WOMAN'S WORLD.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12933, 12 October 1907, Page 7

WOMAN'S WORLD.

THE WOMEN OF NEW ZEALAND. MRS GROSSMANN'S VIEWS. (FROM Otni OWN CORBWWONOTEWT.) LONDON, August 90. Mrs Edith Searle Groasmann hae oontribnted to the "Empire Review a very interesting article, which will appear in th* September issue, upon the subject "Women of New Zealand." fih« begins by remarking that: "Now Zealand women are known in England just now chiefly as possessor* of-the franchise, and. one of the first questions that is asked of them, when they disclose their birthplace, is what effect enfranchisement hae had. The direct and visible-political effect* have been less than the indirect social influence, which is still elowly working below the surface. It has helped to raise tho general position of women, while increasing' at the same time their sense of responsibility and their self-respect. Enfranchisement, however, has been only one part of a wide progressive movement.. The distinctive feature of social life in the colony is a tendency towards equalisation." After referring to various articles of other writers which Have dealt With the same subject or touched upon it, Mrs Grossmann observes that "it is particularly hard to generalise, about New Zealanders," and she proceeds to adduce sonio reasons: "Like ancient Greece," she says, "we have no one capital: for Wellington is only tho neat of Government and in many other rospecte is less important than Auckland (the largest city), or Christehurch, or Dtinedin. Each of the four centres has its own peculiarities. The sub-tropic climate and open-air attractions of Auckland, suggestive rather of Italy then of Britain, develop a more pleasurorlovmg indolent turn of mind, and the women thero are much la* progressive than in the south. The women of Chrietcburch hold nndisputed supremacy in intellect, energy, end enterprise. This little city is divided /into two camps, the one of inherited conservatism and clericalism, the other of extreme but orderly Radicalism and modernity. All those variations help to explain why the appearance of one definite consistent type has been checked. . . . Yet through all local differences there it elowly emerging a general typo of womanhood. Atmosphere, climate and mode of living are forming "and colouring it. The Alaorilander is fax closer to N*ture than her English eieter Jβ. •Much of her life is spent in the open air. In her holidays she goes, mountaineering, camping-out, end exploring in virgin forests and by lonely shores. Quite unconecioTnly she loads the really simple life,, and her own mind becomes more simple »no primitive. Her impulses ana emotion* areas spontaneous and unpremeditated as winds and waves. She responds to the sentiment of tho moment and expresses > her feelings as . they Neture-worship is an unaffected passion with her. Wordsworth would have sung her praises. The long ranges and the high peaks with their far-reaching views, the transparent air and undimmed. eutefaine, the wide stretch of tussock plains limited only by snow-topped Alps and blue ekjr, "the expanse' of a shoreless ocean!; the long sweep of* waves across clean sands— these surroundings must produce a different kind of imagination and temperament from those which .grow to maturity among city walls and.streets or historic houses, smooth lawns and carefully-tended " parks and - flowerbeds. There is. something of the difference between the New Zealander and the that there is, between a luxuriant forest and; a wellkept garden. The Englishwoman never loses a certain manner and atyle; they have become a second nature with her, but second .nature is not quite the same thing as first nature. The Now Zealander- ie more primitive and has more height's and depths and more, moods, more variety and 1 , less uniformity of temperament. ,, " Further, Mrs Grossmann proceeds to contend that "the Maorilandor never loses a sense of beauty, a touch of idealism and spirituality;' a softness and luxuriance of feeling, and fimej which seem.inspired by the climate and scenery of her country. Here is the imaginative gloom of the idealist. The New Zealander is not English, but British; in a country founded by both English and Scotch, without any prerdominant partnership of one over the other, she is the resnlt of a more complete fusion than has _ taken place within the kingdom. Highland blood especially tolls. The New Zealander is moro emotional than the Englishwoman, and less patient.' She. has 'the indignant spirit of the north'; there h a spark of fire, in her and it burns up against personal or public wrong, Yet though she resents, she is not petty or spiteful in.- her resentment. A dash of Celtic romance nnd fancy diqilnvs itself in her imperfect liternry efforts: her sadnos* and her lightness of heart are not altogether native but partly Celtic, and her desire for education rwv\ her interest in. theories arc partly derived from Scotch ancestry. At any asce after her twentyfirst year she will travel alone all over the world nnd bacheloriee • in risky neighbourhoods of London ; and Paris without the least intentional bravndo, merely because she is unsuspicious, fearless and interested in everything. But, unlike the American girl, she floes not care about the most innocent flirtations; it is not homage and flattery that she want* from men, but kindness and friendship; she likes be<ng troated on equal terms, not as if she were a man., but as a person of nnother sex equal in worth to a man, not identical in nature. She has serious views about love and marriage; *he enjoys the society of men, but without any nonsense, to borrow her own. phrase. English prnple mny sometimes miss in her the reserve of feeling and expression found in their. own countrymen; many topics forbidden in England <aro frankly discueeed in the rolony, although not at inappropriate places nor in public." "One hears in London," says Mrs Grossmann, "of society ladies who rarely sco their own children, and who lenve them from infancy entirely to th* tender mercies of , nursemaids. There are no such mothers in New Zealand. We do not even, send older children away from their home to be educated. Boarding-schools are very few and far between." But after enthusing about the many merits and good qualities of New Zealand girls and women,.Mrs Grossmann feels constrained sorrowfnlly to admit that "there is a dark side to this picture. If the fault of the Englishwoman is becoming narrow and onesided, that of tie New Zealander is attempting' th* impossible and overstraining herself. Not content with superficiality, she crer-worke and owetudies. Sometimes girls who have given extraordinary promise of-talent collapse early, and live on a* mere wrecks of themselves, accomplishing little or nothing. Except among the macs of poorer workers. Englishwomen take things more oahnly, and even in London rarely exert themselves much. The lives of married women in the back settlement* are .often insupportably hard. There is often no rest to be had in illness or in old age. The womk goes on from year to year, with few holiday* or none at all. The morning rises upon yesterday's tasks, ami

the night close* end leave* something \i*; still undone. Them are no Sttt© A '•"s regulations against the ewoating of tri mothers —no Domestic Workers' Union V for them. They sink into household -" % drudges, dull, patient, nn,d resigned, vK mentally inferior not only to the men, but to their own daughters. • They have ■/' no outlook. ' The progrcai of women bae not affected, them. On the con. - trary, there is often an unconscious and umntent»onal return to moro barbarous conditions, and the men, though, in their own way attache and faithful, treat their-wives with little consideration and less respect/ while sentiment is almost unknown. Yet these women of the lonely bush end mountain* have their redeeming virtue*. There is nothing in London so human as their ho*- , pitahty towards strangers, an*d their kindness towards neighboum in trouble." On the.other hand, Mrs Grossnmnrt declares that the young colonial girl 16 vivacious and charming; lovable ami ' capable; she is goouMiearted and wollintentioned, but sh P h ae M(msr trained as the hngliah B irl is to sac rifieo herself tor others, consequently she is not so steadily unselfish, and considerate When ah* ». fo the. mood she works well but when it suite her she leaves work entirety to her mother or mistress,. ami *ho indignantly ny . sents any claims that interfere with hor own pleasure or career.. She «in r..*, heroically to a groat «> oaeion; she wifl aometimes make voluntary sacrifices, but they aro fJL ours done on impulse, not from a RO twe spoiled. /Youth is the elmon w pleasure , is the common view-of her elders, and this is intomrotod to mean that the amneements of young peoplo must oome before every other connd.srat,?f5 rat, ?f- n. l * . IS , wore to ««• daughter than to her husband that tJi* mother is sacrificed. Indeed, tho - father himself; is frequently offered upon the same altar of all^sonq UM init irresponsible youth. Yet Vhen the girl marries, oven if she hue been loading a life of mere gaiety or of kudy beforehand, eho settles down to her own turn of eacrifico, and makes * a oapeblo manager and a devoted and unselfish mother. The fault ha« been, rather with the theory of indu%enc» " than with the young girl he.rselfV\ >v In conclusion, Mrs Oroasmanhi obBCTves: —"New Zealand ie. devoJonW ft large and free type of womanhood, - ■which is more and more differentiating - itself from unmixed Engjlish or un- ' mixed Scotch. Tlie type U fundamentally British, but distinguished by . > unconventionalifrv, verwtiiity, and in- i" dependence. The womon wfco hat* grown up in the outdoor-«urro<lndittfl» and the free atmosphere of the New ■' World took upon life with open mm.""Hit and ever-freeli interest, Tiey■, ! :'h*ve''Wγ; healthy instincts and faiqh purpoa4«v are practical and domoetio % »«oe*. : Vj sity even, moro than by eboioe. V pride themselves upon never bmne Uf-"* Vy equal to oinoumetanoee. Thoir fault ie trying to oompaie -too-modi ty''® , their distinctive merit i* combining-a ; ■''s&» sincere interest in "the State With. "a ■; '$& profound regard for the,;hota«*"'v^>v,v^:f^