Editing Kate Sheppard (section)

===Petitions===
The government introduced an Electoral Bill in 1888 that would continue to exclude women from suffrage, and Sheppard organised a petition requesting that the exclusion be removed. She wrote to, and later met with, Sir [[John Hall (New Zealand politician)|John Hall]], a well-respected Canterbury member of the House of Representatives, inviting him to present the petition and support her cause. He did so, but no action resulted. Sheppard then produced a second pamphlet, ''Should Women Vote?'', which presented statements on suffrage from notable people in New Zealand and overseas.{{sfn|Devaliant|1992|pp=32–34}} The Electoral Bill was delayed until 1890, when on 5 August, Hall proposed a motion "That in the opinion of the House, the right of voting for members of the House of Representatives should be extended to women." After vigorous debate, this was passed 37 votes to 11.{{sfn|Devaliant|1992|pp=44–46}}{{sfn|Grimshaw|1987|pp=43–44}} On 21 August, Hall moved an amendment to the Electoral Bill to give women suffrage, but it was defeated by seven votes.{{sfn|Devaliant|1992|p=48}}{{sfn|Grimshaw|1987|p=44}}{{sfn|"Lyttelton Times editorial 23 August 1890"}}

Following the defeat, Hall suggested to Sheppard that a petition to parliament should be the next step. She drew up the wording for the petition, arranged for the forms to be printed, and campaigned hard for its support. During the [[1890 New Zealand general election|1890 election campaign]], WCTU members attempted to ask all candidates about their position on women's suffrage.{{sfn|Devaliant|1992|pp=48–50}} The petition contained 10,085 signatures (according to WCTU minutes), and Hall presented it to Parliament in 1891 as a new Electoral Bill went into committee.{{sfn|Grimshaw|1987|p=49}}{{sfn|Devaliant|1992|pp=62, 68}} The petition was supported in Parliament by Hall, Alfred Saunders, and the premier at the time, [[John Ballance]]. Hall moved an amendment to the Electoral Bill to give women suffrage; it passed with a majority of 25 votes. An opponent of suffrage, [[Walter Carncross]], then moved an amendment which would also allow women to stand for parliament; this seemed a logical extension of Hall's amendment but was actually calculated to cause the bill's failure in New Zealand's [[upper house]], the [[New Zealand Legislative Council]]. The bill indeed failed in the Upper House by two votes.{{sfn|Grimshaw|1987|pp=67–69}}

[[File:Auckland Female Franchise League.gif|thumb|upright=2|Illustrated comic of the Auckland Franchise League lining up outside the Premier's office. Published in ''The Observer'' in 1893.]]

In 1890, Sheppard was one of the founders of the Christian Ethical Society, a discussion group for both men and women, not limited to the members of a single church.{{sfn|"Christian Ethical Society"}} In their first few meetings the topics included selfishness, conjugal relations, and dress reform. The society gave Sheppard more confidence debating her ideas with people from diverse backgrounds.{{sfn|Devaliant|1992|pp=42–43}} During 1891, Sheppard began editing a page in the ''Prohibitionist'' on behalf of the WCTU. The ''Prohibitionist'' was a fortnightly temperance paper with a circulation around New Zealand of over 20,000. Sheppard used the pseudonym "Penelope" in this paper.{{sfn|Grimshaw|1987|p=53}}{{sfn|Devaliant|1992|pp=58–59}}

Sheppard promised that a second petition would be twice as large and worked through the summer to organise it; it received 20,274 women's signatures.{{sfn|Grimshaw|1987|p=49}} Using paid canvassers, the Liberal MP [[Henry Fish]] organised two counter petitions, one signed by men and the other by women; they received 5,000 signatures between them.{{sfn|Devaliant|1992|pp=77–78, 81}} An Electoral Bill in 1892 included provision for women's suffrage and again it easily passed in the House of Representatives, but the Upper House requested that women's votes be postal rather than by ballot. As the two houses could not agree on this, the bill failed.{{sfn|Grimshaw|1987|pp=70–71}}

[[File:Women's Suffrage Petition 1893 (9365778997).jpg|thumb|upright=1|The first page of the successful 1893 Women's Suffrage Petition]]

A [[1893 Women's Suffrage Petition|third petition for suffrage]], still larger, was organised by Sheppard and presented in 1893. This time 31,872 women signed{{mdash}}the largest petition of any kind presented to Parliament at this point.{{sfn|Brewerton|2017}}{{sfn|Devaliant|1992|pp=105–110}}