WOMEN'S WORK

Evening Post, Volume XCV, Issue 23, 26 January 1918, Page 9

WOMEN'S WORK

A LECTUEER FOR NEW ZEALAND*

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

LONDON, 13th November.

Mrs. Margaret Kineton Porkes, who was mainly responsible' for the ot^anita* tion of the Women's Tax Resistance League, as a method of constitutional militancy, is leaving for New Zealand with the intention of giving in the Dominion a series of lectures on women's work in the war.

Mrs. Parkes, interviewed by a representative of The Post before sailing, said that the league -with which she had been so closely identified really ■wished to express the protests of the militants, buS in a constitutional manner. There .were various anomalies in the law, especially as regards the taxation of marriwj. women. One of these, which prevented a wife claiming a rebate by adding her income to that of her husband, was just now being remedied. When the war broke; out the league had to consider the question whether its members should pay their taxes or not. They decided that it 'would be more patriotic to pay during the war. She herself was engaged almost at once in the organisation of the Women's Emergency Corps, of which she was financial secretary, -until becoming secretary. Her lecture in New Zealand; will deal very fully with the Various ramifications of the Emergency Corps as they are seen to-day after three yeara of war, viz., the Women's Volunteer Eeserve, the Women's Branch. of the Army Service Corps, and so on. In the early days of the war thi> Government established a Labour Exchange in connection with the corps, but even* tually they made separate women's labour exchanges. The Emergency Corps was really a large clearing house for the hundreds and thousands of women who at the beginning of the war were tumbling over each other to do war work, but did not know exactly where to go.Many of them were quite untrained and thousands of these women had since been trained, and were now holding very important positions. Most effective work had also been done in connection with the catering side of the army. Women's organisations have trained many thou* sands of cooks, both male and female^ for army service.