Salient. Official Newspaper of Victoria University of Wellington Students Association. Vol 40 No. 23. September 12 1977

The Movement for Women's Sufferage

The Movement for Women's Sufferage.

The Womens Christian Temperance Union was the principle organisation through which women organised to gain the vote. The 'Christian' part of their title was very widely interpreted, as was the 'Temperance'. The main words were Women and Union. As the first national organisation of women, the WCTU was in the for front of the fight for womens rights. Quite correctly the WCTU saw that much of the suffering that women endured was related to high level of alcoholism and drunkeness that existed in New Zealand. The sale of liquor was almost completely uncontrolled, and this of course meant that the breweries and liquor retailers were making huge profits out of the misery of men and women.

The liquor lobby was most antagonistic towards the sufferage movement as they realised that the power of the vote, once it was given to women, would be turned against them. And when it was turned against them, their profits would dramatically decline.

The liquor lobby was well financed, and entrenched in the political system by having representatives in the Legislative Council which was the Upper House and had the right of veto over the laws of New Zealand.

Seddon, in his continuing battle against women's sufferage used the liquor lobby extensively to destroy and derail measures coming into the house that would have given women the vote.

In 1878, 1879, 1880 and 1881 the question of women's sufferage was introduced into the house, but each time it failed. However the heavy voting in favour of each motion showed the influence of the women's movement in the country as a whole.

Katherine W. Sheppard was given the task by the WCTU of organising public pressure for women's sufferage. She campaigned for women's suffrage with all literary and debating societies, the synods, the assemblies and unions of the churches and with the public generally. She organised the WCTU so that each branch had one person responsible for fighting for suffrage.

In 1887 Sir Julius Vogel introduced into the house a Female Franchise Bill which passed its second reading by 41 to 22. However Seddon managed to get the bill defeated in the committee stages.

In 1889 the women of New Zealand were offered a compromise. One of their supporters in Parliament thought that it would be possible to get through a motion of Suffrage if it was linked to property qualifications. He told Kate Sheppard this, and her response was that the compromise was unacceptable but that as it gave a chance of a vote to some women she would put it to the whole WCTU. Overwhelmingly the majority of branches dismissed the compromise out of hand. Humans were more important than property, they said, and they based their right to vote on their humanity not on wealth.

In 1891 a Bill was brought before the house supported by a petition organised by the WCTU of 10,000 signatures. But the Legislative Council vetoed the bill.

Kate Shepard went back to work after this set-back and produced a petition in 1892 with 20,074 signatures on it. This petition was used to support an Electoral Bill which included women's franchise. After some objections from the liquor lobby the bill passed the house. The Legislative Council put in a few minor admendments but they did not change the substance of the bill. Unfortunately Seddon was now in charge of the Lower House and he refused to accept the bill with the changes that the Legislative Council had made, therefore it could not proceed.

Kate Sheppard again went back to the people and held enthusiastic mass meetings in all main centres. She increased the number of signatures on her petition to 31,872, the largest petition ever to be presented to any Australasian parliament.

In 1893 yet another bill was presented to the House for women's sufferage. It passed through the house and Seddon fully expected the Legislative Council with its strong liquor lobby to kill the bill. But 12 new members had been appointed to the Council and the bill was passed.

Photo of a man wearing a bowler hat

One might have thought that having finally succeed in overcoming the undemocratic gerrymandering of the Legislative Council, that women would have been at long last given the vote. However a minority of the House petitioned the Governor not to sign the bill because it would "seriously embarrass the finances of the colony, thereby injuriously affecting the public credit".

Once again the women of New Zealand appeared to have reached the brink of triumph only to find another disaster. Yet Kate Sheppard organised a long memorandum to the Governor proving that the matter of women's suffrage had been a long debated subject and that it had the support of the majority of the people of New Zealand. The liquor lobby organised a counter petition to the Governor asking him not to sign the bill, often using free drinks to induce people to sign their petition.

On 19 September 1893 the Governor signed the bill and women in New Zealand won the right to vote.