Page:Outlines of the women's franchise movement in New Zealand.djvu/118

 want of courtesy would be a political folly, and the contending parties vie with each other in respectful attention to women. It is no exaggeration to say that the presence of women has fairly transformed the elections. The riotous horseplay of bygone days has disappeared, and election day, with its flowers and gay dresses, has become a semi - festival, bright and decorous.

Another phantasy that haunted the precincts of the Upper Chamber and that caused a number of the Legislative Councillors to implore the Governor to refuse his sanction to the franchise has also been laid to rest. They said that the enfranchisement of women