WOMEN THE WORLD OVER

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21324, 17 November 1934, Page 2

WOMEN THE WORLD OVER

.'SI-JJCJALUr WRITTEN FOR THE I'EESS.) [By ATALANTA.I There can scarcely have been an occasion when ths women's interests of our town have been so comprehensively and harmoniously massed together as when the Christchureh branch of the National Council of Women organised the meeting to bid Lady Bledisloe farewell, on November 8 The Winter Garden, well fitted for extended hospitalities or for the arcana of civic appreciation, wore at once its brightest and its softest aspect of charm. All felt their best, and all felt at home: in the larger citizenship no vital, wholesome element can feel'itself out of place or unregarded. The order, the measure, the beauty, ihe pervading spontaneity of goodwill resolved themselves into a tribute both to the winsome personality of the Vicereine to whom all tributes were flowing. and to the fine responsiveness of organisers and leaders who made of those tributes one perfect thing. Miss Treat, president of the council, with whom were associated the DeputyMayoress and the council's executive vice-president, Miss Jamieson, together with presidents and officers innumerable, made the one speech of this truly representative assembly of farewellright thoughts in right words, and not a syllable overmuch. For all attention was concentrated on her who is so soon to lay down the part of the iirst lady in the land. But thougn the spontaneity and sincerity of youth marked Lady Bledisloe'.'; speech throughout, it unfolded depths of thought that were far l'rom the pretty platitudes which suffice the novitiate. Brightly and simply delivered. it was instinct with the ripe wisdom of right living, for which spiritual values alone give the right clue in the tangled ways of this world of ours. It was a woman's farewell speecli to women in a difficult and threatening time, calling above all for woman's clear vision and innate friendliness to dispel fear and hostility among the nations and to spread co-operation and understanding at home. Sensitive consciousness of suffering in the country mingled with happy memories of its native beauty ana its national responsiveness. Set speeches over, and well-appointed hospitalities enjoyed. Lady Bledisloe melted into the assembly like sunshine, gliding from group to group and from table to table, at ease and in tune with all. This_ is the parting memory Christchureh'women will retain of a vice-regal tenure that New Zealand's historians will ever record m lasting letters of gold. The Deadly Debutante Fashionable England ought to befooling uncomfortable. To be reviled by Hyde Park orators and lampooned by Bohemian versifiers is as invigorating to the smart set as splash-water • o a duck. But a peeress in her own right has just told it publicly and unequivocally that at least the female part ol it is so poorly educated, so barren of purpose, and so empty of ideas that it might have been' better had it never lived. This stinging conclusion is the burden of a remarkable article, "The Parrot-Educated Group," by Lady Rhondda, in a recent number of "Time and Tide," an article which touches not only uneasy members of the English Intelligentsia but the already foreboding internationalists of Europe. No state, no people lives to itself now. The controversy which called Lady Rhondda to the fray was started by Winifred Holtby and some other young intellectuals who had fallen tooth and claw on what they called the "debutante system." They alleged that in classes where debuts loom large, girls are prepared in comparatively cheap and strikingly inefficient schools for the marriage market, that they are discouraged either to serve or understand the world they live in and, caught in a spider's web of inanity and enervating tradition, spend their lives cultivating a flimsy attractiveness in a whirl ot empty show. Lady Rhondda writes that this long-standing case was put by Florence Nightingale in youth: "No food for our heads; no food for our hearts." The young intellectuals appear to have concentrated on the remedy of getting the debutantes definitely into paid, responsible work like other girls. The psychological difficulty of this remedy is well set forth by Lady Rhondda, leaving a levelheaded correspondent to battle against the ethical wrong of a girl who can afford not to earn her living rushing to make pin-money at the expense of girls who must earn. Lady Rhondda looks deeper than the mere filling ol' young women's days with some kind of constant work. She sees that what must be altered is the canker of that social world in which the debutante functions and eventually sets the standard of cheap and unreal values for her own daughters. small as this parasitic class is in every country, it unfortunately is too much in evidence not to influence the views and aspirations of the classes socially beneath it. National deterioration sets in. "No society can teach deliberately and traditionally false, cheap, artificial, and vulgar values to a considerably and much talked of group within itself and remain unaffected by the results." Where Civilisation Crumbles It is here that Lady Rhondda begins to elaborate the international application, plunging at once into the gloom and menace of the rapid descent to medieval barbarism ir» Central Europe. Her practised and impartial eye see the dangerous symptoms of nreatfned relapse in Western Europe. Even in England she sees signs of crumbling in a civilisation built up with effort and purpose that now seems in suspension, if not retrogression. She declares that the seemingly firm facade of Western civilisation could never have been as firm as we fancied it. Certain signs of decay I where even Britain had most vaunted surer new standards of social attainj ment bid the wise to watch warily the terrible spectacle of nations which j had also believed themselves on pin- ! nacles of culture and institutional adj vance, but who have now "lost, their foothold and are hurtling, scrabbling ! down into the gulf of barbarism." Frpm this appalling prospect, she switches back on what we are here taught to call the "debutante system"—a system which she advisedly pronounces common "in one form or other throughout Western civilisation." The summing up under this significant head follows:—"The strain-bearing capacity of a civilisation which depends. as did ours for a large part of its cultural tradition upon people who have been trained not to know about things in and for themselves, but only to know how to talk about them, is i bound to be low." It will seem to many that Lady Rhondda stresses mother-blame somewhat unduly in the end, but perhaps she has calculated the effect of her words in an age where feminism has been active in stressing the culpability of fathers in the State. Moreover, she may safely leave for others to elaborate the obvious fact that tlie atrophied mother

has no fairer heritage to give her son than that she is obliged to give her daughter. After all Tennyson said the last word with fair success 80 years ago in "The Princess":— And so these twain, upon the skirts of Time, Sit side by side, full summed in all their powers, Dispensing harvest, sowing the Tobe .... Then comes the statelier Eden back to men. VISITORS TO CHRISTCHURCH Savoy Private Hotel: 'Messrs (rosktey, Blair, Niall. Honey. Johnston, Ucnnison, Amycs, and Miss Walker. Clarendon Hotel: Mr and Mrs E. J. Penrose. (Auckland), Miss Mollie Day (Wellington'!, and Mr ami Mrs R. G. Milieu (Hokilikat. United Service Hotel: Mr and Mrs L. V. Boot (Sydney). Hotel Federal: Mis? Mad ire Thurston (Musterton), Mr and Mrs J. Eadie (Gveymcuth), Mrs and Miss McMillan. Miss L. Davidson, and Miss K. Treahy (Dunedin), Miss Alice L. Grubb (Mothve'ni, and Mrs E. Nannestad (Wellington). Xew City Hotel: Miss K. B. Jerman (London), and Miss K. O. Thomson (Sydney). GIFT PARTY Miss Doris Heal, whose marriage will take place shortly, was the guest of honour at a gift party held at the home of Mr and Mrs R. Richards (Fitzgerald street. St. Albans). Miss Heal expressed her thanks to Mr and Mrs Richards for their kindness, and also to the guests for their expressions of goodwill.

HOME ECONOMICS ASSOCIATION "AT HOiME" The aim of the Home Economics Association is to help, by the aid of ' talks and practical demonstrations, any work which has for its object the welfare of the home and the consequent promotion of health, comfort, happiness, and efficiency' of the community, and throughout the year meetings'and demonstrations are held for this purpose. Last night, however, members in holiday mood, concluded the year's activities with an "at home" held in the Masonic Hall, and the large number of members and their friends who attended enjoyed a varied programme arranged by Miss L. Gilmour. The stage had been beautifully decorated with red and cream roses and blue lupins. Miss J. McKee (vice-president), who welcomed the guests, invited them to inspect a table of articles made by club members who formed a handcraft circle, under the direction of Mrs J. Richards a few months ago. The excellent display included marquetry, barbola, and papier mache work, and many of the articles had been made by women who had never used paint brushes before. The circle had met regularly at the home of Mrs J. S. Kelly. It was also announced that from today the association would be responsible • for a column of home science notes which would appear fortnightly on the women's page of "The Press," and the committee would welcome information from members on women's work, the making of a home, or gardening. Different members of the association will contribute articles each week for this column. Miss McKee apologised for the absence of Miss M. A. Blackmore (president), and Miss L. Gilmour (vicepresident). The programme was as follows: Pianoforte solo, Miss J. Watson; songs, Mrs A. E. G. Lyttle; recitations, Miss A MacGregor; songs, Mrs H. J. Quarrcll; play, Miss E. Grand and party; instrumental trio, Miss M. Creagh ('cello) Miss M. Neale (piano), and Master W. Wright (violin); songs, Mrs Harold Cordery; recitations, Mrs W. O. Cowan; pianoforte solo. Mis xi. Robinson; 'cello solo. Miss M. Creagh. The accompanists wore Mrs H. Robinson and Miss J. Watson. , A play, "The Spinsters of Lushe, arranged by Miss H. Spence, by the kindness of Miss Ellen Jones (producer), was presented by Mesdames A. C. Andrews and Bradley Misses E. Grand, M. Caygill, Gough, and B. Smithson. , , . Supper was served at the conclusion of the entertainment.