ray Ritchie,
Miss S. D. Collet, Miss Olive Schreiner, Mrs. Emily Crawford, Miss
Amelia B. Edwards. (7) Art and music. (8) Landowners, women engaged in
business and working women, the latter class represented by the
secretaries of nine women trades' societies, and over 180 individual
signatures of women artisans.

[485] The text of the Bill was as follows:

(1) This Act may be cited as the Parliamentary Franchise (Extension to
Women) Act, 1897.

(2) On and after the passing of this Act every woman who is the
inhabitant occupier, as owner or tenant, of any dwelling-house,
tenement or building within the borough or county where such
occupation exists, shall be entitled to be registered as a voter in
the list of voters for such borough or county in which she is so
qualified as aforesaid, and, when registered, to vote for a member or
members to serve in Parliament.

Provided always that such woman is not subject to any legal incapacity
which would disqualify a male voter.

[486] The first petition for woman suffrage presented to Parliament,
in 1867, was signed by only 1,499 women. The petition of 1873 was
signed by 11,000 women. The petition presented to the members of the
last Parliament was signed by 257,796 women. [Eds.

[487] No reference has been made in the above table to the various
Factory Acts which impose restrictions on women's labour--these belong
to a different department--but whether their interference with the
labor of women be for good or for evil, that interference is an
additional argument for allowing them a voice in the election of
representatives.

[488] In 1877 New Zealand granted School Suffrage to women, and in
1886 Municipal Suffrage.

[489] In 1880 South Australia granted Municipal Suffrage to women.

[490] In 1871 West Australia granted Municipal Suffrage to women.

[491] In 1867 New South Wales granted Municipal Suffrage to women.

[492] In 1869 Victoria granted Municipal Suffrage to women.

[493] The first number of _The Australian Woman's Sphere_ was
published in Melbourne, September 1, 1900. It is edited by Miss Vida
Goldstein and appears monthly.

[494] In 1886 Queensland granted Municipal Suffrage to Women.

[495] Tasmania granted Municipal Suffrage to women in 1884.

[496] This portion of the report is condensed by the editors of the
History from a chapter written by Mrs. Henrietta Muir Edwards for "The
Women of Canada, Their Life and Work," a handbook prepared by the
Nat