Petitions part 5

Collecting Signatures

 

Add Alliance Record 11 July 1891 page 171caption

One of the women who collected signatures for the Woman's Petition was Vida Goldstein, described in a history of the WCTU, Pioneer Pathways as 'one of those who took part in the battle and made a valuable contribution to the Woman's Movement and other citizen activities in this state'.
Vida Goldstein, in an article written in 1937, described the collection of signatures for the Woman's Petition.

To obtain signatures for the Suffrage Petition, a house to house canvass was instituted in as many districts as possible. It was not practicable to canvass the whole Colony thoroughly, for the canvassers had to be well equipped to deal with the arguments for and against Woman Suffrage.

Some of the stock arguments were: - "Woman's sphere is in the home." "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world." "Women do not want the vote." "Man is the sturdy oak, woman the clinging vine." "Woman's brains weren't as big as men's." "There never has been a woman Shakespeare." "No great country has enfranchised women - only a few wild-cat American states have done so." "It was Eve who tempted Adam." "The bible says women must submit to their husbands."

Pioneer Pathways - sixty years of citizenship 1887-1947. page 116