THE SCHEME OF THINGS

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 129, 4 June 1927, Page 12

THE SCHEME OF THINGS

(By M.H.C.)

■ The deputations which have been 'made,to"Ministers of the Crown during. „the week from women's societies have .caused considerable interest. The subjects brought forward may be classed as "hardy perennials," so hard to ; kill by: indifference or "side-tracking" :are they, and so many years have they survived this cold treatment. Censoring of films and posters, women police, equal treatment of men and women teachers, open-air schools, special treatIment o$ mental defectives- and of sex alteration in the ago of consent, or of ability to marry, and so on. : These ma.tters go on livmg in the minds iof women as necessities for the betterment of the world we live in, and are patiently brought under notice of the ,'aiithorities year after year. With this ;, public .experience before the world, 'both here and abroad,, let no one say that women are not patient! They undoubtedly have that great quality tjiargely developed, and added to it a kindliness which prevents them from holding any "nasty feeling" when the matters which they hold so closely to iltheir hearts are quietly shelved; a i;.wide consideration for the difficulties in ■the way of their wishes; a toleration ifor the fact that their vision and the i^naseuline one do not coincide, though the women are the ones who are in ■close touch with social matters of all ; classes, and are therefore better able jto 'judge of the necessity of the things :£ot which they ask. But "Hope springs eternal in the human breast," fortunately, and this carries tho woi men along, while they look back on jjuite a large and gratifying number of "improvements (from their point of hTiew) within the past two decades, and are thankful.

. The advisory commission on the -Child Welfare Committee of theLcague of Nations has issued a. report which ■,'contains much of interest to those who are of opinion, that special censoring of for children is necessary. The •list of countries which require special .censorship for these is an imposing one. The regulations vary, 7jut in the majority of places children under sixteen are forbidden to attend any picture, ex>cept those specially prescribed for j.them, unless they are accompanied by i'a parent or guardian. Austria, Bcl-,-gium, Czecho-Slovakia, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Eumania, Switzerland, Uruguay, and some provinces of Canada all have some special censorship of pictures shpwn to children. In some part of Japan, in a .few parts of the United States, in Natal, and the Orange Free States the same principle is recognised. In Great Britain the licensing of pictures and picture theatres is in the hands ■of V.ounty councils, many of whom accept the censorship of the British Board of Censors, and a body set up by the film.proSucers themselves, has commended itself by a high standard and impartial .-judgment;.'" The former board releases ,'.' U." pictures, which are regarded as universal, also "A." pictures, which are only suitablo for adults. Since December, 1923, the Ij.C.C. has insisted on two types of picture theatres corresponding to the two classes of pictures, and some which cater specially for children close the children's session at 7 or 8 p.m. It has always to bo kept iv mind that pictures only suitablo for children cannot be shown in the ordinary session, but tho distinction between family and noil -family pictures would be appreciated by parents who wish to take their young-ones to see only suitable matter.

;: Australian women's societies have taken a definite stand against "beauty competitions," says an exchange. A protest against them was recently forwarded to Government, and the point of view is thus expressed: "Girls who -take part in theso competitions, which are fostered for commercial pur]>jses, do not realise that they are allowing themselves to bo judged by unworthy standards. Women lin those modern days degrado themselves when they adopt a purely physical standard <jf quality, and if thoughtless girls do' liot realise this for themselves, it is felt that older and moro thoughtful women have a duty to remind them that they should not allow themselves to be used in this way for the purpose of iijaking money for themselves and for others. The publicity and the competitions are demoralising to young women, and tend to give them an utterly false view of their responsibilities and til .the Qualities: which they ought really to value. If girls would only reflect how unworthy these standards would appear if applied to young men, they would hesitate before allowing themselves to be judged in such' a way." This, says tho writer, ."sums up the opinions of 50 affiliated societies with many thousands of members." This is a many-sided subject, and while realising that one point of vantage is that perhaps special talent may be discovered allied to a beautiful and attractive body—possibly—there is still the fact that the competitions must necessarily absorb a groat deal of the thought and attention of the entrants, with an encouragement of the much less fine qualities of girls, with the possibility of undesirable nerve strain, and final disappointment to the larger nuin-. lier. A total collapse of a "Castle in Spain" is always a trying happening, and it is a question of how much harm is done to the builder.

Wonderfulis the power of imagination. A Northern writer says: "Now that fair woman no longer stabs her hat to her head (not having any hair to stab her hat to) the air of the- Empire City is as full of ladies' hats as it used to be of men's." It would be very interesting to see some ladies' hats bowling along the street, and to note if the same kindly help would be offered which one man gives to another, by running after his hat; but so far a very frequent pedestrian in Wellington streets has failed to see women's hats blowing about anywhere. Apparently it takes strangers and casual visitors to see such things. Another amusing touch is the rather Juiigrammatical::—or at least awkwardly expressed—remark about "not having any hair to stab her hat to I'—there are no women in Wellington without hair on their heads; all of them have either Eton or other shingles, bobbed hair/ or the muchvaunted (now they are out of fashion) long tresses. One seems to remember in, the last few months since the New Year came in, when Wellington has been rejoicing in a succession of beautiful calm weeks, sunshine, and the gentlest possible breezes, that the great Northern city has been indulging in "very naughty weather"—rain, wind, storms, and all sorts of vagaries. However, all things are comparative, and largely controlled by the imagination of the beholder, hence the opening sentence of this paragraph.