shouting. There was no drunkenness, no brutality. Each party received verdicts, as they were posted up, with groans or acclamation. The interest was of the keenest, but, as there was no irresponsible, voteless crowd merely bent on horseplay, there was no rowdyism.”[1]
It was found when statistics were available that out of an estimated adult female population of 139,915, 109,461, or 78·23 per cent., registered as electors, and of those registered 90,290, or 85·18 per cent., recorded their votes.
After the women had held the franchise for a decade, Mr. Seddon paid a high compliment to them for the manner in which they had exercised the privilege. He said:—
“Who dares to propose that we should repeal the legislation that gave the franchise to the women of the colony? I have not met a candidate, a politician, or a canvasser who has dared to say this privilege should be taken from them. I want to ask this question: Can you show where woman has been untrue to the great responsibility cast upon her? In the legislation of which we boast, in the great social advancement we have made—more particularly in that beneficent legislation, the Old Age Pensions Act—I say that the women are behind it all; and I say more: that in respect of progressive measures, in respect of that which is for the good of the lives of others, women are keener and more determined than the lords of creation.”
Besides the granting of the women’s franchise, some other notable legislation was passed in 1893. The Criminal Code Act, a monument to the ability and stupendous industry of the new Minister for Justice, Mr. Reeves, was submitted to the House and passed. Its humble title gives no idea of the comprehensive character of the measure, or of its usefulness. It is one of the most useful Acts standing to the credit of the Seddon Administration. It reduces a vast mass of chaotic legislation to order, and simplifies the whole criminal code of the colony. It has abolished a large number of distinctions in regard to embezzlement, theft, larceny, breach of trust, and other crimes. It enlarges the scope of the law dealing with perjury. It acknowledges the right of appeal in criminal cases. If Parliament had done nothing else than pass the Criminal Code Act in 1893, Mr. Seddon’s first session as Premier would still be a notable one among the sessions of the New Zealand Legislature.
There is a third Act which helps to make that session a remarkable one from a legislative point of view. It is the Alcoholic
- ↑ State Experiments in Australia and New Zealand.
