WOMAN SUFFRAGE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XIV, Issue 2920, 11 March 1893, Page 2

WOMAN SUFFRAGE.

We notice that in bis address to his constituents at Danevirke a few days ago, Mr W. 0. Smith distinctly intimated that he is not in favor of the pushing on of the Woman Suffrage Bill next session. He argued that if such a Bill were brought down early, it would be blocked by its opponents that it could not be brought into operation, if passed, before October, and that, as the elections would probably take place within one or two months ! of that time, it would be utterly impossible to place some 200,000 women on the ioils within so short a period. His suggestion therefore was that the matter should be left over for the new Parliament, and that, as a guide to its action, ad vantage should be taken of the polling-booths required for the general election in order to take at the same time a plebiscite as to whether or not the franchise should be extended to the female sex. As the member for Waipawa occupies the position of senior Government whip, it is quite to be expectei that it will be assumed in some quarters that Jhis utterances represent the views or wishes of the Ministry j but until such an impression is confirmed by the authority of a Ministerial deliverance to that effect, we entirely decline to accept such a suggestion, and shall regard those utterances as merely an indication of the views of Mr Smith alone. It is of course not unlikely that Mr Smith, and others who concur with him, will endeavor to press those views upon Ministers; but we shall be much mistaken if the Government yield to such suggestions. The fact that some of their chief supporters are against proceeding with the Bill this session is, however, an embarrassing circumstance. But it need not present any serious difficulty, for there are many more votes from the Opposition benches that will be cast for the Bill than can be cast against it from among the ranks of Ministerial supporters; and between themselves and their own followers a disagreement upon this issue by no means involves a transfer of the allegiance of the Utter from Ministers to the leaders of the Opposition. If Ministers are wise, then, they will meet the difficulty by grasping the nettle boldly. By bringing down the Bill of last session they have rightly avowed that true Liberalism is bound to concede the right to the exercise of the franchise to those twenty thousand women who have demanded it for themselves and for the rest of their sex j and to shrink now from giving effect to their own proposal would show 8n unworthy timidity amounting almost to cowardice; and, worse still from a political point of view, would be to commit one of those blunders which come within the Napoleonic definition of being worse than crimes. As to Mr Smith's objection that there is not time, that is easily answered. If the House meet in June, as is expected, and the Bill be brought down as the first measure to be dealt with, there is no reason whatever why it should not be passed through both Chambers by the end of July and brought into operation, in so far as regards the clauses relating to the preparation of the rolls, on the first day of August. Then there is no reason whatever why the elections ! should necessarily -be held before say the last week in Deotm'vr, and thus there could be three full mouths given for women as well as men to enrol their names, and still leave plenty of titne for the corapilatiqn and printi:! a ' of the new rolls for use at the elections. l( Where there's a will there's a way," and as for our part we believe thstt in this case the will is not wanting, we fully expect to find the ladies called upon to assist in selecting those who are to be entrusted with the representation of the people in the next Parliament of the colony.