About 600 Delegates Attend Women’s Division Conference

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27603, 9 March 1955, Page 2

About 600 Delegates Attend Women’s Division Conference

About 600 members were present at an interprovincial conference of the Women's Division of Federated Farmers, which was held in the town hall, Rangiora, yesterday. Delegates were present from provincial executives from Hurunui to North Otago, and there was a delegation from Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty, members of which were beginning a fortnight’s tour of the South Island. Mrs M. Frizzell, president of the Canterbury North provincial executive, who presided, and the president of the Rangiora branch of the division (Mrs G. H. Loffhagen) welcomed the visitors.

Declaring the conference open, the Deputy-Mayor of Rangiora (Cr. J. M. D. Cathcarl) expressed admiration for the work of the division and the hope that it would hold other conferences in Rangiora.

Whenever it was called on by the Mayor for assistance, the division was always willing to help, said the Mayoress of Rangiora (Mrs C. W Tyler).

Discussion of Remits A remit was submitted by the Christchurch branch, urging education boards to establish., in as many centres as possible, children’s picture theatres, with the hours of screening arranged so that children would not be out during unsuitable periods. Moving the remit, Mrs R. Wolfe said that children were not properly catered for at theatres. They should not have to sit through programmes for adults, but should be provided with special films A further remit from the Christchurch branch suggested that severe penalties be imposed where parents were in the habit of leaving children unattended in their homes at night. Mrs Wolfe said that such a practice robbed a child of its sense of security.

Seconding the remit, Mrs Orchard said that no-one was to blame in such cases but the parents, whose duty it was to arrange their outings so that one parent would always be home to look after the children. Mrs H. Sunckell moved a remit on behalf of the Hurunui branch suggesting that where there was no district high school, or where children had a long way to travel to a high school, they should be given right of admittance to hostels where they existed in conjunction with secondary schools. It was unsatisfactory, said Mrs Sunckell, that children should have to be away too long from their homes, and that they should have to travel overlong distances.

School Bus Services The conference approved two remits from South Canterbury as follows: that “school bus services should not be altered until parents are notified and have an opportunity to state their case”; and that “the regulations governing the distance a child is required to walk to a bus can impose unnecessary hardship, in consequence of which school committees should be empowered to modify the rule according to circumstances.”

A remit from Canterbury North suggested that, in prosecutions of girls in the Supreme Court, there should be some women on the juries. The remit was amended and carried in the following form: “That in cases of females and children, we feel there should be some women on the jury.” A motion was carried, expressing sympathy with the victims of the New South Wales floods.

It was announced that the next conference would be held in Oamaru.

On behalf of the Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Institute for the Blind, Mr A. Robertson gave a brief address on a proposal to build a hostel for the aged blind in Christchurch.