THE FUNCTION OF WOMANHOOD.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13427, 20 May 1909, Page 8

THE FUNCTION OF WOMANHOOD.

INTERESTING ADDRESS BY DU BATCHELOK.

Csrr/.iAr, io "the γ-kess.")

DUNEDIN. May 19

Dr. Natchelor. in an able and carefully thought-out address beforo the Society tor the Promotion of tho Health of Women and Children, asked, in referring to the important question of child-he.iring. wore the prts.nt eondi-

tions of lite as lived by a largj proportion of the young womon ot tins Dominion favourable to whut ho most emphatically asserted was the main tmu'lion of wom.\..liO'.xl —the raising <'t a healthy and v.-ji.:vus \\\-ro our yc-.ing woini n hivii-in up and trail.<d on lines conducive to mis end —v;* , main function of their "U ii not raucr altogivavr p;u-..;cd int:i ;..e background an;l nude a i0.,;..y swoi;i.iary cuUsi<.i'. v rat.in.' lie n.-i.e.:. "jlai is not her !>ucce>N in tiiv , prot> ssiois or ;n tecufing soaio cie. ksiup or >iuu';ir p-.s;----lion wiiivh <-iiL-ures :m.in <1 a.c ciiio.unient looked up.>n aa uio ti.ti and main oLij<x:t ot lit"*' for tin , majority o! our girls '? If this is the case, us to unit s.eoms to be, we are p, rpetra. a grave error, opposed to t'.u- n:os, e.cnier.tary ]>rinc.p'li'S of phy.-iology and

I cannot, but think th .1 cur exiting bvste:n for girls is primarily ami principally at taint in the matter. My contention is that es-s. ntiii physiological principles are beirg totr-.1.y ignored, and that- our present eiiucmicnal system encourages and invites young women to oncer on a course ot study Nature never intended them to do. As n medical man p.adding tor over twenty years specially in dise.ii-os ot women, evidence is almost daily brought before mc of the mischief wrought and the disasters that ensue. "When we see young women competing with men in tho universities, when we s-ee thorn entering professions, clerkships, offices and the like, and when the work in our factories is largely conducted by female labour, one cannot but realise that our social evolution is progressing on incorrect linos, and diverging further nni further from the home life which tends to the rearing of a healthy population." As a result of his experience, the conclusion forced upon him in regard to womon entering the medical profession was that only in a few very exceptional cases were women suited for a profession which made such incessant demands on the physical and nervous energies of those who pursued it. The fact that young women entered clerkships and the like seemed largely attributable to our educational system. That did not aiir at preparing for a domest'c life, but attempted to train them to pass a useless matriculation examination, to gratify a mistaken p-j rental pride, or to' make a university degree the summit of a girl's ambition. This tendency was already exercising a malign and far-reaching influence on the social lifo of our community. Regarding the domestic servant affair, ho said that the serious suggestion that a solution of tho difficulty was to be met by tho introduction of a number of aliens seemed to him but a forlorn hope. Two onuses of the condition suggested themselves to him •—first, the tendency to educate our girls on wrong lines, and. secondly, the absurd and stupid stigma almost invariably attached to domestic service. Aftor reaching the age of puhpr+v -the education of girls should be chiefly directed t«5 domestic inaiiTseinent, domestic economy, physiology and hygiene. Would not instruction in the general prinoinles of hygiene and a knowledge of how to apply them be more useful than a smattering of m*thero*Has, French. Al<«>bra or Euclid? Was it .not possible for State schools, technical schools, and the universities to devise a scheme whereby domestic man- , cement T > l ' n lit be svstematicnlly taueht and diplomas guaranteeing a certain standard of effioiencv. nnd so onsuro the possessor «n imoroved stitus? The women of the Dominion pl'ohlcl insist on the introduction of drastic measures +-n counteract the canker of modern civilisation.

Dr. Truby King said he fully endorsed all that Dr. Batchelor had said, and quoted opinions from America showing that the trend of feeling there was decidedly in favour of domestic subjects being taught to girls. Mr James Allen, M.P., said that nothing had so impressed him for some time as Dr. Batcholor's address. He thought it was time that outspoken addresses like these were given, and he wa.s of opinion that it was time that the work of the Society should bo reflected in Parliament.

Mr G. M. Thomson. M.P., speaking ns chairman ot the Technical School, askod that a sub-committee bo appointed to confer with tho Board with regard to having teaching of domestic economy put upon a sound footing in that institution. They had been trying for some years to accomplish that, but the syllabus was so far unsatisfactory in that respect.