WOMEN AT TALK.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19413, 12 September 1928, Page 14

WOMEN AT TALK.

SIX DAYS' DISCUSSION.

PAN-PACIFIC CONFERENCE.

(By X.Y.Z.)

The first Pan-Pacific Women's Conference is over, • after six days' incessant talking, and New Zealand's delegation has just returned by the Aorangi. Never have the problems of women and children in Pacific areas been given so much concentrated and never have the women of New Zealand had such an opportunity to tell what they have accomplished m ( government, heaith, social feeivice, i education, and. industry There were 170 delegates voting and associate—and to a New | lander, Miss Emily. Chaplin, of" ChnstChurch, formerly president of the Wo- j men Teachers' Association, fell _ the honour of being the only jroman from either Australia oi New Zealand who was appointed chairman of a sectional committee. Miss Chaplin proved herself extremely capable in the job, ana she brought to the problem, of education a knowledge both sound and broad. - The method of conference was new to the Dominion delegates, and tne leaders of round table discussions were, given a special training course before taking their places at the heads of the tables. Only in a round table discus-, sion could such a mass of information be gathered from all the delegates, and though it was thought at first that the women from the East would-. not.be able to adapt themselves, practice showed tt.at tliev grasped the situation as quickly as did the women tli© West# The programme for ;the.week was a very full one, and, in all five sections there were' 50. round table discussions.; In addition fifteen ipublic^ addresses were given, and at the ena oj it all many resolutions were adopted for the further study of the problems discussed The stimulation for the, conference was provided by the Oriental delegates, who. while fully comprehending the Western viewpoint, stood firm to their own opinions of what .was " es ' i for their own countrywomen. This, was given emphasis by this dranlatic outburst of Dr Mei lung Ting, who, at the' final session, protested vehemently against the acceptance 6f the invitation • of •the Pan-Pacific to hold the next conference, in 1930 at Shanghai. . Dr. Ting resented the domination of foreigners, and said that the invitation to hold the in China should ■ come from the Chinese , women themselves , not from a body which Had on its board two foreign women—Miss Eleanor . Hinder and Miss A. Viola : Smith, the latter Ame- , rican 1 trade i; representative at Shanghai—and no Chinese women. Dr.. Ting was one of the most outstanding figures at the conference, and dominated every gathering in which 'she took -part. f Miss Jane, Addams, - International chairman of . the conference, was the ideal leader and she proved herself .the woman 'of judgment and diplomacy which her reputation-, had led us j to/believe. ; To wratclr her, guide a . meeting into the -proper channels and .feeep .it; within the -time limits "was in "itself 'an education. : ; Of the New Zealanders, Dr. Mildred Staley was- the outstanding figure.WitK a record -of achievement iwhich any woman might:envy, she is still questing in the fiela of action, and she was one of the leading-speakers in; the social; service section. : -Curiously ; . enougli j the women who impressed niost were" three inedicnl women—Dr. 'Staley, I)ri Ting, and Dr . Yayoi Yoshioka. of Japan.'. Dr. Yoshi'oka pioneered the medical field for wo-: men in .her own' country < and as ehe ; does. c not speali 'English she vfollowea; thfc proceedings of _ the f conference, through her son. who is a medical evident. Dr. Yoshi oka started her medical school with four students,, in her, |; disriensarynow she has four.hOspitalS,

in Tokio. ■ , , j , The leader of the New ■, Zealand , del*; gationi Mrs C. A Fraer, of Christchurch. president .. of the. National Council of Women, took her seat; m the Women •in Government section, - and contributed materially to the dJB-; cussiori. "In the same section was Mrs. Denton Leech. J .P., of Dunedro, who brought meetings' from' trip League or Nations Union. , . V. ,To Dr Emily <Siedeberg fell the 'task of telling the conference what New Zealand is doing to the health of women and children., ana with its world-famous low infant mortality rate; the Dominion was the sub? ieot of considerable interest, : , If one can judge by thd budgets of notes which the Dominion representatives took in eaeh. section, .there will be a grand cleaning-up of affairs now the delegation is.; home -again. In answer to the question. After suffrage, what next?" New Zealand; answered 'i.promptly, I'Women ir Par-, liament." And: in view of the forthcoming referendum, Mrs T E- Taylor, of 'Cbristchurch. when she was leading; the discussion in the social, service section;' paid 1 particular attention to the American views on ,Prohibition.-. - ./•- ■ Miss Addams contributed her views to, this discussion, and said that the opinion of sociaiv service >workers .through out America- was unanimously; on the side of Prohibition. . ' . , ' * The most interesting side of the. con-, ferenoe'wagthe contact with: women of : other nations.. Softly stepping creatures in" kimonos rubbea shoulders; with downright reformers from America. A woman with a low voice-ana a winning smile had been through, ini dustrial strikes in America, and a keen Japanese woman too nervous with hen English to address a meeting, is head of the Women's Suffrage Another Japanese woman ■ Mrs Tsune Ganntlett married to an Englishman, is. also a prominent / . suffrage leader, - and a. more- gentle soul it .would be impossible to imagine. • . , . Miss -. Kik"e-. T de . obenea the conference with > scholarly address on the legal and political status of. women in Japan. % . ' Home economics is goin)g to be pne of the big Studies ; for 'women in the future, so that the appointment of DrLouise Stanley by President Coolmg® as special' representative of tnfe Dmtea "States hia's additional merit. It as Dr. Stanley who was responsible.- for having ofie of the resolutions of- conference relate to the study of'living standards ■ • with special reference.. to diet content.

Miss Esto Broughton, who represented a,' big newspaper syndicate, us ' an ex-member of tne .Legislative Assembly of California, and was formerly a practising attorney at Sacramento. , A' tall fisrure with a reddish Eton crop is .Miss Jo Coffin, a .monotype- operator in' the office of the ''New York World." - , . In fact., practically every profession for. women was represented,, and this, "in : itself : served to ; enhance the. valtxe. of conference gatherings, both formal and informal. The exchange .of experiences and opinions has been'of advantage to everybody. i ; •The 'social •• sidfe -of the conference was not neglected, though.' of necessity it had to be sandwiched in between' round.. table gatherings and pnblio meetings. Dnimg the latter - days of I the conference.; pr&issure # of work be-,' came 4so great .that, meetings were bemw'held far;, into the.night. • and •almost hefor« daybreak itithe ' .of Hawaii and; individual hostesses vied with each, other to- entertain -the-delegates. -and. Mr Alexander' Hume directdr of the Pan-Pacific Union, which organised the conference, arranged a pageant at Manoa Valley, ween th»

Pacific nations presented si page , out of a picture boob with songs ana dances. 1 : .. It is well, too, to remember that this first Pan-Pacific Women's Conference,' which eventuated in August, 1928, was suggested in August. 1924, by the late Hon. .Mark Cohen,,, of New Zealand, and since then Mr Ford and his model of a secretary. Miss Anne Y. Satterthwaite, have /been in communication, both personally and by correspondence, with women in' all countries bordering the Pacific/ . . , , ; That the delegates were induced ;»<> travel so. far to compare .notes *ntn their: sisters of other Jrinds is a-tribute not only to tbeir serious consideration of . the problems confronting womankind. bat also to tbe opthnsjaOTi and interest, of the PanrPacific union vin Honolulu which in four years spent over £BOOO to enable .the, conference to* take 'place with such , conspicuous success. The second conference will taw place in Honolulu in 1930.