NEW ZEALAND 



izing the loaning of monej^ on freehold or leasehold interest 

 cleared ol encumbrances and free of any breach of 

 condition. The loans are secured by first mortgages of 

 lands and improvements. No loan can be for less than 

 $125 or more than $15,000, and the sum of the advances to 

 any one person must not exceed $15,000. The interest 

 ranges according to the terms of repayment, from 4^ to 

 5/4 per cent, with an increase of % per cent, if payment is 

 not made promptly. 



In 1892 a law was passed to get rid of the difficulties, 

 injustice and exptnse caused by legal decisions based on 

 technical defects. Cases are under this law decided on 

 their merits, and no man loses his rights because of any 

 technicality. 



The electoral reforms so earnestly advocated by Bal- 

 lance, after being twice wrecked in the Upper House were 

 adopted in 1893. These reforms embodied the one man 

 one vote principle, equal suffrage for men and women and 

 compulsory voting. Under the compulsory voting provis- 

 ion if an elector, who is not a candidate at a general 

 election, nor prohibited by law from voting fails to vote, 

 his name is expunged from the voting list and unless he 

 appears and excuses the neglect to the satisfaction of the 

 Court he loses his vote at the next election. At the first 

 election at which women were entitled to vote held in 

 November 1893, 90,290 women voted and 129,792 men. At 

 the election of 1899, 119,550 women and 159,780 men went 

 to the polls, 71 per cent, of the women of the Colony and 

 75 per cent, of the men. In 1902 about 95 per cent, of the 

 women were enrolled and 75 per cent, of those who were 

 registered voted. There is not even a whispered suggestion 

 to repeal the law giving women the suffrage. 



New Zealand is the land of the eight-hour day. This 

 does not mean that everybody works eight hours, but a 

 very large part of the laboring classes have the eight-hour 

 day and from one end of the Colony to the other, eight 



