Page:Outlines of the women's franchise movement in New Zealand.djvu/101

, Mr Ballance, the Premier, had been stricken with a fatal illness and was no longer able to guide the deliberations of the House of Representatives.

It was well known that Mr Seddon, who occupied the position of Acting Premier, was not personally favourable to the emancipation of women.

There were also other considerations which it was believed rendered him secretly antagonistic to this portion of the Bill. Events proved these fore-bodings to be only too true. To the delight of Messrs Blake, Fish, and other opponents of the measure, Mr Seddon lost no time in declaring that this new clause could not be accepted.