WOMENS WORLD

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 82, 4 May 1949, Page 3

WOMENS WORLD

“Child Immigration”, Winning Speeches At W.L Eisteddfod

One of the most successful yet held in the Bay of Plenty the Eisteddfod at Edgecumbe of the Eastern Bay of Plenty Federation of Women’s Institutes was attended by representatives of all branches. Hitherto hidden talent was unearthed and the different compositions that’came forward showed some surprisingly good work. The speeches on Child Immigration resulted in a dead heat between Otakiri and Whakatane and these are printed as an example of some of the work that was displayed.

Following is the Otakiri speech:—. There are few people in New Zealand who have not been deeply moved by the widespread reports of the privations and sufferings of the children in the war-torn countries of Europe and Asia, and the first reaction is one of profound pity. We want to throw wide open the door of our country and our homes and bring more of these little people into our favoured land.

But it would be well to examine this impulse more closely, to see if we would be wise or right, for to act on an impulse of pity is nearly always a mistake, and to make farreaching decisions in the matter of children, who are too young and helpless to make their- own, is a tremendous responsibility. I would suggest there be no large scale immigration of children into New Zealand from these war-torn areas for the following reasons:

These little folk have lost their parents, their homes. Must also also lose their native land? This is the only loyalty left to them. The only birthright which has not been snatched from them by the devastating and cruelty of war. More important still. If these countries blasted by war are ever to reconstruct themselves they need their children. Children are the protential wealth of any country and if we in New Zealand are responsible for bringing out large numbers , from these areas we shall bleed them just as thoroughly as the war itself did. A country without its children is a country without a future. Send them succour to their own land. Support to the full every organisation which is working to alleviate their distress. Give more practical help to your Church organisation who are in touch with the Christian families in Germany and elsewhere. Could I have read to you the letters it was my privilege to read the other day, from families in Germany who have received food and clothing parcels from our Church in New Zealand, you would realise more fully what these parcels mean to these people who have for years regarded us as their enemies. They not only help to recover their minds and bodies, but also their hope and faith in Christianity and mankind, so I say to you ail, get out in your gardens and work as you’ve never worked before to grow more food for yourselves -and your sick and aged neighbours, so there will be a greater surplus to send overseas. to these hungry people, and so do your part in helping to restore to health and strength the children and youth of these stricken lands so that they may do their part in building anew the land they love. Wc of the British Commonwealth of Nations, have had ample evidence of the tremendous drive, willpower and energy of one man in the face of tremendous disaster, and the part that personality played in the saving of an Empire. I have no hesitation in saying that deep-rooted in the hearts of many of these children is that same inherent love of country as is embodied in our own Winstone Churchill, and as their bodies and minds recover with food and clothes, which you and I the more fortunate peoples of the world will send them, so will their energy and willpower grow, and in their turn, they too, will do much toward saving their country in her dark hour. Do not add to their confusion of mind. Leave them in the country they know. Among the people they know and among the people .who speak the language which is their native tongue and so give them the only chance they will have of building anew from the ruins a better country to live in, according

to the pattern they best understand. We know the New Zealand Government has guaranteed to take numbers of these children and they will be placed in homes which have been offered them. The people who take these children will need a tremendous amount of patience, courage, and a profound understanding for none of these little people have had a normal childhood as we understand it, many are sick in mind as well as in body. We wish the scheme well, but no matter how many our Government see fit to bring to our fair land, it will only touch the fringe of the need. It is estimated there are 40 million undernourished children in the world. Child Immifiration cannot solve the problem. Your conscience—my conscience—and the conscience of the whole world needs to be more fully awakened to the dire need of these little people. We need to ponder and understand more fully those words of “Our Lord” “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

The Whakatane speech and other examples of the week will be published next week.