“LOOSE” MORALS IN N.Z.

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27406, 20 July 1954, Page 12

“LOOSE” MORALS IN N.Z.

Working Mothers ( Blamed METHODIST MINISTER’S VIEW (New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, July 19. “Neglected families and the nation’s loose morals are the price we pay for women’s selfishness,” said the Rev. Allon Carr, of the Dominion Road Methodist Church, Auckland, in a sermon yesterday. Mr Carr said that a woman parishioner had given him an itemised account of how her married women fellow-workers in a factory spent their earnings. From what she had told him, Mr Carr said, he had made out this list:— Drinks 30s, cigarettes 15s, consultation tickets 15s, betting on horses 255, cosmetics and appearance ss, lunches 10s, and fares 10s.

“That was the general pattern,” he said, “although how the money was spent varied more.” Mr Carr said his informant had told him that most of these women admitted borrowing from their husbands to balance the household budget. They kept all their earnings for themselves, he said, and spent nothing on the home and their children. “These women are working to maintain a Standard of life over and above that provided by their husbands, and they have no thought of their children or homes,” said Mr Carr. “We are paying for it in the morals of our children, which are all the result of neglect.” He said there were two vital periods in the life of a mother. She had to look after her babies, as babies, until they were five years old. The second, and the more important period, was when the children were between 14 and 19. It was then that they needed help and guidance in moral and physical development. It was during this period that children were too often neglected. A mother’s care was the major influence on her children’s character, said Mr Carr. “A mother needs a close contact with her church,” he added. “So long, as parents send their children, to church but don’t go themselves, they will find that what is not’a necessity to the I parents will not be considered important by the children. People must not forget it is religious training that provides the all-important moral and spiritual basis of life.”