A GREAT NEED IN THE CITY

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 293, 30 August 1918, Page 3

A GREAT NEED IN THE CITY

(Continued from page 2.)

HOSTELS FOB- YOUNG WOMEN.

Arising out of a discussion which was held at tho annual meeting of the I'ioneei' Club a littlo while ago 'as to the very great need that existed in the city for liostcls for young women, it was decided to call a meeting at which representatives of the different women's societies would be invited to express their views of the matter. That meeting took place at the club last evening. Mrs. Corliss, representing the Women's National lieservo, expressed the opinion that there was a very great need indeed for the establishment of hostels for girls. Through the departure ,-of men for ,tihc front a great many girls had to the city, and were being employed in work of all kinds, and it was a most difficult matter for thorn to find accommodation. She- considered that tho Government, as a- largo employer of women's labour, had a great responsibility, and that it should bestir itself to relieve this great congestion that existed by establishing or helping to establishJiostels for girls. She had made many inquiries and investigations, regarding tho conditions that existed, and she was of the opinion that they consitutfd a. moral danger to girls. One instance of "rooming" which she gave, was of three girls who shared a room, each one paying five shillings a week. By the, time their beds were in place and each one's trunk or box was in the room there was no space for anything, and . these girls slept in this room, had their food, and passed their spare time there, with but few or none of the comforts which were taken as a matter of course in the'homes they had left. Where else had such girls to go to in their spare time hut to tho picture shows or in the streets? If the Government were not prepared to shoulder its duty she thought that nerhnps the municipal authoritios might give the necessary land and the Government provide the building for a hostel or hostels, or if not that, then at least a good subsidy towards a building. Mrs. Corliss further outlined the hostel scheme as she had seen it carried out in England. Mrs. Harverson also expressed the opinion that hostels were absolutely necessary for the girls who were employed in sucli large numbers in the city. Failing these, however, she thought that something might be done to meet some of the difficulties by securing a building or part of a, building as a club for girls, with" recreation and dining-rooms, also with smaller rooms in which they could privately entertain their friends. The need for girls, away from their homes and'friends, to have some place in which they could meet, have their amusements, and entertain their friends, was self-evident. With a good matron in charge she thought such a place would be most useful should the hostel scheme fall through. Miss Aitcheson, representing the Wellington Teachers' Association, thought that women were very complacent in the way they took wliat was handed out a to'them. -She also -was of the opinion that the provision of hostels was a duty of the Government, for the simple reason that it had created the Departments in which so many girls were .employed. She was a member of the management committee of the Wellington Teachers' Institute that had been set up to go into the matter so far as it concerned teachers, although she had at first considered it from a standpoint not confined to teachers alone. In making inquiries as to accommodation for girls she had found that two hostels in Wellington were booked ri;j;ht up, one till the end of next year, and the othsr for an oven later period of time. This lack of accommodation exposed girls to tho most serious moral dangers, and sho had come across instances in which young girls had received shocks from which they had not yet recovered.

Mrs. Coleridge, representing the AVomcn Students' Hostel, said that in that establishment all accommodation had been booked until the end of next year. Enlarged though it had been, yet it ivas not large enough. Thero was no question about the hostel paying for itself, and it was in no senso allied to charity of any kind. It was self-paying.

A representative of ■ the Salvation Army also spoke of the grave need for hostels for the working girls of the ci*y. In the Army work they had found themselves seriously handicapped in regard to the girls that left their orphanages to work for themselves, because of this difficulty in finding the right home, for them. As one who had been so closely associated with rescue work she had found that girls came to grief between girlhood and womanhood because of the want 'of care and lack of suitable home life. In f)0 per cent, this was the case. In the colonies this menace was greater in proportion _to the greater liberty which girls enjoyed.

Jliss Dowdeswoll proposed tho following resolution, which was carried: "That this meeting of women affirms the desirability of establishing a hostel for young women, and that a committee of nine members'he set up to take the matter in hand and make investigations."

Jliss Myers also emphasised the necessity for hostels, and expressed tlip pleasure which sho felt that the Pioneer Club had taken up this matter, as ono of its objects when brought into existence was that members should work for the welfare generally of women. This was certainly.au opportunity. The personnel of the committee and other matters in connection with tho project were' dealt with, and another meeting will bo held shortly.