MORAL STANDARDS

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 151, 30 June 1928, Page 11

MORAL STANDARDS

DOMINION POSITION AWAKENING NEEDED (To the Editor.) Sir, —It is very. much to bo regretted ■ that whenever any public man, with a sense o£ responsibility, ventures to call attention to something wrong in our social life, or some defect in the character of our people, a cry is raised that he is "running down his own country," "fouling his own nest," and so forth; the discussion drifts oil" into sido issues, and the points oil real importance are lost sight of. Obviously this sort o£ thing tends to block the way to national improvement. AH who know Archbishop Averill" know that nowhere is there a more sincere lover o£ JSlew Zealand, and that in his attempt to rouse us out o£ our- smug . complacency, or callous indifference, he was impelled by a high sense o£ duty, and with the single desire to bring about an improvement in the morals and ideals both of the home and of the nation. His Grace, I submit, with great respect, was ill-advised in making comparisons with other countries. To compare statistics o£ crime and lunacy in dilierent countries is nearly always misleading, because the figures depend upon shifting -and varying conditions, which render accurate comparison impossible. But he is on perfectly sound ground when lie says that while there is much to make us proud of our country there is a darker side o£ our life which ought to be faced, so that something may be done by way of remedy. The Arch-" bishop refers to the reports of the. committees of inquiry into venereal disease, and the treacment of degenerates and mental defectives, and as chairman of those committees X should be playing a poorspirited part were I to remain silent while the Archbishop is being attacked for upholding some of the findings and recommendations in those reports. The committee'on venereal disease stated plainly that there was a great deal of promiscuous intercourse in JNew Zealand, and as evidence of this we published a table showing that in the period 1913-21 there were 10,481 illegitimate births and 33,738 legitimate births within one year alter marriage. But of the latter no few- j or than 12,1:35 occurred within the first I six months of marriage, and therefore may be safely considered to have been conceived before marriage. Adding these to the illegitimate births, we get a total of 23,07(> births in which conception took place extra-inaritally. These striking figures appeared to attract-no attention, and caused no concern, until a visiting Bishop, in quoting them, made a bad case even worse by drawing a wrong inference from them; whereupon he was roundly attacked by "besmirching .the character of New Zealand, women," and so forth, the sinister significance of the figures was lost sight of, and the public once more sank back into the state of comfortable oblivion and smug satisfaction from which the .Archbishop has been trying to rouse them. To judge from the statistics in the Ne;v Zealand I'ear Book, the position has been growing worse: rather than better since the report was presented. In 192 C the number o£ illegitimate births was 1473, being 5.17 per cent, of the total births. The Government Statist remarks: "Not only was the proportion of illegitimate birth the highest yet recorded, but the proportion of eases where a legitimate child was born within seven months aEter the marriage of the parent' was also considerably higher than usual." One mother of an illegitimate child was. only 13 years of age, and 248 were 18 and under. Can anyone look at these figures without serious misgivings for the future? The. committee iound that' among the factors contributing to the moral laxity was the relaxation o£ parental control. What sort o£ parental . control is .• likely to be exercised in the case of these shoals of illegitimate children, or by the parties to these forced marriages? As a matter of fact many of the latter soon find their way to thu Divorce Court. Needless to say, the nunir ber of divorces has greatly increased since tho war, especially as by the Amendment Act of 1920 wo converted" marriage into a contract-terminable.by tho mutual consent, of tho parties, provided they lived apart for three years. In ]917 the number of petitions filed was 282; it now averages betwen 700 and 800 a year. Other contributory factors to the general loosening of moral restraints mentioned by the committee were bad housing, economic conditions which delay marriage, alcohol, suggestive literature, and the cinema. Personally I cannot help thinking that tho sex-obsession which pervades so many of the films, especially American films, has a very unwholesome effect. It .is a lamentable fact that'even a really beautiful and/ wonderful picture is not considered sufficient to meet' the tastes of the ordinary "movie" audience without the introduction ofr the "sex-appeal" element. Not for one moment do I suggest that! -this moral laxity is peculiar to New Zealand. It is a ■ growing tendency of the age, and is as bad if not worse in other parts of the Empire. The committee urged that looseness of conduct between the sexes such as was shown to exist in this country was "destructive to the hi<;h ideals of family life associated with the finest types of British manhood and womanhood, and ,if not checked must ldad to the decadence of the nation." No right-minded, thoughtful citizen, inspired by love of country and pride of race, can see what is going on without serious concern and an anxious desire to stop the rot which is eating its way through the fabric of our race. There is no short cut to a cure, no quick-acting panacea. Biblereading in schools will not be sufficient, and it is abundantly evident that the exclusion of the Bible will not solve the problem.' What is wanted is a general awakening of the national conscience, and a revival, if possible, of some of. the best of the Puritan ideals. Surely leaders of thought like the Archbishop, who. see the danger, who are frying to awaken the people from their apathy and inspire them with a determination for better things, deserve a. better return than the sneers, misrepresentation, and obloquy which is too often their reward. —I nm, etc., W..H. TBIGGS. Legislative Council, Wellington, 30th June, 1028.