PROTECTION OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXIX, Issue 7817, 9 June 1909, Page 1

PROTECTION OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

At the annual meeting of the society for the Protection of Women-' 1 and Children, at' Dunedin, Dr. 'Siedeberg said ■ :•—^There was one matter which had been touched on m the annual report, and which: both the:; President and Mr Allen had spoken on, and that was the .question of the Want of domestic knowledge on the part of wives, and the fact that- the love- of ease and pleasure was at; the'root of the evil. Jt£er views, oh" these points were m en-' tire agreement,with those of;. the other; ' speakers, and had so lately been given' bo the .public that she would not repeat them. She could only;say that,; with regard to Mr Allen's suggestion' that a chair on ■ Domestic Economy or Hygiene, be established at'- the University, she felt that it would be money spent with very little benefit. In the first place, no amo,im^ of theory, could every teach' clea'ri'Miousek'eepirig ;' that could only be learnt m a home with constant correction and supervision . They, might. as we}l.. expect a; nurse to~p'ut' into practice all she was; expected tb-> do with regard- to asepsis; and thorough sterilisation ;;of instru-l ments'arid hands, by giyihg her one lecture on bacteria, arid their effects. In the second place; University . train-' j ing in'these subjects-wouldVnot reach the rigl>t class of girls. latter.', class had their .brains-already ."sufficiently well developed to make housekeeping easy;. it was girls; from the homes of, the poor arid ignorant which they must reach. The pitiable-.cases which' came before them as a society were largely cases m which the husband had either 1 died and left his wife I arid children to, be supported by the State, or he had spent his earnings ,m drink'and gambling instead of ' m "good food, clothing,' and "education for his children,, or he had deserted -his wife, and " children, leaving them' to' manage as best; they ' could; ov.'. whether married, or ■ : not,] - ,he. had brouglit 'a familyl into the world through one single' 'girl after,'anothtei 1, arid the children were either handed over to the State or were, brought .up. to fol- 1 low m their parents'; footsteps; 'It sometimes ;seemed a hopeless task to, deal with these cases, - and at present they must 1; be'" content with-trying'to improve them. She believed a large 1 improvement could -be brought about by the more widespread enlightenment of girls m, their early .and mdst impr'essionabla'; years. The State' ;.had. dorie a; great deal by making general education compulsory for- both sexes, .and. ;by opening'up avenues of jvork woriien; llieir general education -trajined them: to think • for ' themselves, % ,but v she thought still more could' bjs done by riitroducing' into the school.curriculum a subject on "The Effects of Alcohol,"----and then, by means of their school, books, teaching them to) reflect on^ the lives of others who had been ruined by ''drunken or immoral husbands alid lathers, thus training the young intellect to almost instinctively shun those; boys and. men who showed., coarseness m their language arid whose; featured bore the stamp of ""riotous living. There was:no use m girls, being-al-j. lotfed to imagine they \ could ;eyer reform ■ a drunkard ; they i must be' taught to shun "him, "and tjo■•, seek for better qualities m the men; they as-: sociated with. ' She was sure, when, deserted or widowed wives |came before the 'Benevolent' TrUsteef,' the trus-; tees must often exclaim,.. f£Why are these women so/ useless'?' |Why , were they 'not .ta'ught'some becupation■ before marriage, at which fhey could earn a living ?" Certainl^- it might reduce the birth-rate, but' •Ht&a, .it not better that a race should l^iave good quality rather than poor jputintity' t Another* point'- which the ;tstti previous speakers had touched on Mfprred to illegitimacy'; and she entirely-agreed with the 'President that. ; fal%^rhood, <y\ motherhood .without ma'rr^k^' ;'should. be made .-.& legal .roffenoe, iSpuitishttbi^ by fine or imprisonment. .-■ In the. easje of the mother, of course, only where consent was proved. She could not say that she entirely agreed with Dri Chappie's drastic method of punishment, and thought milder measures would act as a sufficient bar m the majority of cases. So many of these cases occurred with men who were otherwise' considered respectable by the community that they would not care to have their names dragged into the publicity of the Police Court. If marriage was a legal custom, why should its contravention not be illegal P She- knew it was a somewhat startling proposition to put forward; but that was not a 1 matter which' concerned the individual so much as the State. The State and all respectable citizens had to pay for it, and it was legislation' which must, come sooner or later if they wished to stop the deplorable trade ■ m infant life and the sad deaths of girls.