TOPICS OF THE HOUR

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 107, 1 November 1924, Page 15

TOPICS OF THE HOUR

CONSCRIPTION FOE GIRLS.

Under the above heading the London "Daily Telegraph" devotes about a column of its space to remarks made following on some which were attributed to a New Zealand Magistrate. The writer says :—

We all have our troubles. Even in New Zealand they have to hold an inquiry into social problems. To that investigation came a Magistrate, and "suggested conscription for girls for thorough domestic training as likely tremendously to' benefit the home life of New Zealand." Is it necessary for me to add that this Magistrate was a man? lam not very well acquainted with the conditions of home life in New Zealand, but'it seems logical to infer from the Magisterial suggestion that domestic work is not there excessively popular among women. They do not throng into the kitchen. But if an occupation is not much liked I am not clear^ that. the right rem?dy is to compel people to train for it. Would the process of compulsion make domestic occupation more popular than it is? .1 should have thought it unlikely. Mj own unregenerate nature dislikes being compelled to do things, even when the things are not unpleasant or difficult. The Magistrate may reply that we are all from the hour of our birth to the hpur of our death under strong compulsion. We have to obey the laws of nature. We have to submit to the customs of the society to which we belong. A great many of ua, to put the case moderately, have to devote some of our time to tasks for which we have no taste or aptitude. But the commonsense of mankind has agreed that there is a difference between this kind of compulsion and the sacrifice of one's whole time to a particular, forjri of work. Forced labour, it is admitted, is not easily distinguished from slavery, though we are all forced to earn our bread. Compulsory military service, no one denies, is a very different matter for the general obligation' of a man to defend the country of, which he is a citizen. The conscript has no intention of passing his whole life under ■ arms. The idea of compulsory, domestic training for girls is that they should always be busy about.the house.

But we ought not to condemn a proposal because it does not seem likely to become popular. When you ask, not whether compulsory.; .domestic training would be liked jby girls, but 'whether it would be good for them, the question needs more careful consideration. I am not one of those who believe that all women ought to enjoy domestic work. I don't believe they ever did, lam sure they never will. It is as futile to. pretend that all women are born cooks and housekeepers aa that all men are born soldiers or fishermen or good shots. This doea not, of course, alter the fact that the world being what it ia, the majority of women will be concerned with domestic affairs, and that it will be much more comfortable for themselves and their belongings if they understand the business. Perhaps the Magistrate had another point in mind. The organisation of ■modern life is so elaborate that we are not .only dependent upon a great many other people, we are ignorant of what their work is like. Public-school masters have been heard to argue that it would be an excellent thing if all their boys, had to go through a course of hewing of wood and drawing of water before passing out into the world. x Sbme personal experience of rough, heavy manual labour would give them, it is suggested, a better understanding of the way the world is managed and a closer fellowship with other men. In the, same way, the Magistrate may think, it would be a good thing if every girl put in a month or two at the tasks of the housemaid and the kitchenmaid and the laundrymaid. There is nothing new in all this. It goes back to Kuskin and far beyond Ruskin. Did not Drake insist that on his ship the gentlemen should pull and haul with the mariners? I do not myself believe that these physical labour jobs are the most exhausting. I find it possible to get far more tired over brain work. You may unkindly retort that this is owing to the quality of the brain. But other people have the 6ame experience. I daresay that a number of men do not much mind being scavengers; but there cannot be many who like it. . I do not see why any woman should like washing up, though a lot of them may bear it well enough. _ There is plainly something to_. be said for a system of training which should ensure that every woman who has to manage a house should know how to perform with the minimum of trouble and the maximum of efficiency every operation which it requires, and should thus be able to appreciate just what she is asking from those she .employs. . But I confess I don't know how our cadi i* going to arrange1 it. To suppose that one course of domestic trainTh« h I f lty is m«e illusion. The homes of New Zealand may be more uniform than ours, but even there I suppose, variations are to b. found! The house which has ample and constant supplies of hot water available which has power and power appliances wherever they are wanted, is to be run by different methods from that other house_ where there is. no power at all, fluid We have all met women, verj excellent xooks,f provided wilh a battery of apparatus and a scientific stove who were quite helpless with primitive eqmpment. And equally the

The writer offers no 'solution of the