them according to their ability, not

to their sex. If girls show marked ability for legal, medical, or any other profession, give them every facility to enter th.it profession. If a boy has a genius for rooking or dressmaking, let him be educated as a chef or as a “Worth ” Too long has it been thought that all the scullery work of the world was women’s sphere. Man has never objected to the “superfluous woman” earning her living so long as she was content with ill-paid drudgery, but when she wants to enter the better paid professions, then man raises a how l “that w< man’s place is the* home.” Is there a greater tragedy anywhere than the girl trained to no profession, just waiting for a husband to come along and keep her, driven often to accept the man of shady character for the sake of a home. Don’t think this ability to maintain herself will keep women from marriage of the best kind Deep in every woman’s heart is the passion for motherhood. There is no revolt against wifehood or motherhood among women. The revolt is against the surrounding conditions. In view of the* ghastly fac ts set forth by the; medical profession as to how the sins of the fathers are visited on the children, can you wonder that an enlightened woman, engaged in a profession that she loves, and capable of supporting herself, demands from the* man who seeks to be her mate, a life as pure as her own?

Then marriage will be elevated to a true comradeship; then there will be no unwanted children, no babes diseased, degenerate, doomed to early death or a life of misery. When women become* educated on the laws of heredity, and arc* economically independent, no drunkard nor evil liver will ever be permitted to be* the father of a child. For the* sake of the race women ask for equality of opportunity. We want no favour. AH we want is that when any position is vacant the applicant most suitable be* appointed, and that sex be not taken into account, onlv ability.

Let us as women realise our responsibility to the State. Let us have high ideals. Let us work and vote till every licensed enl is abolished, till every little child is wcjl Iporn, till there are no drunkards or moral degenerate's. till peace and arbitration take the place of war and slaughter, till the* worker has his fair share of

the produce of his labour, and poverty is .tm known.