§ Captain CAZALETasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he can give the House information on the question of the extension of the franchise in Bermuda, in view of the fact that there has been no extension of the franchise in this Colony since 1834; and what reply he has given to the memorial addressed to him by the Bermuda Women Suffrage Society?
§ Dr. SHIELSNo question of the extension of the franchise in Bermuda otherwise than to women has hitherto arisen, but the officer administering the Government will be asked to report upon the matter. The officer administering the Government was requested to reply to the memorial of the Bermuda Women Suffrage Society that my Noble Friend had read the Memorial with interest, that he had not failed to note that the society had more than once approached the House of Assembly with a view to the conferring upon women of the parliamentary or municipal franchise, but that he was of opinion that these questions fell within the province of the local Legislature, and that, having regard to all the circumstances, he did not see his way to intervene in the matter. My Noble Friend added that he felt confident in the ability of the Colony to work out its future political and constitutional development on sound lines. I may explain that under the constitution of822W Bermuda as in Barbados and the Bahamas, the Crown has no control over the local elected Assembly, and no power to legislate by Order in Council. Apart from an Act of Parliament, any alteration of the franchise rests entirely with the local Legislature.