What was Clark's position
on female suffrage?
Clark was a democrat who believed
in equality and knew from his close relationship with his wife
that women had the intelligence to participate effectively in
public life. He was therefore always a strong supporter of giving
the vote to women. His Constitution Act Amendment Bill 1895 contained
a clause that would have given the vote to anyone whose 'board
residence, and clothing and other necessaries' came to £40
or who rendered services to the value of £40. This clause
included all qualified females as voters, such as women who ran
businesses and supported themselves and their families, as well
as those who owned property. The Bill was not passed and Clark
removed the clause from the Bill in 1896. Until the end of his
political career, he believed that, while women remained without
a vote and a say in making the laws that affected them, Tasmanian
society would remain low on the scale of 'civilisation, prosperity,
and morality'.
[Dr. Stefan Petrow, School of History and
Classics, University of Tasmania]
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